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Conceptualising European Elections: The Case of the Czech Republic

Michal Klíma, p. 5–23

Abstract: This article analyses the 2009 European parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic. Its objective is to verify whether the elections to the European Parliament in the Czech Republic confirm the theory of second-order elections. While this analysis demonstrates the validity of classic second-order elections theory, the Europe matters theory is less applicable and serves only as complementary. It is apparent that Europe matters in the Euro-elections in the Czech Republic. At the same time, according to the election results, the sparse attention Czech political parties paid to European issues – placing low-ranking party figures on the ballot sheets – and the limited exposure of the elections in Czech media indicate that, at best, Europe remains a secondary issue. The results of the European elections were largely perceived in terms of the domestic contest between the two largest parties in the Czech Parliament; the left-wing Social Democrats (ČSSD) and the rightwing Civic Democrats (ODS), which had, over the course of twenty four months, confronted each other in three sets of elections.

Keywords: European elections, Czech Republic, theory of Second-order elections, ‘Europe Matters’ theory, political parties, Czech party system, Czech electoral system, electoral campaign

‘We Lied by Day, We Lied by Night’ – The 50th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the Political Discourse of Lying

Melinda Kovács, p. 24–39

Abstract: The year 2006 not only marked the 50th anniversary of Hungary’s attempt to break away from Soviet dominance but it also saw what remains the biggest scandal and series of demonstrations in post-1989 Hungary. In mid-September 2006, an audio recording surfaced in which then Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány (MSZP, Hungarian Socialist Party) admitted to lying at a Socialist Party meeting shortly after the elections in April 2006. Demonstrations and street fighting followed, which was out of the ordinary for the Hungarian politics of the early 21^st century. This prolonged incident provides unique opportunities to study the discourse of an anniversary reaction and a genuine political crisis. I analyze newspaper discourses from the fall of 2006 to show what concepts and strategies were vying for primacy in defining what politics is and whether lies are de rigueur in the conceptualization of politics. Hungarian discourses in right-wing authority-centered journalism as well as in left-wing professional journalism were posited on communism / postcommunism. The differences in the papers, however, reveal what may be lost by relying on the oversimplifying monolithic perspective of post-communism.

Keywords: Hungary, political discourse, lying

Spatial Analysis of the Polish Parliament 2007-2010

Monika Turyna, p. 40–77

Abstract: The following work presents a comprehensive analysis of the Polish parliamentary elections in 2007 and subsequent formation of coalitional government and it’s policy choice from the public choice perspective. The aim of this work is to apply spatial competition approach and public choice research on coalitional bargaining to the case of Polish parliamentary elections. On the basis of valence model equilibrium predictions we find that for two parties the Downsian behavior is not likely. Second part of the empirical study deals with coalitional behavior, and again we find strategic behavior of the LiD party. The uncovered set and Schattschneider set are analyzed in comparison with the pension system reform conducted in 2007–2009. It turns out that theoretical predictions made with the use of cooperative game theoretical concepts correspond well with the actual policy choice.

Keywords: spatial competition, Poland, coalition formation

The Relation between Romania and Hungary in the Perspective of the European and Euro-Atlantic Membership

Mihai-Romulus Vădean, p. 78–97

Abstract: The article examines the relations between Romania and Hungary after the 1989 events in terms of the two countries integration in the European and Euro-Atlantic structures. In this context, we have identified eight stages establishing a framework for a benefic dialogue in order to develop economic, political and social relations. It was also revealed that there were four main stages in the relations between the two countries in the post-Communist period: two that have strained the relations, and two that have improved them. We refer here to the ‘Status Law’ stage - 2001 – and the ‘dual citizenship’ stage – 2005 – (periods of stress), and also to the two key moments in our opinion, in creating a climate of security in Central and Eastern Europe, signing the Treaty on Understanding, Cooperation and Good Neighbourhood (1996) and the joint government meetings stage (since 2005).

Keywords: Romania, Hungary, Treaty of understanding, cooperation and good neighbourhood relations between Romania and Hungary, bilateral relations, Central and Eastern Europe, dual citizenship, Statute Law, ethnic minorities, nationalism, Trianon, transition, historical reconciliation, European Union, NATO, autonomy, ethnic minority rights, interethnic relations, European integration, Communism, joint meeting of Romanian and Hungarian governments

The Change of Value Preferences in Czech Society and of Foreign Policy Makers as One of the Prerequisites of the Transformation of the Character of Czech Foreign Policy

Šárka Waisová, p. 98–114

Abstract: The political emancipation of Czechoslovakia after 1989 opened up a space for the fundamental political, societal and economic restructuring. The democratic transition provided for the change of the character of Czech foreign policy. One of the conditions for the change has been the transformation of value preferences in Czech society and of foreign policy makers. The transformation of value preferences which has taken place in the Czech Republic since 1989 is similar to the “silent revolution” that arose in Western European societies in the 1970s. I have based my analysis of Czech foreign policy on the following ideas, that 1) the identity of states is formulated by political representation on the basis of the facts(values), which the society adopts and lives within, and 2) that the values driveand determine activities and attitudes. The transformation of value preferences inCzech society and of foreign policy makers inevitably brings about a change of thecharacter of Czech foreign policy.

Keywords: character of Czech foreign policy, social change, materialism, postmaterialism

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Martina Ponížilová: Europe and its Others, Europe as the Other