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The focus of this study lies in the instrumental use of history as a tool for the legitimization of political claims. Our paper is related to the Slovak National Uprising, which plays a crucial role in the national mythology of Slovakia. This role is a reason why the annual celebrations of this historical event are one of the most important political occasions in the country. Many politicians use the celebrations as an opportunity to highlight many political issues and address a broad audience. Using semi-participant observation, we analysed five anniversary celebrations of the event (2015–2019) and the securitization strategies inherited in the speeches of politicians at the celebrations. We showed that not only topics related to the legacy of the anti-fascist uprising (e.g. contemporary right-wing extremism) are securitized or serve as objects of the creation of moral panic during these events. Some other, unrelated actors/phenomena are securitized or labelled as a threat as well – especially immigration and the politics of the EU. This fact notwithstanding, the legacy of the SNU was always used for the legitimization of securitization/creation of moral panic.

Over the course of Russia’s post-Soviet development, the Russian Orthodox Church has become a significant actor in social and political relations in Russia. This text deals with the ways in which the Russian Orthodox Church’s relationship toward the West has developed and how the Church features in the state’s official policy toward the West. This paper, which is based mainly on an analysis of primary sources (state and Church documents, media), is structured chronologically. Important landmarks in it include Vladimir Putin’s entrance into the position of president and Kirill’s entrance into the position of the Moscow patriarch. The study shows that, at present, the state and the Church rhetoric are almost identical and both focus on the defense of Russian foreign policy visions and plans.

Abstract\nPLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARYDrawing on constructivist approaches, this article contributes to the debate on ideological discourses of (anti-)corruption. The text is inspired by the research of Blendi Kajsiu and focuses on the ideological discourses contained in textual production at different levels of Czech politics – party election manifestos, government policy statements and official governmental anti-corruption strategies. The aim of the analysis is to identify similarities and differences in how political actors formulate their ideas about (anti-)corruption in the electoral process, after gaining executive power and finally in the formulation of the foundations of anti-corruption policies contained in governmental anti-corruption strategies. Thus, the main research question asks whether there is consistency in the discourses carried by a given actor before the elections and after gaining a share of executive power. In the text, we argue that when governments are formed by parties reproducing a centrist or neoliberal discourse, they usually carry this discourse from their election manifestos into the government’s declaration and also into the government’s official anti-corruption strategy. On the contrary, in the case of populist discourse, this transfer has not happened even once, and populist discourse thus appears primarily as a strategy designed to appeal to the electorate.This study examines the various anti-corruption policies formulated by Czech political actors. Despite the common belief that anti-corruption policies are in principle non-ideological and based on expertise, this study aims to underline their deeply ideological nature. The study thus helps policymakers and researchers to understand why these anti-corruption policies often fail, which could be a first step towards their reformulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarly debates on the links between the rise of populist parties, leaders, and movements and the role of civil society are growing and increasingly fascinating. However, this is one of the areas within 'populism studies' that has received less attention. Exploring the links between populism and civil society opens up space for many possible avenues of research, rooted in different research traditions. This special issue, with a total of 10 papers, aims to deepen this increasingly important line of research, highlighting both lesser-described forms and examples of populism as well as dominant forms of populism in Europe, such as right-wing or left-wing populism. In this introduction, we aim to (1) outline the various links between populism and civil society and place them in the context of populism studies, and (2) summarise the papers in this issue and their main findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text builds on existing debates on types of populism in contemporary political science literature. Our premise is that with new types of populism emerging in the debate, and with the significantly increasing number of texts dealing with populism, the types are being hollowed out. Using a dataset consisting of a total of 539 texts published between 2011 and 2020 containing the keyword populism and using a machine-learning based classification model of concordance data, we show that (1.) ambiguities and confusions among the different types of populism become more prominent over the study period, categories become emptier and their usefulness for classification decreases, and (2.) the only stable and consensually defined type in the long run is right-wing populism. We conclude by recommending to depart from creating classifications of types of populism based on specific ideological or non-ideological features and to keep these levels (populism and other features) – within analysis – separate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corruption is a phenomenon with significant effects – economically, politically and culturally. Corruption tends to be viewed negatively by the public. As such, anti-corruption rhetoric may be an ideal election strategy for individual political parties. Nevertheless, anti-corruption rhetoric does not necessarily translate into an actual anti-corruption policy. This study analyses the impact of anti-corruption rhetoric that does not reflect the actual practices of its speaker and has been used strategically to gain favour. My focus is on elections and the subsequent formation and exercise of government in the Czech Republic. I analyse how anti-corruption rhetoric directed at political opponents works as an election success strategy. At the same time, I show how electoral success, transformed into real political power, strengthens the ability of actors to engage in activities that amount to borderline or outright corruption, irrespective of any anti-corruption rhetoric.

This article contributes to discussions on culture wars, memory politics, and the politics of dead bodies. It uses the example of the annual celebration of the liberation of the city of Pilsen by the American army in 1945 to demonstrate the use of the concept of "political necromancy." The Pilsen celebrations are one of the events during which participating politicians use fallen (or suffering) soldiers as an argument to support current political goals. Metaphorically, the politician as a necromancer brings the fallen back to life and sends them as an army of the dead to fight in culture wars and memory wars. The article focuses on introducing the different strategies used in this process (depersonalizing the fallen or creating a ghost hero) and shows how dead bodies and the appropriate use of memory politics are used to bolster foreign policy ties to the US and to lash out against Russia and communism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of the relationship between pirate parties and populism has not yet been adequately resolved. This article aims to answer this question: Regarding its communication, is it possible to classify the Czech Pirate Party as a populist party? For that purpose, the Pirates' communication has been contextualized in a comparative perspective with the Czech parties ANO and SPD, which are commonly considered populist. The study uses qualitative and quantitative content analysis and the principle of triplets to measure populism. Among other things, the analysis indicates that the level of populism in the communication of the Pirates is negligible and the party cannot be identified as populist. Moreover, the anti-establishment appeal does not prevail in the communication either. In this respect, however, the communication of the Pirates has significantly changed after entering the Parliament. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The letter to the editor discusses the phenomenon of academics in the Czech Republic publishing articles outside their field due to pressures related to evaluation, funding, and rewards in the scientific community. This practice is driven by the emphasis on quantity over quality, with some researchers submitting work to journals completely unrelated to their expertise or even to predatory journals. The letter highlights how this behavior is incentivized by financial bonuses and rewards, leading to a potential lack of meaningful contributions in the authors' actual field of study. [Extracted from the article]

This paper is focused on the issue of corruption perception in the Czech Republic. After introducing the general framework for corruption perception in post-communist countries, this paper uses the Czech Republic as an example of the ways in which corruption is perceived, the areas Czech citizens feel are most plagued by corruption, and the ways in which corruption perception has transformed in terms of post-communist developments. This paper points out the differences in corruption perception among Czech citizens, the media and political parties and their representatives. The conclusion of the paper attempts to answer the question of how corruption perception has affected the overall perception of the democratic regime in the Czech Republic. It also asks questions regarding how this has influenced the evaluation of democracy and the relationship between Czech citizens and political institutions, including individual political parties.

This study follows the constructivist tradition of corruption research. Specifically, we analyze representations of corruption and anti-corruption in the electoral manifestos of Czech political parties and movements between 1990 and 2017. In these documents, corruption is primarily construed as a security issue and is framed within the context of economic and organized crime. The causes of corruption, the main actors behind it, and the proposed countermeasures draw on three dominant discourses: neoliberal, centrist, and populist. Neoliberal discourse attributes corruption to the overextended nature of the state, with public officials as the primary perpetrators of corruption. Countermeasures are based on streamlined public administration and personal accountability of government employees in this discourse. Centrist discourse sees the interweaving of economic and political power as the cause of corruption perpetrated by the mafia or lobbyists. Countermeasures are rooted in legal regulation and cooperation with anticorruption forces in this discourse. Populist discourse provides an updated interpretation of the former two discourses. It borrows the metaphoric labeling of perpetrators from the centrist repertoire and the logic behind the proposed countermeasures from neoliberal discourse. In the conclusion, we compare our findings with the political constructions of corruption in other cultural contexts. We also shed light on some of the circumstances that may have contributed to framing corruption as a security issue in Czechia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the contemporary discussion about the political consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The goal of the text is to identify and analyze the neo-patrimonial rhetoric of Czech Prime Minister Babiš in connection with his handling of the pandemic. Using the quantitative and qualitative content analysis, we show, that Babiš' rhetoric has shifted after the beginning of the crisis from an anti-elite position to a neo-patrimonial (as a brand-new type of populism in the European context). The purpose of this text is to point out the rhetoric shift bounds to problematic consequences on the exercise of his function and the neutrality of the bureaucratic apparatus, which must apply during states of emergency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Comparative Politics is the property of Journal of Comparative Politics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article examines how use of the topic of corruption in the election manifestos of Czech political parties has transformed over the course of the entire post-communist period. The theoretical framework used to grasp the anti-corruption positions expressed in the manifestos is populism. The study builds on the discussions about mainstream political actors (not) adopting populist principles and on the methodological debate around the possibilities offered by populist communication research. Using a content analysis and the principle of triplets, the article analyses the election manifestos of all the parties that were successful in the parliamentary elections between 1990 and 2017 in order to determine whether there was a stronger presence of populist principles in communication on the topic of corruption. Among other things, the study shows that: (1) statements on corruption that are consistent with a populist communication strategy can be found in parties that are not commonly understood as populist throughout the entire researched period; (2) mainstream parties did not respond to the success of populists in the 2010, 2013, and 2017 elections by adopting populist principles; (3) the populists who won a share of power strengthened the elements of populist communication in the next election manifesto. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is supposed to be a contribution to contemporary discussion about creating “the others” as a populist strategy. One can say that the role of the most important “the others” in modern Czech history has been played by the Germans (as a nation) and/or by Germany (as a political unit). On the case of Czech President Miloš Zeman, the goal of this paper is to show the process of creation “the others”. The main questions of this text are: “Are the Germans the object of othering by Miloš Zeman? If yes, what are his arguments for creating this enemy of the Czech people?” This paper stands as a content analysis of dataset consist of all speeches, interviews, and articles by Miloš Zeman from his whole first presidential term in office. The main findings of this analysis are related to the reframing of the image of the Germans as a source of danger for the Czech people. Originally, Miloš Zeman used to speak mostly about the problems related to the so-called “Sudeten question”. However, this argumentation has been changed and Miloš Zeman has been speaking especially about the negative role of Germany during “immigration crisis” and immigration politics of Angela Merkel during the last years. Islam and immigration seem to be discoursively strong topics able to replace former importance of some other issues (the insignificant number of immigrants and especially Muslims in the country notwithstanding). Zeman often uses the historical images of Nazism to delegitimize Islam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista UNISCI is the property of Unidad de Investigaciones Sobre Seguridad y Cooperacion International (UNISCI) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)