Lost Stability? Re-Alignment of Party Politics and the Rise of New Political Parties in the Czech Republic
Vlastimil Havlík, Petr Voda
Lost Stability? Re-Alignment of Party Politics and the Rise of New Political Parties in the Czech RepublicThe party system of the Czech Republic has traditionally been considered as a case of exceptional stability in the region of East-Central Europe. It was also almost a perfect example of unidimensional competition. This persistence and stability was undermined by the results of the 2010 and especially 2013 election, which brought the unprecedented rise of new antiestablishment political parties. Using aggregate data, the article analyses the geographical patterns and socio-demographic background of electoral support of the new political parties in the Czech Republic. The main outcome of the article is that the explanatory power of the left-right dimension has been significantly weakened. Consequently, the rise of the new parties should not be seen as a “substitution” but rather as a “transformation” of Czech party politics.
