Jiří Pehe on Czech democracy without democrats

Tomorrow, Wednesday, is a holiday in the Czech Republic marking the start of the Velvet Revolution 21 years ago. Political scientist Jiří Pehe writes in the liberal daily Pražský deník that the country has a long way to go before becoming a true democracy: "On the positive side we have the unequalled speed with which the institutions have been transformed. The country which had neither democracy nor a market economy, neither the rule of law nor a civil society in 1989 is now a functioning democracy. But on the negative side is our political culture. Creating a democratic spirit is like running a marathon. To quote [the founder of Czechoslovakia Tomáš Garrigue] Masaryk, one could say that unfortunately Czech democracy has been more or less a 'democracy without democrats' until now. That can be seen in the low level of political discourse and the weakness of civil society. Added to that is an exaggerated faith in elections. Without the pressure of civil society they cannot bring the radical cleansing that many expect. Theorists say you need up to three generations for democratic culture to take root. By that token we're only half-way there."

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