Deeply rooted or smartly managed? Transformations of the Czech
Communist Party

k 2013

Deeply rooted or smartly managed? Transformations of the Czech Communist Party

DANĚK, Petr and Petr VODA

Basic information

Original name

Deeply rooted or smartly managed? Transformations of the Czech Communist Party

Authors

DANĚK, Petr (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution) and Petr VODA (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution)

Edition

RGS-IBG Annual International Conference. 2013

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Prezentace na konferencích

Field of Study

50000 5. Social Sciences

Country of publisher

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14310/13:00088977

Organization unit

Faculty of Science

Keywords in English

communist party; electoral geography; stability; electoral support

Abstract

V originále

The Czech Communist Party is one of few political parties in Central Europe which has survived all political turmoil of the 20th century and still, under the same name, enjoys steady popular support and the position of a parliamentary party in the 21st century. However, the geography of its electoral support has changed dramatically, from a minority party relying on working-class support in mining regions to a totalitarian party whose leading role was declared by the Constitution and finally to a marginalised but strong opposition political party. The main objective of the paper is to find the sources of its exceptional resilience. Potential strategies for achieving electoral support in three different periods are discussed and compared: (a) 1920s - the emergence of the party resulting from the split-up of the Social Democrats, (b) 1946 - its victory in the semi-competitive elections, and (c) since 1990 – its struggle to maintain the former support and to address young voters in a multiparty system . Methodologically, the paper is based on the regression analysis conducted on detailed regional data about electoral support between 1925 and 2010 and relevant social, economic and political data; on archival materials about the party structure and strategies; and on interviews with the party managers. The discussion points out to the existence of small and changing territorial and social strongholds complemented by mass popular support as an effect of appropriate pre-election strategies and reactions to political and social changes.

Links

MUNI/A/0902/2012, interní kód MU

Name: Globální environmentální změny v krajinné sféře Země a jejich dopady (Acronym: GlobE)

Investor: Masaryk University, Category A

Citovat

DANĚK, Petr and Petr VODA. Deeply rooted or smartly managed? Transformations of the Czech Communist Party. In RGS-IBG Annual International Conference. 2013.

@proceedings{1122053,
   author = {Daněk, Petr and Voda, Petr},
   booktitle = {RGS-IBG Annual International Conference.},
   keywords = {communist party; electoral geography; stability; electoral support},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Deeply rooted or smartly managed? Transformations of the Czech Communist Party},
   year = {2013}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 1122053
AU  - Daněk, Petr - Voda, Petr
PY  - 2013
TI  - Deeply rooted or smartly managed? Transformations of the Czech Communist Party
KW  - communist party
KW  - electoral geography
KW  - stability
KW  - electoral support
N2  - The Czech Communist Party is one of few political parties in Central Europe which has survived all political turmoil of the 20th century and still, under the same name, enjoys steady popular support and the position of a parliamentary party in the 21st century. However, the geography of its electoral support has changed dramatically, from a minority party relying on working-class support in mining regions to a totalitarian party whose leading role was declared by the Constitution and finally to a marginalised but strong opposition political party. The main objective of the paper is to find the sources of its exceptional resilience. Potential strategies for achieving electoral support in three different periods are discussed and compared: (a) 1920s - the emergence of the party resulting from the split-up of the Social Democrats, (b) 1946 - its victory in the semi-competitive elections, and (c) since 1990 – its struggle to maintain the former support and to address young voters in a multiparty system . Methodologically, the paper is based on the regression analysis conducted on detailed regional data about electoral support between 1925 and 2010 and relevant social, economic and political data; on archival materials about the party structure and strategies; and on interviews with the party managers. The discussion points out to the existence of small and changing territorial and social strongholds complemented by mass popular support as an effect of appropriate pre-election strategies and reactions to political and social changes.
ER  -

DANĚK, Petr and Petr VODA. Deeply rooted or smartly managed? Transformations of the Czech Communist Party. In \textit{RGS-IBG Annual International Conference.}. 2013.

Detailed Information on Publication Record