The bonds and boundaries of nationhood, political-cultural roots of Czech and Slovak definitions of the nation and their implications for post-communist governance

grantor: University of TorontoThe first ten years of the post-communist period suggest that the use of the ethnic and civic definitions of the nation as foundational elements in the state-building process has profoundly affected both patterns of governance and ethno-national relations in the new political communities. To contribute to a fuller understanding of the roots and ramifications of the ethnic And civic models, this dissertation undertakes a comparative study of the political cultural sources of Czech and Slovak understandings of nationhood and their impact on democracy and minority inclusion. This study examines the evolution of these understandings across periods of great social, political, and economic change, from the mid-nineteenth century period of "National Awakening" through the first decade of post-communist statehood. It traces the continuities and discontinuities in, and interaction between, Czech and Slovak definitions of the boundaries of nationhood and of the proper relationship between the nation, state, and the individual. This historical study suggests that long-standing political cultural perspectives have had a pronounced influence on post-communist definitions of nationhood. These definitions, in turn, have had critical implications for governance in the new states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak case indicates that the ethnic model tends to undermine minority rights, political stability, and, ultimately, individual rights and democracy. The Czech case shows that while the civic model of nationhood is substantially more conducive to minority inclusion and democracy, it does not, in itself, guarantee the realization of civic equality. Together, these case studies provide empirical evidence on which to further evaluate two key claims employed to justify the use of these two models, but currently under scholarly reconsideration: namely, that civic nationhood ensures the ethnic neutrality of the state and that the "right" to ethno-national self-determination is in some way inherently democratic. More broadly, this study suggests that the content and appeal of post-communist nationalism stem less from situational factors tied to the recent political and economic upheavals than from more deeply embedded national orientations.Ph.D