A Rollercoaster Ride: The Three Decades Following the Break-Up of Czechoslovakia

Abstract

Since the breakup of Czechoslovakia on 1 January 1993 the Czech and Slovak Republics have been on a rollercoaster ride. They underwent democratization and faced challenges to their democracies, marketized their economics and experienced neoliberal turns, integrated into Western structures and sought to flourish as members of the European Union. This panel brings together both experts from the two countries and international scholars to examine the advances and setbacks of political developments in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, focusing on areas such as party system development, civil society, European integration and state capture. They will place the experience of Czechoslovakia’s successor states into comparative perspective, illuminating the wider lessons of political transformation for the region and wider European politics.