The Czech Republicans 1990-8: A populist outsider in a consolidating democracy

The chapter examines the Czech Repulicans (the SPR-RSČ) , a radical right-wing party represented in the Czech parliament between 1992 and 1998, as a case study of party-based oppositional outsider populism in a consolidating democracy. It traces the origins and development of the party, then examines the populist nature of the party's radical right appeals in the 1990s and the implicit understanding of democracy these contained. It concludes by evaluating the Republicans’ impact on the development of Czech democracy and assessing the extent to which it has left a legacy in contemporary Czech politics

Two Cheers for Czech Democracy

The paper discusses the state of Czech democracy and current research agendas on democracy in the Czech Republic, focusing in particular on the role of political parties. It considers Czech democracy both in relation to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and in the light of the evolving relationship between CEE and Western Europe. It suggests that current CEE states such as the Czech Republic gradually approximating to models of West European-style party politics may need rethinking. It then examines democracy in the Czech Republic in relation to debates on democratic “backsliding”, arguing that in the Czech cases the principal “backsliding” risks lie less in the rise of authoritarian populists than a potential crisis of democratic representation driven by perceptions of corruption. The paper concludes with some suggestions about future avenues for research on Czech and CEE democracy

Blue velvet: The rise and decline of the new Czech right

In Comparative terms, the Czech centre-right (principally the Civic Democratic Part - ODS - of Václav Klaus) represents an intermediate case between those of Hungary and Poland. Although Klaus's ODS has always been a large, stable and well-institutionalized party, avoiding the fragmentation and instability of the Polish right, the Czech centre-right has not achieved the degree of ideological and organization concentration seen in Hungary. A number of factors are commonly used to explain party (and party system) formation in the region in relation to the Czech centre-right. These include both structural-historical explanations and 'political' factors such as macro-institutional design, strategies of party formation in the immediate post-transition period, ideological construction and charismatic leadership. In fact, both the early success and subsequent decline of the Czech right were rooted in a single set of circumstances: (1) the early institutionalization of ODS as the dominant party of the mainstream right; and (2) the right's immediate and successful taking up of the mantle of market reform and technocratic modernization. © 2004 Taylor and Francis Ltd

Australian Legends: historical explorations of Australian masculinity and film 1970-1995.

The twin purpose of this research is to explore films as historically specific cultural texts, rather than representations of one historical moment, and to engage with historiographical debates surrounding representations of masculinity in Australian history. I do this to create a way of engaging with film and history where film is culturally representative of the past, not simply a depiction of a specific point in time. This study considers two films, George Miller's Mad Max (1979) and Stephan Elliot's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) to explore the relationship over time between violence, masking and landscape with the representation of performative masculinity in an Australian context

Getting the right right: Redefining the centre-right in post-communist Europe

Existing literature on the centre-right in Eastern and Central Europe is small and fragmentary, in contrast with the voluminous, detailed and often sophisticated comparative literatures on the Left and the Far Right in the region. A review and synthesis of the existing literature suggests the possibility of a definition of the Right and Centre-Right in the region, which can both accommodate its diversity and provide a shared framework for analysis. The Centre-Right should be understood as neither an atavistic throwback to a pre-communist past nor a product of the straightforward assimilation of Western ideologies. Rather, it is a product of the politics of late communism, domestic reform, European integration and post-Cold War geopolitical realignment, which has powerfully reshaped historical influences and foreign models. © 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd

Are the Exceptions Really the Rule? Questioning the Application of 'Electoral-Professional' Type Models of Party Organization in East Central Europe

Much writing on party organisational development in post-communist East Central Europe has argued that, with the partial exception of successor parties to former regime parties, political parties in the region will be state-centred, low-membership organisations dominated by political elites, which loosely approximate to the ‘cartel’ and ‘electoral-professional’ models of party identified by some scholars in Western Europe. This pattern of development in East Central Europe is seen as reflecting the specific opportunity structures of post-communist societies, which both shape politicians’ organisational strategies and determine available resources for party building. Using a detailed re-examination of the Czech case, this paper questions the applicability of such models. It argues that their use is problematic not simply because of inherent difficulties of model fitting, but because they underestimate the path dependent character of party organisational development in the region and, especially the extent to which viable parties appear to have drawn on organisational resources accumulated under the old regime and during transition. The combination of path dependency and post-communist opportunity structures, it is argued, tends to create hybrid party organisations, which are removed from ‘electoral professional’ type parties in a number of ways. The paper concludes by suggesting possible avenues for rethinking party organisational development in the region