Between emulation and adjustment: External influences on programmatic change in the Slovak SDL

Abstract

Certain processes of transformation have underpinned the programmatic development of the Slovak communist successor, the Party of the Democratic Left (SDL), most notably policy transfer from Western social-democratic parties. New young, dynamic leaders assumed the role of modernizers in the party in the first half of the 1990s, but a group of more conservative socialists took over in 1996. The two streams developed mutually incompatible attitudes not just to policy transfer, but to policy development in general. In the process of transformation, fast-track programmatic modernization and the internal divisions within the party were directly influenced by policy transfer from Western social-democratic parties and had a clear effect on the party's eventual implosion.

Acknowledgments

The authors extend thanks to numerous past and present SDL representatives and especially to Peter Weiss, the former chairman of the party. We are greatly appreciative of the friendly and efficient assistance of Ms Fogelová of the SDL staff. The authors extend their gratitude also to William E. Paterson, James Sloam and Dan Hough for their useful comments, and to Dan Hough for his careful editing of the text.

Notes

1. M. Rybář, Slovak Political Parties Before Parliamentary Elections 2002 (Bratislava: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2002), available at <http://www.fes.sk/arch_en/2002_elections.pdf>, p.9; accessed 1 June 2004.

2. A. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming the Communist Past: The Regeneration of Communist Parties in East Central Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002); L. Kopeček, ‘Strana demokratické levice 1989–2002: úspěch či neúspěch slovenských postkomunistů?’, in V. Hloušek and L. Kopeček (eds.), Rudí a ru˙žoví, Transformace komunistických stran (Brno: MPÚ, 2002), pp.100–37; T. Haughton, ‘Explaining the Limited Success of the Communist Successor Left in Slovakia: The Case of the Party of the Democratic Left (SDL)’, Party Politics, Vol.10, No.2 (2004), pp.177–91; P. Weiss, ‘K príčinám krízy slovenskej nekomunistickej l'avice’, Poliotologická revue, Vol.9, No.1 (2003), pp.154–64; B. Schmögnerová, Moderná l'avica: Úvaha o slevenskom socialistickom a sociálnodemokratickom myslení (Bratislava: SDL', 2001). For broader analyses of the SDL in the context of Slovak social and political transformation, see V. Leška, Slovensko rok před pravidelnými parlamentními volbami: vnitropolitická situace ve druhém roce předvstupních jednání s Evropskou unií (Prague: Studijní sešity ÚMV, 2001); G. Mesežnikov, ‘Domestic Policies and the Party System’, in G. Mesežnikov, M. Kollár and T. Nicholson (eds.), Slovakia 2002: A Global Report on the State of Society (Bratislava: Institute for Public Affairs, 2002), pp.23–86; S. Szomolányi, ‘Slovakia between Eastern and Central European Ways of Transition’, in V. Dvořáková (ed.), Success or Failure? Ten Years After (Prague: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 1999), pp.24–38; G. Evans and S. Whitefield, ‘The Structuring of Political Cleavages in Post-Communist Societies: The Case of the Czech Republic and Slovakia’, Political Studies, Vol.XLVI (1998), pp.115–39; J.T. Ishiyama and A. Bozóki, ‘Adaptation and Change: Characterizing the Survival Strategies of the Communist Successor Parties’, Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, Vol.17, No.3 (2001), pp.33–50; J. T. Ishiyama, ‘The Communist Successor Parties and Party Organizational Development in Post-Communist Politics’, Political Research Quarterly, Vol.52, No.1 (1999), pp.87–112; J.T. Ishiyama, ‘The Sickle or The Rose? Previous Regime Types and the Evolution of the Ex-Communist Parties in Post-Communist Politics’, Comparative Political Studies, Vol.30, No.3 (1999), pp.299–330.

3. We build primarily on the following literature: D. Dolowitz and D. Marsh, ‘Who Learns What from Whom: A Review of the Policy Transfer Literature’, Political Studies, Vol.XLVI (1996), pp.343–57; D. Dolowitz and D. Marsh, ‘Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy-Making’, Governance, Vol.13, No.1 (2000), pp.5–24; C. Radaelli, ‘Policy Transfer in the European Union: Institutional Isomorphism as a Source of Legitimacy’, Governance, Vol.13, No.1 (2000), pp.25–43; D. Stone, ‘Learning Lessons and Transferring Policy across Time, Space and Disciplines’, Politics, Vol.19, No.1 (1999), pp.51–9; D. Stone, ‘Non-Governmental Policy Transfer: The Strategies of Independent Policy Institutes’, Governance, Vol.13, No.1 (2000), pp.45–62.

4. We proceed here from an understanding of the ‘Third Way’ as a general political goal and policy programme that seeks to modernize social democracy and the left in broader terms. This approach is discussed in more detail in A. Giddens, ‘Introduction’, in A. Giddens (ed.), The Global Third Way Debate (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2001), pp.1–21.

5. V. Krivý, V. Feglová and D. Balko, Slovensko a jeho regiony: sociokultúrne súvislosti volebného správania (Bratislava: Nadácia Médiá, 1996), p.9; V. Krivý, ‘Results of the 2002 Parliamentary Elections’, in Mesežnikov et al. (eds.), Slovakia 2002, pp.87–111.

6. See K. Henderson, Slovakia: The Escape from Invisibility (London and New York: Routledge, 2002), pp.20–26; K. Henderson, ‘The Path to Democratic Consolidation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia: Divergence or Convergence?’, in G. Pridham (ed.), Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in East–Central Europe (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002), pp.206–38, at pp.210–11; see also J. Krejčí and P. Machonin, Czechoslovakia, 1918–92: A Laboratory for Social Change (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996).

7. Krejčí and Machonin, Czechoslovakia, 1918–92, p.239.

8. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming the Communist Past, pp.93–4; Kopeček, ‘Strana demokratické levice 1989–2002’, p.122.

9. Authors' interview with Peter Weiss, chairman of the party 1990–95, Bratislava, 20 Jan. 2003.

10. T. Haughton, ‘Explaining the Limited Success of the Communist Successor Left in Slovakia’, p.6.

11. We prefer the term ‘conservative socialists’ to others (such as ‘traditional socialists’ used by Kopeček, ‘hard-liners’ used by Haughton, or the ‘traditional left’ as used by Schmögnerová) that are used elsewhere. The ideological preferences of this stream orientated the group towards the concept of ‘democratic socialism’, although their ideology also included elements of familiar communist beliefs.

12. M. Dauderstädt, A. Gerrits and G. Márkus, Troubled Transition (Bonn and Amsterdam: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 1999), p.86.

13. Kopeček, ‘Strana demokratické levice 1989–2002’, pp.127–8.

14. Authors' interview with Jozef Košnár, head of the SDL commission for national economic matters, Bratislava, 20 Jan. 2003.

15. J. Migaš, ‘Zahajovací prejav na 5. sjezdu SDL, 23–24 October 1998’, Zvolen, in Lavicové noviny, Nov. 1998, p.1.

16. V. Leška, Vnitropolitická situace Slovenské republiky v roce 2000 (Prague: Studijní sešity ÚMV, 2000), pp.20–21; G. Pridham, ‘The European Union's Democratic Conditionality and Domestic Politics in Slovakia: The Mečiar and Dzurinda Governments Compared’, Europe–Asia Studies, Vol.51, No.2 (2002), p.218.

17. Mesežnikov, ‘Domestic Policies and the Party System’, p.80.

18. Ishiyama and Bozóki, ‘Adaptation and Change’, pp.44–5.

19. Schmögnerová, Moderná l'avica, p.20.

20. Haughton, ‘Explaining the Limited Success’; similarly Mesežnikov, ‘Domestic Policies and the Party System’, p.80.

21. G. Pridham, ‘Rethinking Regime-Change Theory and the International Dimension of Democratization: Ten Years After in East–Central Europe’, in G. Pridham and A. Ágh (eds.), Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in East–Central Europe (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001), pp.54–95; J. Batt, ‘The International Dimension of Democratization in Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic’, in G. Pridham, E. Herring and G. Sanford (eds.), Building Democracy? The International Dimension of Democratization in Eastern Europe (London: Leicester University Press, 1997), p.168.

22. G. Pridham, ‘Complying with the European Union's Democratic Conditionality: Transnational Party Linkages and Regime Change in Slovakia, 1993–1998’, Europe–Asia Studies, Vol.51, No. 7 (1999), pp.1231–2; also authors' interview with Peter Weiss, 20 Jan. 2003.

23. Authors' interview with Michael Petráš, head, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Bratislava, 20 Jan. 2003.

24. Authors' interview with Ján Richter, Secretary General of the SDL, Bratislava, 22 Jan. 2003.

25. Authors' interview with L'ubomír Petrák, chairman of the SDL, Bratislava, 22 Jan. 2003.

26. Authors' interview with Michael Petráš, 20 Jan. 2003.

27. Authors' interview with Michael Petráš, 20 Jan. 2003.

28. Authors' interview with Peter Weiss, 20 Jan. 2003, and with Michael Petráš, 20 Jan. 2003.

29. Authors' interview with Ján Richter, 22 Jan. 2003. Mr Richter received training in the organization and administration of political parties by the British Labour Party.

30. Authors' interview with Ján Richter, 22 Jan. 2003. Mr Richter received training in the organization and administration of political parties by the British Labour Party.

31. Authors' interview with Peter Weiss, 20 Jan. 2003.

32. Interview with Vladimír Krivý, Institute for Sociology, Bratislava, 21 Jan. 2003.

33. P. Weiss, ‘K príčinám krízy slovenskej nekomunistickej l'avice’, p.157.

34. D. Stone, ‘Non-Governmental Policy Transfer’, p.50.

35. Authors' interview with Ján Richter, 22 Jan. 2003.

36. Authors' Interview with Peter Weiss, 20 Jan. 2003.

37. Authors' Interview with Ja´n Richter, 22 Jan. 2003.

38. T. Haughton, ‘Explaining the Limited Success of the Communist Successor Left in Slovakia’; authors' interview with Jozef Košnár, 20 Jan. 2003, and with Peter Weiss, 20 Jan. 2003.

39. M. Žiak, Pád komunismu na Slovensku (Bratislava: Archa, 1994), p.24.

40. According to Pavol Kanis, the IML translated a number of Western publications and was therefore able to reach a broader readership: authors' interview with Pavol Kanis, former deputy chairman of the SDL and minister of defence 1994 and 1998–99, Bratislava, 24 Jan. 2003.

41. Authors' interview with Jozef Košnár, 20 Jan. 2003.

42. Authors' interview with Peter Weiss, 20 Jan. 2003.

43. Authors' interview with Milan Ftáčnik, former deputy chairman of the SDL, minister of education 1998–2002, currently chairman of the SDA, Bratislava, 24 Jan. 2003.

44. Authors' interview with Ján Richter, 22 Jan. 2003.

45. Authors' interview with Ján Richter, 22 Jan. 2003.

46. ‘Zahranično-politický program’, in Dokumenty druhého zjazdu Strany demokratickej l'avice, 22.-23.mája 1993, Žilina (Bratislava: VV SDL, 1993), p.79.

47. ‘Zahranično-politický program’, in Dokumenty druhého zjazdu Strany demokratickej l'avice, 22.-23.mája 1993, Žilina (Bratislava: VV SDL, 1993), p.84.

48. ‘Politický program SDL’, 4. zjazd Strany demokratickej l'avice v Nitre 27–28. Apríla 1996 (Bratislava: VV SDL, 1996), p.54.

49. ‘Nová nádej’, Volebný program SDL (Bratislava: SDL, 2002), pp.1, 8.

50. Authors' interview with Eduard Chmelár, chairman of the programme commission of the SDL 1999–2003, Bratislava, 23 Jan. 2003.

51. Authors' interview with Ján Richter, 22 Jan. 2003.

52. Authors' interview with Eduard Chmelár, 23 Jan. 2003.

53. See the critical speech of Eduard Chmelár during the seventh congress of SDL, in Sedmý sjezd SDL (Bratislava: VV SDL', 2001), p.80.

54. Authors' interview with Michael Petráš, 20 Jan. 2003.

55. Authors' interview with Lubomír Petrák, 22 Jan. 2003.

56. Authors' interview with Ján Richter, 22 Jan. 2003.

57. Authors' interview with Jozef Košnár, 20 Jan. 2003.

58. Authors' interview with Jozef Košnár, 20 Jan. 2003.

59. ‘Politický program SDL’, p.53.

60. ‘Politický program SDL’, pp.55–6.

61. Authors' interview with Peter Weiss, 20 Jan. 2003.

62. B. Schmögnerová, Moderná l'avica; authors' interview with Peter Weiss, 20 Jan. 2003.

63. Authors' interview with Eduard Chmelár, 23 Jan. 2003.

64. Authors' interview with Jozef Košnár, 20 Jan. 2003.

65. Authors' interview with Peter Weiss, 20 Jan. 2003. This had the same effect on the attitudes of politicians such as Milan Ftáčnik, who promoted liberal approaches and advocated the introduction of fees in Slovak universities: authors' interview with Daniel Šmihula, Institute for Political Sciences, Bratislava, 21 Dec. 2003, and with Ján Richter, 22 Jan. 2003.

66. Authors' interview with Milan Ftáčnik, 24 Jan. 2003.

67. Authors' interview with František Škvrnda, independent political analyst, Bratislava, 23 Jan. 2003.

68. Authors' interview with Milan Ftáčnik, 24 Jan. 2003.

69. ‘O čo sa usiluje SDL', in Dokumenty prvého zjazdu SDL', 14.–15. Decembra 1991, Trenčín (Bratislava: VV SDL', 1991).

70. ‘Sociálny program’, in Dokumenty druhého zjazdu Strany demokratickej l'avice, 22.–23. Mája, Žilina 1993 (Bratislava: VV SDL', 1993), p.61; ‘Politický program SDL’, pp.70–72.

71. P. Weiss, ‘K príčinám krízy slovenskej nekomunistickej l'avice’, p.160.

72. Batt, ‘The International Dimension’, p.168.

73. Authors' interview with Peter Weiss, 20 Jan. 2003, and with Milan Ftáčnik, 24 Jan. 2003.

74. ‘O čo sa usiluje SDL’, p.28.

75. ‘Nová nádej’, p.8.

76. The research project IX/55, an indirect continuation of strategic military thinking that began during the Prague Spring of 1968, was completed in spring 1989 and successfully defended at the Institute for Marxism and Leninism (the theoretical body of the Central Committee of the KSČ) in Prague. The Military Academy, Military–Political Academy and other research institutions of the Army actually conducted the research: authors' interview with Peter Barták, head of the defence policy section of SDL, Bratislava, 19 March 2003.

77. Authors' interview with Peter Barták, 19 March 2003.

78. Authors' interview with Ján Richter, 22 Jan. 2003, and with Pavol Kanis, 24 Jan. 2003.

79. ‘O čo sa usiluje SDL’', p.32.

80. ‘Zahranično-politický program’, p.76.

81. Authors' interview with Peter Weiss, 20 Jan. 2003.

82. ‘Akčný program Strany demokratickej l'avice’, in 4. zjazd Strany demokratickej l'avice v Nitre 27–28 Apríla, 1996 (Bratislava: VV SDL', 1996), pp.85–110.

83. Authors' interview with Peter Barták, 19 March 2003.

84. On general conditions of policy transfer, see the essay by W.E. Paterson and J. Sloam, ‘Learning from the West: Policy Transfer and Political Parties’, in this collection, pp.37–51.

85. G. Pridham, ‘The European Union's Democratic Conditionality’, p.205.

86. Authors' interview with Dušan Leška, faculty of physical education and sports, Comenius University, Bratislava, 23 Jan. 2003.