The article provides an overview of the first decade of Czech politics, focusing especially on the election results, the successive governing coalitions headed first by the Civic Democratic Party and then by the Social Democrats, and on the role of Václav Havel as president. It also analyzes the rivalry between Havel and his successor, Václav Klaus. After examining the underlying issues that have produced weak governments in recent years and that account for the continuing influence of unreconstructed Communist Party, the essay assesses Czech prospects as a member of NATO and EU.
About the Author
Michael Krausis Frederick C. Dirks Professor of Political Science at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. Among his most recent publications is Irreconcilable Differences? Explaining Czechoslovakia’s Dissolution (2000, ed., with Allison Stanger). This essay is based in part on research conducted at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
The populist backlash against corruption, the CEE transition-era elites, and the liberal consensus has led to a democratic crisis, but does not portend systemic change.
To understand how East-Central European societies have evolved since 1989, we must understand the building blocks that contribute to the establishment and functioning of open societies.
