The coalition potential of Czech parties in the Imperial Council: A comparison of the years 1907 and 1911

Abstract

SUMMARY Starting in the middle of the nineteenth century, the mainstream of Czech politics, in the spirit of maintaining a national ideology, tried to sustain a single-party system of political representation. By the end of the century efforts to do so proved ineffective. A politically maturing and differentiated society demanded appropriate political representation. The composition of the political party structure, as it was formulated during this time, was long term and established the tradition of a multiparty system in Czech politics. The differentiation into separate parties took place in the context of a confrontation between traditional national parties and the newly emerging parties that reflected the demands of different segments of society (the Social Democrats, Agrarian Parties and Christian Parties). This rebirth of the party system caused a considerable degree of tension within Czech politics, but the real political battles did not begin until the voting right laws were changed and a universal right to vote established. Parties were learning on the one hand to establish clear political identities and on the other hand to form both political coalitions and loosely knit working alliances. With respect to the actual developments of the Czech political environment, the study focuses on the development of relationships among Czech political parties, as they took place within the context of the Austria-Hungarian Imperial Council. These relationships are analysed on the basis of supporting parliamentary documents (proposals or interpellations), which were submitted during two comparable periods, the parliamentary meetings after the elections of 1907 and 1911.