Political parties and party system



Two main goals
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1.Produce a narrative of the development of the Czech Party system
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2.
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2.Lessons learned from the Czech case? What has been done and what could (should) be done.

Structure of the presentation
•1. Let me introduce…A brief description of the evolution of the party system in the Czech Republic
•2. The stability of the party system I: Individual actors and volatility
•3.  The stability of the party system II: A systemic approach
•4. Party system in the Czech Republic: Problems, challenges, possibilities

Who are they? Political parties in the Czech Republic
•Civic Forum (OF, 1989) – umbrella democratization movement, broke up in 1991 •Communist Party of
Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM, 1921) – radical-left, an untransformed communist party •Czech Social
Democratic Party (ČSSD, 1878) – moderate centre-left party •Christian Democratic Union –
Czechoslovak People`s Party (KDU-ČSL, 1919) •Civic Democratic Party (ODS, 1991) – the major
centre-right (liberal-conservative) party, a result of breaking up of OF
•Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA,1989) – a minor conservative party

Who are they? Political parties in the Czech Republic
•Association for the Republic – Republican Party of Czechoslovakia (SPR-RSČ, 1990) – radical-right
wing, populist party •Movement for Self-Governing Democracy – Association for Moravia and Silesia
(HSD-SMS, 1990) – a regional party •Liberal Social Union (LSU, 1992) – an electoral alliance of
agrarians, socialists and the Green Party
•The Green Party (SZ, 1990) – an ecologist, rather right-centre party
•Freedom Union (US, 1998) – a minor liberal party, splinter from ODS
•TOP 09 (2009) – splinter from KDU-ČSL, a liberal-conservative party
•Public Affairs (2002) – an „exclusively populist“ political party

Development of political parties in a nutshell
•November 1989 – the Civic Forum founded (together with other political parties), recognition of
the „old parties“ (KSČ, ČSL, ČSS)
•1990 election – victory of OF, parl. representation of KDU(-ČSL), KSČ(M) and HSD-SMS
•1991 – breakup of OF and emergence/independence of ODS, ODA and other small parties
•1992 election won by ODS-KDS and formation of the centre-right cabinet (V. Klaus)
•Fragmentation of the parliament (LSU, HSD-SMS, ČSSD, SPR-RSČ, KSČ)
•1996 – the electoral success of ČSSD; formation of the centre-right minority cabinet (V. Klaus)
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Development of political parties in a nutshell
•1997/8 – splitting of ODS and the emergence of Freedom Union (US)
•1998-2002: reduction of the number of parliamentary parties, „opposition agreement“ (Coalition of
Four project)
•2002-2006: left-centre cabinets (ČSSD, KDU-ČSL, US-DEU)
•2006 – parliamentary dissapearence of US-DEU, entry of the Green Party (SZ), centre-right-green
cabinet
•2009 – fall of the cabinet  (a caretaker cabinet till 2010)
•2010 – the rise of (quasi-)new parties TOP 09 and Public Affairs (VV), weakening of the two major
parties, parliamentary departure of SZ and KDU-ČSL, centre-right cabinet

Electoral results (1990-2010, number of seats)
Data source: volby.cz, *Czech National Council election





Volatility and the success of new political parties
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Parliamentary party replacement



Party system stability in CZE – a systemic approach
•„the system of interactions resulting from inter-party competition“ (Sartori 1976) •A party system
change occurs „when a party system is transformed from one class or type of party system into
another“ (Mair 1997: 51-52) •A stable party system = stable and predictable patterns of party
competition
•How to measure these patterns?
•Cabinets composition? Polarity? Polarization?

Cabinets formation and patterns of party competition in the Czech Republic
•Since 1998 – the absence of clear, predictable government alternatives:
•The position of KSČM – very limited coalition potential, unprobable but not impossible cooperation
of left political parties, determinates interactions among the rest of the parties •Pivotal
position of KDU-ČSL (participation in both right-centre and left-centre cabinets) •„Opposition
agreement“ and after 2006 elections bargaining – (possible) cooperation of the two major rival
parties •Uncertainty related to (quasi)new political parties – SZ (2006) and VV (2010) – presence
of new actors contributes to uncertainty and unpredictability of the patterns of competition
•Variability of (possible) real coalition options - instability of the Czech party system

Conclusion
•Stable parties and unstable party system in the Czech Republic – necessary to distinguish between
parties stability and party system stability
•Unstable parties due to the recent electoral earthquakes
•Dominant unidimensional competition (supplemented by some other relevant issues)
•Unstable party system – lack of well-established patterns of conflicts and cooperation
•Roots of low stability:
•Character of parties (mostly top-down institutions)
•Atmosphere in society
•Economic turbulence
•Quality of political representation
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