Issue published: 30 September 2016

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Three technocratic cabinets in the Czech Republic: a symptom of party failure?

Miloš Brunclík, p. 7–28

Abstract: This article compares three technocratic cabinets that were appointed in the Czech Republic. Its aim is to determine to what extent the cabinets can be understood as a failure of political parties. The article outlines the concept of party failure. It argues that patterns of party failure can be found in all cases. However, in the last case—the technocratic cabinet of Jiří Rusnok—party failure was only partial and indirect; its technocratic cabinet cannot be interpreted as resulting from an inability of the parties to form a partisan cabinet, but rather it resulted from the president’s imposition of a technocratic cabinet. This imposition took place against the will of the parliamentary parties that sought to form a cabinet composed of party politicians immediately or following early elections.

Keywords: Czech Republic, technocratic cabinet, caretaker cabinet, interim cabinet

The rise of person‑based politics in the new democracies: the Czech Republic and Slovenia

Ladislav Cabada and Matevž Tomšič, p. 29–50

Abstract: In the article, the authors address certain recent political developments in two former communist countries, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. They focus on the rise of personalized politics, i.e. the type of political conduct that is driven predominantly bythe personal character of political leaders (much more than by programs and ideologies). Specifically, the authors look at the weak political partisanship in East‑Central Europeas one of the key factors triggering person‑based politics. They find that personalized leadership has divergent consequences for political life in a democratic polity. It is very effective in mobilizing mass support as well as in overcoming many organizational obstacles. However, its influence on the quality of the democratic process is questionable.

Keywords: Czech Republic, Slovenia, strong leaders, person‑based politics, new democracies

Much more than Economy: Assessing electoral Accountability in the CEE Member States

Andrea Fumarola, p. 51–68

Abstract: Electoral accountability is considered the mechanism through which voters hold governments responsible for their performance. Questioning the traditional approach of economic voting theory, the article focuses on the influence exerted by the political context—comprehensively considered as government clarity of responsibility, availability of governing alternatives, electoral formula, and freedom of the media—on the accountability mechanism in eleven countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Using individual and aggregate data collected after the 2014 European Elections by the European Election Study (EES), the present article analyses this process in its double dimension of answerability and enforcement (Schedler 1999). Our findings suggest that voters’ ability to express discontent with economic performance in new European democracies is strongly influenced by specific characteristics of the political context. A stable and cohesive government as well as a free media system, in particular, seem to facilitate performance voting in the region.

Keywords: Central‑Eastern Europe, electoral accountability, political system, mass media

Anti‑Romani Terrorism in Europe

Miroslav Mareš, p. 69–91

Abstract: This article analyzes terrorism against the Roma in Europe. It identifies acts of terrorism in violence that targets the largest stateless nation on the continent and categorizes this terrorism according to current research methods. Focusing on events inboth Western and Eastern Europe, the article analyses and compares the most significant terrorist acts against the Roma of recent years. It concludes that anti‑Romani terrorism is heterogeneous in terms of tactics, strategies, and ideological justification, yet canusually be subsumed into the broadly conceived category of far‑right terrorism. The variety of attacks suggests that terrorist acts are an offshoot of the broad spectrum of anti‑Romani activity, and are influenced by contemporary trends in inter‑ethnic violence.

Keywords: Romani people, terrorism, Europe, far right, racist violence

DISCUSSION

Petr Just: Czech Protest Movements in the 2014 European Parliament Elections

REVIEWS

Přemysl Rosůlek: Adam Markus, Geschichte des ungarischen Nationalismus (2013), Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main.