7. Characteristics of Central Europe

The chapter focuses on and highlights the main events and factors which form(ed) the political and party system in the states of Central Europe. For a rather long period, all four countries have been perceived as excellent examples of a successful transition from communist regimes to liberal democracies and the unambiguous triumph of liberal democracy. Of course, there were many differences between the countries (i.e. in timing and pace of changes). However, they all became members of NATO and the European Union, and their orientation was clearly pro-Western. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever, and in the last couple of years, we have been witnessing an apparent illiberal turn and deconsolidation in Hungary (due to Orbán’s Fidesz politics), Poland (due to Kaczyński’s Law and Justice), and Czechia (due to Babiš’s ANO and some moves of President Zeman). The change is broader and more profound in Hungary and Poland, where new policies have negatively affected the judicial system, media, universities, and NGOs. In Czech Republic, however, power has remained much more diffuse and has not involved a significant change in the political regime. Slovakia struggles with a poor quality of democracy as well, but it is a longer-term issue. The future developments in the region are uncertain.