Czech Social Democracy and its cohabitation with the Communist Party: The story of a neglected affair

Warning

This publication doesn't include Faculty of Sports Studies. It includes Faculty of Social Studies. Official publication website can be found on muni.cz.

Authors	KOPEČEK Lubomír PŠEJA Pavel
Year of publication	2008
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	Communist and post-communist studies
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Social Studies
Citation
Field	Political sciences
Keywords	Czech Social Democratic Party; the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia; Elections; Left in the Czech Politics
Description	This article attempts to analyze developments within the Czech Left after 1989. Primarily, the authors focus on two questions: (1) How did the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) achieve its dominance of the Left? (2)What is the relationship between the Social Democrats and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM)? We conclude that the unsuccessful attempt to move the KSCM towards a moderate leftist identity opened up a space in which the Social Democrats could thrive, at the same time gradually assuming a pragmatic approach towards the Communists. Moreover, the ability of Milos Zeman, the leader of the Social Democrats, to build a clear non-Communist Left alternative to the hegemony of theRight during the 1990s was also very important.
Related projects:	Political actors in the process of Europeanization and internationalization of the Czech political area Political Parties and The Representation of Interests in Contemporary European Democracies