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Swerving towards deconsolidation?

Democratic consolidation and civil society in the Czech Republic

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Das politische System Tschechiens

Zusammenfassung

The text takes a deeper look at the consolidation of democracy in the Czech Republic and contrasts the picture of Czech Republic as a poster child for economic transition in the early 1990s with the decreasing quality of the Czech democracy in the past years. This paradox, it argues, makes the Czech Republic a compelling case for democratization research. The term swerving towards consolidation is advocated. There are no attempts to renegotiate the rules of the democratic game, even though the political system has become polarized, governance has become more difficult and new actors have emerged. At the same time civic engagement is growing. The findings show that democratic consolidation is not a linear process. Instead, the quality of democracy is dynamic – reacting to domestic and external factors. A more nuanced approach is needed to understand the dynamics of democratic consolidation in Central and Eastern Europe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland

    Petra Guasti

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  1. Petra Guasti
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Correspondence to Petra Guasti .

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  1. Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Astrid Lorenz

  2. Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Hana Formánková

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Guasti, P. (2018). Swerving towards deconsolidation?. In: Lorenz, A., Formánková, H. (eds) Das politische System Tschechiens. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-21559-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-21559-0_3

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