Un visage pratique du « néocommunisme » tchèque : la propagande électorale du Parti communiste de Bohême et de Moravie depuis 1990

Abstract

The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KS^M) is the only Communist Party in central Europe that preserves several characteristics of the former ruling Communist Party. It is accused of having maintained the same rank and file and, especially, of remaining a "conservative" Communist Party with an orthodox ideology, in other words, of being an "anti-system" party. Following its Fifth Congress in December 1999 however, the KSCM played an active role in competitive elections, and more than 20 % of respondents in public opinion polls said they would vote for it. But it is still kept out of any political participation at the national level, apart from the possibility of introducing bills of law in parliament. How to account for this growing cleavage between electoral support for this party, so different from other parties, and its weak role in politics? A partial answer is provided to this question by analyzing a few characteristics of this party's political communication through its written propaganda (pamphlets, tracts, posters). Can we detect an ideological evolution in the way this party officially "presents" itself during elections, as it tries to attract as many voters as possible? Does the image that it gives of itself correspond to the image conveyed by the media and its political opponents?

Euroscepticism as a political label: The use of European Union issues in political competition in the new Member States

“…The Czech case was very different. The KSČM (Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia) did not follow the same path to social democracy and developed a ‘neo‐communist’ identity (Perottino 2000). In the early 1990s, this party rejected EU accession because it considered that such an unequal partnership would only accelerate the domination of the Czech economy by foreign capital and increase social inequalities.…”