| Course title | The Crisis of Social Democracy in Central Europe |
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| Course code | KPE/CSDCE |
| Organizational form of instruction | Lecture + Seminar |
| Level of course | Bachelor |
| Year of study | not specified |
| Semester | Winter and summer |
| Number of ECTS credits | 5 |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Status of course | Compulsory-optional |
| Form of instruction | Face-to-face |
| Work placements | This is not an internship |
| Recommended optional programme components | None |
| Course availability | The course is available to visiting students |
| Lecturer(s) |
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| Course content |
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Week 1 - Introduction: Social Democracy in crisis Week 2 - What is Social Democracy? A historical and theoretical baseline Week 3 - Postcommunist legacies: A different starting point? Week 4 - Czech Social Democracy: From dominance to irrelevance Week 5 - Slovak "Social Democracy" Week 6 - Polish Left: Fragmentation and the PiS challenge Week 7 - Hungarian Left and collapse under structural constraints Week 8 - Why did they lose their voters? Demand-side explanations Week 9 - Why did they lose their voters? Supply-side xxplanations Week 10 - Populism as context: How the Right filled the vakuum Week 11 - Is renewal possible? Strategies and comparative lessons Week 12 - Synthesis and student debate
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| Learning activities and teaching methods |
| Lecture |
| Learning outcomes |
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Social democratic parties across Central Europe have undergone a dramatic electoral and organizational decline over the past three decades. Parties that dominated government in the 1990s have in many cases collapsed below electoral thresholds, lost their traditional working-class constituencies, and failed to develop coherent programmatic responses to the structural transformations of post-industrial capitalism. The political space they vacated has been occupied by right-wing populist movements that have, in several cases, fundamentally altered the institutional conditions of democratic competition itself. This course examines the causes and dynamics of this decline through a systematic comparison of four cases: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. It asks why social democratic parties that appeared institutionally consolidated in the early post-communist period proved so vulnerable to electoral dealignment, programmatic erosion, and (in the Hungarian case) deliberate structural marginalization by an incumbent government. Students will engage with both theoretical frameworks and country-specific empirical literature, and will be expected to develop the capacity to apply general analytical tools to particular political contexts.
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| Prerequisites |
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unspecified
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| Assessment methods and criteria |
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Mark, Written exam, Student performance
The course is taught in English. It is open to students across disciplines and assumes no prior knowledge of Central European politics. Familiarity with basic concepts in comparative politics is an advantage but not a prerequisite. The course is taught through lectures and seminars (45-minute lecture + 45-minute seminar). Attendance at lectures is not mandatory but is strongly recommended. Seminars are mandatory, and two absences are permitted. Successful completion of the course is contingent upon passing the final exam. The exam will consist of a combination of multiple-choice questions (one correct answer per question) and open-ended questions. The exam questions will be based on the required reading and the lectures. Written Exam - Grading: 20-18 points A 17 points B 16-15 points C 14 points D 13-12 points E 11-0 points F |
| Recommended literature |
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| Study plans that include the course |
| Faculty | Study plan (Version) | Category of Branch/Specialization | Recommended semester | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): International Relations and Security (2019) | Category: Social sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): International Relations and Security (2019) | Category: Social sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Political Science (2023) | Category: Social sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): International Relations and Security (2023) | Category: Social sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Political Science (2019) | Category: Social sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): European Studies and Diplomacy (2023) | Category: Social sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Political Science (2019) | Category: Social sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): European Studies and Diplomacy (2019) | Category: Social sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): European Studies and Diplomacy (2019) | Category: Social sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |