Changes in Mutual Relations between Czech Social Democrats and Communists after 2000 and Strengthening of Anti-Communism in Czech Society and Politics

• Published in: Politické vedy Vol. 18; no. 4; pp. 8 - 31
• Main Author: Cabada, Ladislav
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bratislava Matej Bel University 01.01.2015; Univerzita Mateja Bela; Matej Bel University, Faculty of Political Sciences and International Relations
• Subjects: Communism; Democracy; Political behavior; Political parties; Politics / Political Sciences; cordon sanitaire; Communism; Anticommunism; Decommunisation; the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia; the Czech Social Democratic Party
• ISSN: 1335-2741; 1338-5623

The aim of this article is to analyse the development of anti-communist political attitudes and stances of Czech politics and society after 1989, particularly after the year 2000 in the connection with the changes in mutual relations between the two leading parties of Czech political left – the Social Democrats and Communist Party. In the first years of the first decade of the 21st Century, we can observe a number of stimuli, which, in our opinion, led to the revision and, at the same time, to the strengthening of anti-communism in the Czech Republic. The new form of anti-communism seems to be less forgiving than that of the 1990s, and it points to the essential importance of decommunisation for the development of a stable democracy. In the Czech Republic, two relevant left-wing political parties – the Czech Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia – can be seen as the main actors whose internal development and mutual relations can be understood as key for the understanding of the revitalisation of anti-communism in the country. In this text, we analyse the key programme and personal aspects connected with the anti-communism of the Czech Social Democratic Party and with the intraparty debates about its weakening or disappearance. We also present a more general context of the discussion about the stability and quality of democracy in connection with decommunisation processes and anti-communist attitudes.