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Political participation, representation and mobilisation of Polish national minority in the Czech Republic

National Identity
Political Participation
Political Parties
Representation
Radomir Sztwiertnia
Palacký University
Radomir Sztwiertnia
Palacký University

Abstract

Transition to democracy in Central Europe brought new ways for ethnic and national minorities to participate in political processes. The presence of minorities was predominantly perceived as a threat to both internal and international security, particularly due to situation in former Yugoslavia. Indeed, democratisation recalled old divisions in the region, which were frozen during the Communist rule. However, the situation of minorities was more complex. In number of cases there was rather unnoticed but substantial change of political opportunities in terms of political participation and representation of various groups on local and regional level that occurred without any major tensions. Herewith, the biggest attention of international scholars was paid to populous minority groups, such as Hungarian minorities in Romania and Slovakia. However, number of minority groups in post-communist countries remained neglected by academics on grounds of their relevance within the political system or peaceful coexistence with majority. Yet rather smaller, but territorially concentrated ethnic groups managed to build a position to influence the making of local democracy and establish persistent representation to advocate rights and defend claims. The paper will focus on one of such omitted ethnic minority groups in Central Europe – Polish minority in the Czech Republic. Its position in central political system is marginal, nevertheless on the local level, due to its territorial concentration the group is able to gain considerable share of votes in elections. That fact enables more effective promotion of interest, especially in case, when the minority forms actually majority in a municipality. On this account, the local level is presumably pivotal arena of politics for the minority members. As the number of the members of the national minority is continuously decreasing, the chances of the minority for electoral success and realisation of its political objectives are limited. The representatives of the minority are thus searching for new forms of political participation and attempt to mobilise potential supporters. Moreover, salience of Polish national identity among the members of the minority decreases with the time. The aim of the paper is to present political participation, representation and mobilisation of the minority. The paper deals with local elections, its conditions and relevant stakes. Consequently, an individual level of analysis concerns with ethnic minority elites, their motivations and aims related to political mobilisation. Presumably, the results of the analysis might be useful for study of other minority groups in Central Europe.