Political culture versus rational choice: Explaining responses to transition in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

British Journal of Political Science

Volumn 29, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 129-154

  Whitefield, Stephen ^c   Evans, Geoffrey ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

^b NUFFIELD COLLEGE   (United Kingdom)

^c NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0033475654     PISSN: 00071234     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S000712349900006X     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Harry Eckstein, 'A Culturalist Theory of Political Change', American Political Science Review, 82 (1988), 789-804.
2. An exception is Mitchell A. Seligson and John A. Booth, 'Political Culture and Regime Type: Evidence from Nicaragua and Costa Rica', Journal of Politics, 55 (1993), 777-92.
3. For a recent critique, see William M. Reisinger, 'The Renaissance of a Rubric: Political Culture as Concept and Theory', International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 7 (1995), 328-52. See also John Street, 'Political Culture - From Civic Culture to Mass Culture', British Journal of Political Science, 24 (1994), 95-104; Archie Brown, 'Political Culture', in A. Kuper and J. Kuper, eds, The Social Science Encyclopaedia, 2nd edn (London and New York: Routledge, 1996); and Stephen Welch, The Concept of Political Culture (London: Macmillan, 1993).
4. For a recent critique, see William M. Reisinger, 'The Renaissance of a Rubric: Political Culture as Concept and Theory', International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 7 (1995), 328-52. See also John Street, 'Political Culture - From Civic Culture to Mass Culture', British Journal of Political Science, 24 (1994), 95-104; Archie Brown, 'Political Culture', in A. Kuper and J. Kuper, eds, The Social Science Encyclopaedia, 2nd edn (London and New York: Routledge, 1996); and Stephen Welch, The Concept of Political Culture (London: Macmillan, 1993).
5. For a recent critique, see William M. Reisinger, 'The Renaissance of a Rubric: Political Culture as Concept and Theory', International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 7 (1995), 328-52. See also John Street, 'Political Culture - From Civic Culture to Mass Culture', British Journal of Political Science, 24 (1994), 95-104; Archie Brown, 'Political Culture', in A. Kuper and J. Kuper, eds, The Social Science Encyclopaedia, 2nd edn (London and New York: Routledge, 1996); and Stephen Welch, The Concept of Political Culture (London: Macmillan, 1993).
6. For a recent critique, see William M. Reisinger, 'The Renaissance of a Rubric: Political Culture as Concept and Theory', International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 7 (1995), 328-52. See also John Street, 'Political Culture - From Civic Culture to Mass Culture', British Journal of Political Science, 24 (1994), 95-104; Archie Brown, 'Political Culture', in A. Kuper and J. Kuper, eds, The Social Science Encyclopaedia, 2nd edn (London and New York: Routledge, 1996); and Stephen Welch, The Concept of Political Culture (London: Macmillan, 1993).
7. Gabriel A. Almond and Sidney Verba, eds, The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations (Princeton, NJ Princeton University Press, 1963); Eckstein, 'A Culturalist Theory of Political Change'.
8. Gabriel A. Almond and Sidney Verba, eds, The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations (Princeton, NJ Princeton University Press, 1963); Eckstein, 'A Culturalist Theory of Political Change'.
9. Archie Brown, 'Introduction' in A. H. Brown and J. Gray, eds, Political Culture and Political Change in Communist States (London: Macmillan, 1977), p. 1.
10. Reisinger, 'The Renaissance of a Rubric: Political Culture as Concept and Theory', p. 337 (emphasis added).
11. David J. Elkins and Richard E. B. Simeon, 'A Cause in Search of Its Effect, or What Does Political Culture Explain?' Comparative Politics, 11 (1979), 127-45, p. 129.
12. Kirsten Renwick Monroe, 'The Theory of Rational Action', in K. R. Monroe, ed., The Economic Approach to Politics (New York: Harper Collins, 1991).
13. Critics of rational choice approaches may argue that the apparent relative simplicity of the causal relationship between experience or opportunity and attitudes disappears when the high costs of the subject's making the calculation are taken into account. By comparison, oriented action is held to reduce transaction costs significantly and thus simplify the decision choice for agents. This view may be true if agents are being asked to optimize, though this is not an assumption of the notion of rational choice developed here. However, the supposed simplicity of oriented action from the point of view of transaction costs is not entirely clear; agents are still required to perform the complex task of deciding by some criterion under which of a number of possible orientations a particular current or prospective phenomenon should be subsumed. It is not at all clear that such a mental enterprise is less costly than calculations based on referral to recent experience.
14. Gabriel A. Almond, 'The Study of Political Culture', in Dirk Berg-Schlosser and Ralf Rytlewski, eds, Political Culture in Germany (London: Macmillan, 1993).
15. Almond, 'The Study of Political Culture' p. 16.
16. For example: S. M. Lipset, and W. Schneider, The Confidence Gap (New York: Free Press/Macmillan, 1983); D. Kavanagh, 'Political Culture in Britain: The Decline of the Civic Culture', in G. Almond and S. Verba, eds, The Civic Culture Revisited (Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, 1980); K. Baker, R. Dalton and K. Hildebrandt, Germany Transformed: Political Culture and the New Politics (Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1981); S. H. Barnes and M. Kaase et al., Political Action: Mass Participation in Five Western Democracies (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1979); and R. Inglehart, The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics (Princeton, N. J: Princeton University Press, 1977).
17. For example: S. M. Lipset, and W. Schneider, The Confidence Gap (New York: Free Press/Macmillan, 1983); D. Kavanagh, 'Political Culture in Britain: The Decline of the Civic Culture', in G. Almond and S. Verba, eds, The Civic Culture Revisited (Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, 1980); K. Baker, R. Dalton and K. Hildebrandt, Germany Transformed: Political Culture and the New Politics (Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1981); S. H. Barnes and M. Kaase et al., Political Action: Mass Participation in Five Western Democracies (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1979); and R. Inglehart, The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics (Princeton, N. J: Princeton University Press, 1977).
18. For example: S. M. Lipset, and W. Schneider, The Confidence Gap (New York: Free Press/Macmillan, 1983); D. Kavanagh, 'Political Culture in Britain: The Decline of the Civic Culture', in G. Almond and S. Verba, eds, The Civic Culture Revisited (Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, 1980); K. Baker, R. Dalton and K. Hildebrandt, Germany Transformed: Political Culture and the New Politics (Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1981); S. H. Barnes and M. Kaase et al., Political Action: Mass Participation in Five Western Democracies (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1979); and R. Inglehart, The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics (Princeton, N. J: Princeton University Press, 1977).
19. For example: S. M. Lipset, and W. Schneider, The Confidence Gap (New York: Free Press/Macmillan, 1983); D. Kavanagh, 'Political Culture in Britain: The Decline of the Civic Culture', in G. Almond and S. Verba, eds, The Civic Culture Revisited (Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, 1980); K. Baker, R. Dalton and K. Hildebrandt, Germany Transformed: Political Culture and the New Politics (Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1981); S. H. Barnes and M. Kaase et al., Political Action: Mass Participation in Five Western Democracies (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1979); and R. Inglehart, The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics (Princeton, N. J: Princeton University Press, 1977).
20. For example: S. M. Lipset, and W. Schneider, The Confidence Gap (New York: Free Press/Macmillan, 1983); D. Kavanagh, 'Political Culture in Britain: The Decline of the Civic Culture', in G. Almond and S. Verba, eds, The Civic Culture Revisited (Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, 1980); K. Baker, R. Dalton and K. Hildebrandt, Germany Transformed: Political Culture and the New Politics (Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1981); S. H. Barnes and M. Kaase et al., Political Action: Mass Participation in Five Western Democracies (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1979); and R. Inglehart, The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics (Princeton, N. J: Princeton University Press, 1977).
21. Almond, 'The Study of Political Culture', p. 18.
22. Almond, 'The Study of Political Culture', p. 15.
23. Street, 'Political Culture - From Civic Culture to Mass Culture', pp. 96-7.
24. Brown and Gray, eds, Political Culture and Political Change in Communist States.
25. Miroslav Kusy, 'Slovak Exceptionalism', in J. Musil, ed., The End of Czechoslovakia (Budapest: Central European University Press, 1995), p. 139.
26. See Kusy, 'Slovak Exceptionalism'; John Morison, 'The Road to Separation: Nationalism in Czechoslovakia', in Paul Latawski, ed., Contemporary Nationalism in East Central Europe (London: Macmillan, 1995), pp. 67-86; and Archie Brown and Gordon Wightman, 'Czechoslovakia: Revival or Retreat', in Brown and Gray, eds., Political Culture and Political Change in Communist States, pp. 159-96. These authors recognize that shared political history since 1918, with a brief interlude, has resulted in convergence between the two cultures on some dimensions; none the less, they provide evidence which suggests important differences in the historical identities of the two peoples which have important political implications for their future orientations to democracy. It must also be remembered that the Czechs too have had an ambiguous attitude towards the West, particularly to Germany.
27. See Kusy, 'Slovak Exceptionalism'; John Morison, 'The Road to Separation: Nationalism in Czechoslovakia', in Paul Latawski, ed., Contemporary Nationalism in East Central Europe (London: Macmillan, 1995), pp. 67-86; and Archie Brown and Gordon Wightman, 'Czechoslovakia: Revival or Retreat', in Brown and Gray, eds., Political Culture and Political Change in Communist States, pp. 159-96. These authors recognize that shared political history since 1918, with a brief interlude, has resulted in convergence between the two cultures on some dimensions; none the less, they provide evidence which suggests important differences in the historical identities of the two peoples which have important political implications for their future orientations to democracy. It must also be remembered that the Czechs too have had an ambiguous attitude towards the West, particularly to Germany.
28. See Kusy, 'Slovak Exceptionalism'; John Morison, 'The Road to Separation: Nationalism in Czechoslovakia', in Paul Latawski, ed., Contemporary Nationalism in East Central Europe (London: Macmillan, 1995), pp. 67-86; and Archie Brown and Gordon Wightman, 'Czechoslovakia: Revival or Retreat', in Brown and Gray, eds., Political Culture and Political Change in Communist States, pp. 159-96. These authors recognize that shared political history since 1918, with a brief interlude, has resulted in convergence between the two cultures on some dimensions; none the less, they provide evidence which suggests important differences in the historical identities of the two peoples which have important political implications for their future orientations to democracy. It must also be remembered that the Czechs too have had an ambiguous attitude towards the West, particularly to Germany.
29. Milan Kucera and Zdenik Pavlik, 'Czech and Slovak Demography'; Vaclav Prucha, 'Economic Developments and Relations, 1918-89'; and Jiri Musil, 'Czech and Slovak Society', all in Musil, ed., The End of Czechoslovakia, pp. 15-39, 40-76, and 77-96, respectively.
30. Milan Kucera and Zdenik Pavlik, 'Czech and Slovak Demography'; Vaclav Prucha, 'Economic Developments and Relations, 1918-89'; and Jiri Musil, 'Czech and Slovak Society', all in Musil, ed., The End of Czechoslovakia, pp. 15-39, 40-76, and 77-96, respectively.
31. Milan Kucera and Zdenik Pavlik, 'Czech and Slovak Demography'; Vaclav Prucha, 'Economic Developments and Relations, 1918-89'; and Jiri Musil, 'Czech and Slovak Society', all in Musil, ed., The End of Czechoslovakia, pp. 15-39, 40-76, and 77-96, respectively.
32. Geoffrey Evans and Stephen Whitefield, 'The Parting of the Ways? Explaining Ideological Cleavage Formation in the Czech and Slovak Republics', Political Studies, 46 (1998), 115-39; Sharon Fisher, 'Slovakia: Turning Back', Transition, 1994 in Review, Part I (Prague: Open Media Research Institute, 1995); Sharon Fisher, 'Prime Minister and President Grapple for Power', Transition, 11 (1995), 38-43; and Jiri Pehe, 'Czech Republic: A Leader in Political Stability and Economic Growth', Transition, 1994 in Review, Part I (Prague: Open Media Research Institute, 1995).
33. Geoffrey Evans and Stephen Whitefield, 'The Parting of the Ways? Explaining Ideological Cleavage Formation in the Czech and Slovak Republics', Political Studies, 46 (1998), 115-39; Sharon Fisher, 'Slovakia: Turning Back', Transition, 1994 in Review, Part I (Prague: Open Media Research Institute, 1995); Sharon Fisher, 'Prime Minister and President Grapple for Power', Transition, 11 (1995), 38-43; and Jiri Pehe, 'Czech Republic: A Leader in Political Stability and Economic Growth', Transition, 1994 in Review, Part I (Prague: Open Media Research Institute, 1995).
34. Geoffrey Evans and Stephen Whitefield, 'The Parting of the Ways? Explaining Ideological Cleavage Formation in the Czech and Slovak Republics', Political Studies, 46 (1998), 115-39; Sharon Fisher, 'Slovakia: Turning Back', Transition, 1994 in Review, Part I (Prague: Open Media Research Institute, 1995); Sharon Fisher, 'Prime Minister and President Grapple for Power', Transition, 11 (1995), 38-43; and Jiri Pehe, 'Czech Republic: A Leader in Political Stability and Economic Growth', Transition, 1994 in Review, Part I (Prague: Open Media Research Institute, 1995).
35. Geoffrey Evans and Stephen Whitefield, 'The Parting of the Ways? Explaining Ideological Cleavage Formation in the Czech and Slovak Republics', Political Studies, 46 (1998), 115-39; Sharon Fisher, 'Slovakia: Turning Back', Transition, 1994 in Review, Part I (Prague: Open Media Research Institute, 1995); Sharon Fisher, 'Prime Minister and President Grapple for Power', Transition, 11 (1995), 38-43; and Jiri Pehe, 'Czech Republic: A Leader in Political Stability and Economic Growth', Transition, 1994 in Review, Part I (Prague: Open Media Research Institute, 1995).
36. Gordon Wightman, 'The Czech and Slovak Republics', in Stephen White, Judy Batt and Paul Lewis, eds, Developments in East European Politics (London: Macmillan, 1993), pp. 51-65; Jan Obrman, 'The Czechoslovak Elections: A Guide to the Parties', RFE/RL Research Report, No. 22 (1992), 1-16; David Olson, 'Dissolution of the State: Political Parties and the 1992 Election in Czechoslovakia', Communists and Post-Communist Studies, 26 (1993), 301-14.
37. Gordon Wightman, 'The Czech and Slovak Republics', in Stephen White, Judy Batt and Paul Lewis, eds, Developments in East European Politics (London: Macmillan, 1993), pp. 51-65; Jan Obrman, 'The Czechoslovak Elections: A Guide to the Parties', RFE/RL Research Report, No. 22 (1992), 1-16; David Olson, 'Dissolution of the State: Political Parties and the 1992 Election in Czechoslovakia', Communists and Post-Communist Studies, 26 (1993), 301-14.
38. Gordon Wightman, 'The Czech and Slovak Republics', in Stephen White, Judy Batt and Paul Lewis, eds, Developments in East European Politics (London: Macmillan, 1993), pp. 51-65; Jan Obrman, 'The Czechoslovak Elections: A Guide to the Parties', RFE/RL Research Report, No. 22 (1992), 1-16; David Olson, 'Dissolution of the State: Political Parties and the 1992 Election in Czechoslovakia', Communists and Post-Communist Studies, 26 (1993), 301-14.
39. Statisticka rocenka Ceske a Slovenske Federativni Republiky 1990 (Prague: 1990), p. 100, cited in Karen Henderson, 'Czechoslovakia: The Failure of Consensus Politics' (University of Leicester Discussion Paper in Politics, 1993). The largest ethnic minority in the Czech Republic are Slovaks, who have generally been well assimilated; see Jiri Pehe, 'Slovaks in the Czech Republic: A New Minority', RFE/RL Research Report, No. 23 (1993), 59-62.
40. Statisticka rocenka Ceske a Slovenske Federativni Republiky 1990 (Prague: 1990), p. 100, cited in Karen Henderson, 'Czechoslovakia: The Failure of Consensus Politics' (University of Leicester Discussion Paper in Politics, 1993). The largest ethnic minority in the Czech Republic are Slovaks, who have generally been well assimilated; see Jiri Pehe, 'Slovaks in the Czech Republic: A New Minority', RFE/RL Research Report, No. 23 (1993), 59-62.
41. Statisticka rocenka Ceske a Slovenske Federativni Republiky 1990 (Prague: 1990), p. 100, cited in Karen Henderson, 'Czechoslovakia: The Failure of Consensus Politics' (University of Leicester Discussion Paper in Politics, 1993). The largest ethnic minority in the Czech Republic are Slovaks, who have generally been well assimilated; see Jiri Pehe, 'Slovaks in the Czech Republic: A New Minority', RFE/RL Research Report, No. 23 (1993), 59-62.
42. Alfred A. Reisch, 'Hungarian Ethnic Parties Prepare for Czechoslovak Elections', RFE/RL Research Report, No. 18 (1992), 26-32.
43. Zora Butorova and Martin Butora, 'Political Parties, Value Orientations and Slovakia's Road to Independence', in Gordon Wightman, ed., Party Formation in East-Central Europe (London: Edward Elgar, 1995), pp. 107-33.
44. Respondents were sampled from the lists of voters in the 1992 elections (access to current lists was not allowed under Czech and Slovak law), with minor augmentation using random route procedures and a small top-up sample for urban areas where the rate of non-contact due to movement was especially high. The Czech sample involved selection of 182 sampling points from which 2,104 addresses were chosen (names issued: 2,104; non-contact: 404; refusal 291; plus quota: 111; final achieved sample: 1,520; the response rate was 67 per cent of the initial sample and 83 per cent of those contacted). The Slovak sample involved selection of 215 sampling points from which 2,014 addresses were chosen; (names issued: 2,014; non-contact: 338; refusal 233; plus quota: 68; final achieved sample: 1,509; the response rate was 75 per cent of the initial sample and 86 per cent of those contacted). The surveys were directed by Lubos Rezler and Jan Hartl of the Stredisko empirickych vyzkumu (STEM), from its offices in Prague and Bratislava.
45. Geoffrey Evans and Stephen Whitefield, 'Social and Ideological Cleavage Formation in Post-Communist Hungary', Europe-Asia Studies, 47 (1995), 1177-204; Alfred A. Reisch, 'Hungarian-Slovak Relations: A Difficult First Year', RFE/RL Research Report, No. 50 (1993), 16-23.
46. Geoffrey Evans and Stephen Whitefield, 'Social and Ideological Cleavage Formation in Post-Communist Hungary', Europe-Asia Studies, 47 (1995), 1177-204; Alfred A. Reisch, 'Hungarian-Slovak Relations: A Difficult First Year', RFE/RL Research Report, No. 50 (1993), 16-23.
47. The number of respondents to the questions presented in this table and those which follow fall within the following ranges: Czechs: n = 1,456-1,461; Slovaks: n = 1,285-1,291; Slovak Hungarians: n = 172-173.
48. Geoffrey Evans and Stephen Whitefield, 'The Politics and Economics of Democratic Commitment', British Journal of Political Science, 25 (1995), 485-514.
49. Further information on the demographic characteristics of the samples can be obtained from the authors.
50. Sharon Wolchik, 'The Politics of Transition and the Break-up of Czechoslovakia', in J. Musil, ed., The End of Czechoslovakia, pp. 225-44.
51. For an elaboration of this approach to cross-national analysis, the aim of which is to replace country names with theoretically relevant variables, see Adam Przeworski and H. Teune, The Logic of Comparative Social Enquiry (New York: Wiley, 1970) An illustration of this approach, also using individual level data, can be found in Evans and Whitefield, 'The Politics and Economics of Democratic Commitment'.
52. We also conducted analyses which included relatively stable national attributes such as the distribution of respondents across different social classes, educational levels and urban-rural residence. However, these social structural characteristics failed to make any contribution to explaining country differences (details available on request).
53. For similar treatments of acquiescence effects in comparable data to that presented here, see Anthony Heath, Geoffrey Evans and J. Martin, 'The Measurement of Core Beliefs and Values: The Development of Balanced Socialist/Laissez-Faire and Libertarian/Authoritarian Scales', British Journal of Political Science, 24 (1994), 115-32. For an assessment of the consequences of the presence, or otherwise, of balanced question wording in scales, see Geoffrey Evans and Anthony Heath, 'The Measurement of Left-Right and Libertarian-Authoritarian Values: Comparing Balanced and Unbalanced Scales', Quality and Quantity, 29 (1995), 191-206.
54. For similar treatments of acquiescence effects in comparable data to that presented here, see Anthony Heath, Geoffrey Evans and J. Martin, 'The Measurement of Core Beliefs and Values: The Development of Balanced Socialist/Laissez-Faire and Libertarian/Authoritarian Scales', British Journal of Political Science, 24 (1994), 115-32. For an assessment of the consequences of the presence, or otherwise, of balanced question wording in scales, see Geoffrey Evans and Anthony Heath, 'The Measurement of Left-Right and Libertarian-Authoritarian Values: Comparing Balanced and Unbalanced Scales', Quality and Quantity, 29 (1995), 191-206.
55. If 'Don't knows' are treated as missing it reduces the size of the sample but has no marked effect on the substantive findings. Details available on request.
56. The importance of economic experiences in accounting for differences in democratic attitudes between Czechs and Slovaks is slightly at odds with our analysis of other countries in the region, where political experience was of clearly greater importance in explaining national variation in support for democracy than was economic experience. The reasons for this divergence probably lie in the particularly positive experience of the market reported by Czechs compared with all other countries we have surveyed in Eastern Europe, and the fact that until 1993 the political systems experienced by Czechs and Slovaks were the same, thus reducing the extent of experience of differences in political experience and evaluation. See Evans and Whitefield, 'The Politics and Economics of Democratic Commitment'.
57. 'There are too many gypsies in the Czech Republic/Slovakia.' Both ethnic Slovaks and Hungarians were more likely than Czechs to agree with this statement - perhaps because there are more gypsies in Slovakia than in the Czech Republic.
58. 'The Czech Republic/Slovakia should co-operate with other countries even if it means giving up some independence.'
59. Almond, 'The Study of Political Culture', p. 22.