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Small and Fragmented: Civil Society in the Czech Republic in the Antagonism Between Liberal and State-Centric Ideas

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Czech Democracy in Crisis

Abstract

This chapter explores what came out of the broad mobilisation for democracy and active civil society after 1989. It depicts a differentiated and ramified network of organised civil society (particularly in the environmental and social spheres), although the political setting has not always been conducive. Unions and umbrella associations of the non-governmental sector enjoy privileged participation in some public policy areas. A characteristic pattern is the protest against mainstream political parties—or the search for alternatives to them—by way of various forms and organisations of civil society that despite formally rejecting established structures may well seek political posts. Although there exist numerous civic organisations with a rather strong influence, overall participation remains low.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I would like to extend my thanks to Christiane Brenner for valuable comments on this contribution, as well as to Stephan Stockinger for providing the English translation.

  2. 2.

    Andrej Babiš (ANO) has been serving as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic since the parliamentary elections in 2017.

  3. 3.

    The separation of Czechoslovakia led to the founding of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic on 1/1/1993.

  4. 4.

    The dissidents made no concrete political demands, instead referring to the Helsinki Accords (1975) and the general human rights, which were officially upheld by the Czechoslovak government but violated in practice. The main issues were the freedoms of assembly and movement, protection from repression, the restriction of education and the destruction of the natural environment (Charta 1977).

  5. 5.

    The overall increase to this day is 3.6%. Author’s calculations for the years 2005–2013 based on Prouzová (2015, p. 4).

  6. 6.

    Usnesení vlády z 10. června 1992 č. 428. The board is located in the government office and still exists today in a modified form (see below).

  7. 7.

    President Zeman, for instance, has made critical and less than benevolent statements concerning the Czech civil society (see below).

  8. 8.

    Sbírka zákonů České republiky, č. 89/2012. Zákon ze dne 3. února 2012 občanský zákoník.

  9. 9.

    Several governments since 2004 have submitted draft laws and legislative proposals in this context, but none of these were enacted. Transparency International gives the Czech Republic 19 of 100 possible points (Kwiatkowski 2016, p. 16f.).

  10. 10.

    The RVNNO is a reorganized version of the abovementioned trust board established in 1998 under social democratic prime minister Zeman (Navrátil and Pejcal 2017, p. 46). On the RVNNO, see https://www.vlada.cz/cz/ppov/rnno/zakladni-informace-767/ (accessed on 02/06/2019).

  11. 11.

    On the RHSD, see https://www.vlada.cz/cz/ppov/tripartita/tripartita-139224/ (accessed on 02/06/2019).

  12. 12.

    Besides the Social Democrats (ČSSD ), the Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL ) and the populist party ANO (“Action of Dissatisfied Citizens”) were part of the government coalition.

  13. 13.

    Státní politika vůči nestátním neziskovým organizacím na léta 2015–2020. Prague 2015. In addition, high fluctuation among the ministers and their staff impedes a continuous approach by government.

  14. 14.

    Council Regulation (EC) no. 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006, Article 11 (“Partnership”).

  15. 15.

    An opposing development is discernible in Hungary: After the Orbán government cut public funding for the civil society considerably, assistance by international financers increased significantly (Meyer et al. 2017, p. 23).

  16. 16.

    62% of public funding for the non-profit sector comes from the national budget and national trust funds; 13% is disbursed by the regions and 25% by the communities (Navrátil and Pejcal 2017, p. 47).

  17. 17.

    Císař and Vráblíková (2015, p. 12) estimate the percentage of protests (contentious politics) relating to the economic situation as follows for the four Visegrád countries: Czech Republic 16%, Slovak Republic 28%, Poland 45%, Hungary 69%.

  18. 18.

    See Carmin and Jehlička (2005) as well as Zeitler (2011, pp. 227–232) on the two associations in socialism.

  19. 19.

    For general information on external democracy assistance in the Czech Republic, see Freise (2004).

  20. 20.

    Based on the premise that civil society organizations are supposed to have a socialization function (“school of democracy”) and provide an “infrastructure” for citizen participation , Frič (2016, p. 237f., 43) views this development critically.

  21. 21.

    Sbírka zákonů České republiky, č. 108/2006 Sb. Zákon ze dne 14. března 2006 o sociálních službách, § 95.

  22. 22.

    A previously important administrative reference level were the smaller districts (okresy), which represented the territorial proxies of state administration until 2003. In the course of the decentralization reform, this administrative level was abolished (Weiss 2015, p. 43).

  23. 23.

    The data refer to a case analysis of two regions. The other half is represented by public carriers: regions, municipalities and communities (Weiss 2015, p. 89).

  24. 24.

    For information on smaller, often creative social and employment projects, see http://socialimpactaward.cz/ (accessed on 02/06/2019).

  25. 25.

    See Civicus Monitor, Tracking Civic Space, https://monitor.civicus.org/newsfeed/2016/11/01/czech-republic-overview/ (accessed on 02/06/2019).

  26. 26.

    See https://klinika.451.cz/o-nas/ (accessed on 02/06/2019). Support for the project extended beyond its own milieu, coming e.g. from former civil rights activists, from the academic sphere and from artists.

  27. 27.

    In this context, Kopecký and Mudde (2003) already advised against “West-centring” of research and against drawing conclusions on the strength or weakness of civil society from individual indicators. See also the overview of the development of research on civil society by Jacobsson and Korolczuk (2017).

  28. 28.

    The confidence values for the House of Representatives—even over a longer period of time—generally remain below 30%, those for the Senate at around 30%. Positive deviations are traditionally found at the communal (mayor and local council) and sometimes at the regional (regional assembly and commissioner) level of administration: For these, the values are around 60% respectively 40%. Long-term data is available at https://cvvm.soc.cas.cz. See among others Centrum pro výzkum veřejného mínění (CVVM): Důvěra ústavním institucím v říjnu 2017. Prague 2017.

  29. 29.

    Daniela Lazarová, Storm Brewing over Plans to Cut State Funds to NGOs, 09/08/2018 https://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/storm-brewing-over-plan-to-cut-state-funds-to-ngos?utm_source=dlvr.it (accessed on 02/06/2019). In May 2019, the government also cut financial support for organizations in the area of anti-corruption activities by more than a quarter.

  30. 30.

    There is certainly an amplifying effect on the sceptical view of NGOs in this context in the fact that President Zeman has publicly accused organizations of taking funding for their own profit while providing few or no services. See examples in Frič (2016, p. 66).

  31. 31.

    The incidence of strikes in the Czech Republic is low, however. Yet when they are organized, they are the form of protest capable of mobilizing the largest numbers of participants (Císař 2013, p. 162).

  32. 32.

    On this, see Kopecký and Mudde (2003), Ekiert and Kubik (2014). Jacobsson and Korolczuk (2017) in particular have contributed to this research with empirical studies; for the Czech Republic, see Císař (2013), Císař and Vráblíková (2015), Pixová and Sládek (2017).

  33. 33.

    See http://www.czech.cz/cz/Zivot-a-prace/Jak-to-v-CR-funguje/Dobrovolnictvi-v-Ceske-republice/ (accessed on 02/06/2019). A large share is contributed by work in the volunteer fire departments, among others.

  34. 34.

    See ADRA: Tisková konference o pravidelném dárcovství v České republice, 2012, available at https://www.adra.cz/mince-denne/pravidelne-darcovstvi-v-cr/ (accessed on 02/06/2019).

  35. 35.

    On older traditions of anti-political politics, see Havelka (2014).

  36. 36.

    The political background was provided by the “Opposition Agreement” signed between the social democratic minority government under Miloš Zeman and the ODS; this agreement stood for the “political deal” between Zeman and Klaus (Weiss 2017, p. 363f.).

  37. 37.

    Protests in 2017 directed against the political culture of Andrej Babiš and Miloš Zeman were able to mobilize 20,000 persons throughout the country. The demonstrations of 2019 organized by “A Million Moments for Democracy” (Milion chvilek pro demokracii)—a movement campaigning for the independence of the justiciary following a controversial shake-up in the Ministry of Justice and demanding the resignation of the prime minister, who is under suspicion of corruption—are likewise drawing large crowds. The rally in June 2019 was the largest since the protests in 1989. http://www.praguemonitor.com/2017/05/11/street-meetings-protest-against-babi%C5%A1-zeman-czech-towns/; https://www.respekt.cz/galerie/ctvrt-milionu-lidi-za-nezavislost-justice-a-lepsi-vladu (accessed on 23/06/2019).

  38. 38.

    In 2017, the Pirate Party was able to win nearly 11% of the national vote, and almost 18% in Prague. For election results in the Czech Republic, see the website https://volby.cz/ hosted by the Czech Statistical Office.

  39. 39.

    Babiš also advocates widespread dismantling of the system of democratic institutions—including halving the number of members of the House of Representatives as well as abolishing the Senate as the second chamber as well as regional autonomy. See e.g. the interview by Andrea Procházková with Pavel Rychetský, https://www.respekt.cz/politika/milos-zeman-si-vyrazil-z-ruky-velmi-ucinnou-zbran-rika-rychetsky/ (accessed on 02/06/2019). On populism in the Czech Republic, see Weiss (2017).

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  1. Collegium Carolinum (Research Institute for the History of the Czech Lands and Slovakia), Munich, Germany

    Stephanie Weiss

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  1. Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany

    Astrid Lorenz

  2. Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany

    Hana Formánková

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Weiss, S. (2020). Small and Fragmented: Civil Society in the Czech Republic in the Antagonism Between Liberal and State-Centric Ideas. In: Lorenz, A., Formánková, H. (eds) Czech Democracy in Crisis. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40006-4_4

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