Satisfied, Sceptical or Simply Indifferent? Current Public Opinion toward the Fall of Communism in the Czech Republic

0366776 - SOÚ 2012 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Lyons, Pat - Bernardyová, Alžběta
Satisfied, Sceptical or Simply Indifferent? Current Public Opinion toward the Fall of Communism in the Czech Republic.
Europe-Asia Studies. Roč. 63, č. 9 (2011), s. 1719-1744. ISSN 0966-8136. E-ISSN 1465-3427
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA407/08/1515
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70280505
Keywords : public opinion * Velvet Revolution * Czech Republic
Subject RIV: AO - Sociology, Demography
Impact factor: 0.578, year: 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2011.611655

This paper explores contemporary public opinion in the Czech Republic toward the Velvet Revolution of 1989 using a national survey undertaken in May 2008. The central question addressed in this paper is how Czech citizens two decades after the Velvet Revolution perceive this key historical event? In order to answer this question public opinion toward the Velvet Revolution is examined in terms of (1) goals: reform or revolution, (2) leadership: dissident elites or a mass movement, and (3) reasons: political or economic change. The evidence presented in this paper reveals that the Czech public sees the Velvet Revolution as being a bloodless overthrow of the previous political regime where the primary goal was political rather than economic change. However, the relative importance of the leadership role played by counter-elite dissidents vis-à-vis the actions of ordinary citizens divides Czech public opinion.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0201645