Political participation after the COVID-19: a comparison of the on-line congresses of the Czech Pirate Party, the Green Party and Czech Social Democratic Party two years later

Covid-19 has changed a lot in various ways but also forced individuals and groups to adopt innovative solutions. In the case of political parties, the pandemic practically prohibited classical gatherings such as regular party congresses. In some cases, it was impossible to organise such events during the lockdown(s). And this was crucial for the party organisation, especially its digitalisation. This paper focuses on three Czech political parties that experienced an online congress as the first Czech political parties in 2021: the Czech Pirate Party, the Green Party and the Czech Social Democratic Party. These parties still share some aspects leading to a positive understanding of the situation and the volition to switch to a digital environment. The principal aim is to analyse how these parties reflect on their attempt to bring traditional onsite party events to the online environment. The main goal is to focus on exploring the choice of individual online platforms, the costs that this change to the online environment meant for the parties, and evaluating this journey through the lens of party leadership. Today, of course, party events can take place without any restrictions. The surveyed political parties themselves had to decide whether they would continue to prefer online party events or return to traditional formats. Based on this analysis, it will be possible to understand better what the parties positively perceive about the forced digitalisation of party events after two years and what factors were decisive for the return to the ‘old orders‘.