Czech Exceptionalism? A Comparative Political Economy Interpretation of Post-Communist Policy Pathways, 1989-2004

Abstract

This article makes a plea for a more explicitly intentional and political-strategic analysis of post-communist public policy pathways. I analyze a set of social and labor market policies implemented in the Czech Republic (pro-active job loss prevention) as compared to Hungary and Poland (large-scale non-elderly retirement). I indicate why, far from being fully constrained by structural or external variables or by international pressures, political elites could design policy packages that served to reduce anti-reform protests. Once enacted at a formative historical turning point, these early policies fundamentally reshaped the subsequent operational space of post-communist politics throughout the 1990s. They crystallized post-communist welfare regimes onto distinct pathways and they enabled early, and irreversible, democratic and market reform progress. While seemingly inefficient, and definitely costly in public-financial terms, these policy packages contained a degree of political rationality as they contributed to the making of the Czech, Hungarian, and Polish success stories, in an otherwise highly heterogeneous population of post-communist transition cases.

Keywords: public policies, post-communist reforms, political strategy, path contingency, democratic efficiency