Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)
Grigorij Mesežnikov: National Populism in Slovakia - Defining the Character of the State and Interpreting Select Historic Events
Grigorij Mesežnikov 2006 parliamentary elections when new government was formed by the coalition of SMER-Social Democracy (SMER-SD) - Slovak National Party (SNS) - People’s Party-Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), i.e. three political subjects that view various elements of national populism as part and parcel of their ideological and political arsenal. These parties’ combined election result and their leaders’ subsequent decision to form a new ruling coalition cannot be perceived outside the context of national populism as a tool of voter mobilization and a cultural and political bond that binds part of Slovakia’s party elite. The working of the national-populism appeal during the period of 2006-2009 has affected the overall atmosphere within society and significantly shaped the environment for mutual interactions between various social groups. When examining activities of political players that are considered protagonists of national populism in Slovakia, one ought to bear in mind general factors of socio-political as well as historical nature. It was long-term working of these factors that formed the socio-cultural environment in which national populists disseminated their messages and capitalized on people’s response to them. Besides ethnicity-related issues they also included other socio-political factors such as constitutional system Slovakia was part of, types of political regimes in these constitutional systems, the character, course and implications of social changes that occurred during periods of government and societal transformation, the definition of statehood and general pattern of power execution preferred by dominant political forces, etc. In the course of the 20'h century, Slovakia formed part of five different constitutional systems: Austro-Hungarian Empire, Czechoslovak Republic, wartime Slovak State, restored Czechoslovak Republic and independent Slovak Republic. These systems were home to different political regimes, including monarchist semi-authoritarianism, pluralistic democracy, fascist totalitarianism, restricted ‘national’ democracy, communist totalitarianism and alternate regimes of liberal and non-liberal democracy between 1990 and 2006. Frequent changes in the system of government and political regime within a relatively short historical period have caused a different degree of various population groups’ self-identification with existing and/or obsolete social order, including their self-identification with particular government formations; at the same time, these population groups demonstrated their allegiance to opposing types of political culture (i.e. democratic vs. authoritarian), which immediately influenced their political behaviour as well as political players’ preferred strategies of addressing them. Following the collapse of communist regime in 1989 and subsequent restoration of democratic regime with all procedural attributes, including 40
