What can Czech and Slovak Social Democratic Parties expect from Progressive rebranding?

A demand-side perspective through the clustering of WVS/EVS respondents

No.3(2024)

Abstract

In recent years, the left side of the political spectrum in the Czech and Slovak party systems has undergone significant changes. In Czechia, the main anti-establishment party, ANO, has shifted its economic program to incorporate more interventionist policies. In Slovakia, the main social-democratic party, SMER, has progressively adopted more conservative social stances. These trends have coincided with a decline in voter support for the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) and SMER in Slovakia, seemingly supporting the de-alignment theory generally used to explain the decline of centre-left parties in Western Europe.

Building on these premises, this article explores the first two layers of Maier’s conceptualization of a political cleavage (social groups and their defining values) to assess the potential gains or losses that Social Democratic parties in the two countries might experience if they rebrand towards “New Left” stances. By clustering value survey respondents along left-wing and progressive social values, and by analysing these clusters’ members through logistic regression, the findings suggest that while shifting to the Left may attract new socio-demographic groups, adopting progressive values might be, for the two parties, electorally harmful in the short term.


Keywords:
Social Democratic Parties; Party Rebranding; Political Cleavage; Czech Party System; Slovak Party System
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