Author Archives: drseansdiary

Eastern Europe: Parties and the mirage of technocracy

Posted on 7 May 2013

Many commentators saw the governments of non-party technocrats formed in Greece and Italy in 2011 as an ill omen for development of party-based democracy in Europe. Established parties, it is suggested, are turning to technocratic caretaker administrations as a device … Continue reading →

Posted in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, political parties | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Václav Klaus live and unplugged

Posted on 27 April 2013

A few years ago I honestly told myself that I would spend less time academically on Czech right-wing politics and more time on other things. The world really did, after all, need some decent research about Central European interest groups … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Czech Republic, EU politics, Václav Klaus | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Will Václav Klaus unite Europe’s eurosceptics?

Posted on 22 March 2013

Yesterday the Czech media was all aquiver with front page news in the left-wing daily Právo – and its associated news server Novinky.cz – that former Czech president Václav Klaus was ‘seriously considering’ running for the European Parliament. And that he … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Václav Klaus: A political phenomenon without political power

Posted on 7 March 2013

In many ways a medium-sized Central European country like the Czech Republic could hardly have wished for a better president: an experienced, energetic and erudite politician of international standing able to engage both with the big European issues and handle … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Czech Republic, Václav Havel, Václav Klaus | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Czech Republic: Four things you didn’t know about Miloš Zeman

Posted on 18 February 2013

 Ever since Miloš Zeman won the Czech presidential elections on 26 January, analysts have been scrambling to say just what his political views actually are – especially his views on foreign policy and the EU.  Never quite as prolific a … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech Republic | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Kicking out at Kicking Off

Posted on 10 February 2013

It’s not a good idea to read the books you got for Christmas 2011 some time after Christmas 2012. But it does at least allow you to read zeitgeist-y political books with some perspective.  This is very much the case with Paul Mason’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Book review, protest | Leave a comment

Czech democracy in the mirror: What the presidential elections tell us

Posted on 5 February 2013

The first direct elections of the Czech president offered a refreshing contrast to the back room manoeuvring and political horse-trading that accompanied the election in parliament of presidents Havel and (especially) Klaus. Despite the nastiness of the Zeman campaign and … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Czech presidential elections: Schwarzenberg comeback sets up close run-off

Posted on 17 January 2013

Few observers, even a matter of weeks beforehand, would have predicted the success of the two candidates who will be contesting the second round run-off to choose the Czech Republic’s first directly elected president, which takes place on 25-26 January. … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Miloš Zeman is the Czech comeback kid

Posted on 10 January 2013

 The political return of former Social Democrat leader and leading presidential hopeful Miloš Zeman has been one of the more surprising emerging-from-under-the -radar phenomena in Czech politics over the past couple of years.  For most observers of Czech politics Zeman … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What will Klaus do next?

Posted on 2 January 2013

What will Václav Klaus do next? This has been a pertinent question in Czech politics pretty much any time over the last twenty years and, of course, no more so than now: VK steps down from his second and final … Continue reading →

Posted in centre-right, Czech politics, Czech Republic, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment