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Abstract: The article analyses the relationship between electoral support of the Green Party in the Czech Republic and the level of post-materialism on municipal level. Indicators of post-materialism (lower age, university education, middle and upper class/income, lower unemployment rate in the municipality, and larger municipality size) are based on the concept of post-materialism developed by Ronald Inglehart as well as other studies. The study analyses data aggregated at the municipal level, first for the whole nation and then in more depth for two selected regions. Quantitative methods and techniques, mainly correlation and regression, are used to determine the relationship between the variables. We find that although there are connections and influences between post-materially oriented regions and support for the Green Party, the relationship is not particularly strong.
Keywords: Czech Green Party; Post-materialism; Ronald Inglehart; the Czech Republic; Electoral results
1.Introduction
The introduction of a liberal democratic political regime in the Czech Republic has resulted in free competition between political parties in regularly recurring elections. A party system has gradually established itself, in which the main political parties have established positions; thus, the Czech political landscape increasingly resembles the established regimes of Western Europe. In addition to the large political parties, the smaller Green Party has progressively asserted itself; indeed, in organizational terms, it is now one of the longest established parties in the Czech electoral arena. Since its foundation in 1989, it has undergone development and witnessed changes to both personnel and programmes. It has also seen reversals of fortune: transitioning from a marginal party during the 1990s to a member of the government coalition in 2007-2009. It subsequently lost representation in the lower chamber of the Czech Parliament; however, Eliška Wagnerová for the Brno-city constituency and a few others continue to represent it in the upper chamber (the Senate).
Representing environmental interests in Czech party politics, the Green Party is a full member of the European Green Party and the Global Greens. Yet the question remains: are the areas it draws support from, and its voters, comparable to those of other 'green' parties in Europe and worldwide? If the Czech Republic is now a fully consolidated democracy (Møller 2009; Balík et al. 2008) does this also mean that 25 years after the fall...