Institutional Reforms and Moravian Identity in the Czech Republic

Abstract

In the first federal and national elections after the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia, supporters for Moravian autonomy achieved significant levels of representation and obtained nearly a quarter of the vote in Moravia itself. This movement was short-lived. The Czech Republic would not become a federal state and the Moravian movement disintegrated. Scholars have suggested that the Moravian movement was a temporary phenomenon linked to the collapse of communism. It is argued in this article that the economic, historical and cultural bases for a Moravian movement pre-date the post-communist euphoria. Instead, the decline of the movement can be attributed in part to governmental decisions motivated by a fear of further state disintegration after the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Institutional changes with the creation of the Senate and the Kraj have been explained by party politics and by Czech–EU relations. In this article, it is argued that these reforms were also motivated by a desire to weaken Moravian identity. The Moravian autonomy movement has collapsed but economic, historical, and cultural distinctions remain. Furthermore, despite these reforms, there are differences in the electoral behavior of Moravians and Bohemian that could serve as the potential base for future regional mobilization.