Strana svobodných občanů – čeští monotematičtí euroskeptici?

KANIOK, Petr. Strana svobodných občanů – čeští monotematičtí euroskeptici? (The Party of Free Citizens: A Czech Single Issue Eurosceptic Party?). Středoevropské politické studie. Brno: MPÚ, 2014, XVI, No 1, p. 75-92. ISSN 1213-2691. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CEPSR.2014.1.75.

Basic information

• Original name: Strana svobodných občanů – čeští monotematičtí euroskeptici?
• Name in Czech: Strana svobodných občanů – čeští monotematičtí euroskeptici?
• Name (in English): The Party of Free Citizens: A Czech Single Issue Eurosceptic Party?
• Authors: KANIOK, Petr (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: Středoevropské politické studie, Brno, MPÚ, 2014, 1213-2691.

Other information

• Original language: Czech
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 50601 Political science
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14230/14:00073641
• Organization unit: Faculty of Social Studies
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CEPSR.2014.1.75
• Keywords (in Czech): Monotematická strana - Strana svobodných občanů - Euroskepticismus - Výklenková strana
• Keywords in English: Niche Party - Single Issue Party - Party of Free Citizens - Euroscepticism
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

Článek analyzuje Stranu svobodných občanů z hlediska konceptů monotematické strany, výklenkové strany a euroskepticismu. Na základě obsahové analýzy stranických dokumentů dochází ke zjištění, že Svobodní představují výklenkovou stranu, pro kterou není euroskepticismus dominantním politickým postojem.

Abstract (in English)

When, in the beginning of 2009, the Party of Free Citizens was founded, it was believed that the main impulse for establishing a new political party was the generally positive approach towards the Lisbon Treaty adopted by the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) a couple of months before. Thus, since its foundation, the media, commentators and political analysts have labelled the Party of Free Citizens as a single issue Eurosceptic party. This article challenges this prevailing evaluation of the Party of Free Citizens and subsequently confronts the party´s programs and press releases with three concepts – the concept of Euroscepticism connected with the work of Taggart and Szczerbiak, the concept of a single issue party developed by Mudde, and the concept of a niche party brought into political science by Meguide. The article concludes that while the Party of Free Citizens is undoubtedly a Eurosceptic party, both in terms of its soft and hard versions, its overall performance as a political entity does not meet the criteria of Mudde´s concept of a single issue party. As the Party of Free Citizens puts a strong emphasis on European issues (compared to other mainstream Czech political parties), it can, at most, be described as a niche party.

Links

• GA13-24657S, research and development project: Name: Evropa 2020: Horizont proměny relevantních aktérů politického systému České republiky

Investor: Czech Science Foundation