The Burden of the Past. Lustration as the Instrument of the Political Competition in the Czech Republic
The Burden of the Past. Lustration as the Instrument of the Political Competition in the Czech Republic

Author(s): Vladimira Dvorakova
Subject(s): Politics, Political Theory, Political Sciences, Civil Society, Political history, Cold-War History, Post-Communist Transformation
Published by: Centar za politološka istraživanja
Summary/Abstract: The past matters in any process of transformation of the society, and sure plays an important role in the processes of transition and consolidation of democracy. It is important not only in the sense of „path dependency“ that I do not want to concentrate on in this paper but mainly as the form of legitimizing the political goals of the elites, as part of the political competition about the future orientation of the country. We can stress two basic aspects of how past is treated that are mostly mutually interconnected. The first one concentrates on the “choice” of the history – on the way how history is reconstructed, preserved and interpreted in the collective memory. The second aspect deals with the question what to do with the “physical relicts” of the past, with the personnel of the “ancient” regime. Both aspects have its impact on the character of future development, integrity of the society, forms of inclusion or exclusion, the understanding of justice, the rule of law, space for political competition, etc.

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