Samenvatting

The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the reasons for a low political
participation in Czechoslovakia in the wake of the Velvet Revolution, which started on 17
November 1989, by a literature review. The Czechoslovak citizens reacted on several
developments in their surrounding countries, the most prominent of which was the fall of the
Berlin Wall. The Velvet Revolution went without much bloodshed and the Communist regime was overthrown rather quickly.
The greatest challenge for Czechoslovakia after the revolution lay in rebuilding the country
and establishing a democracy. Despite high political participation during the Velvet Revolution,
with the vast majority of the people protesting out on the streets, this political participation
diminished, surprisingly, significantly after the revolution, measured by the levels of discussing
politics, party membership and voter turnout.
This thesis argues that the Communist legacy, distrust in political institutions, public
disillusionment and a weak civil society were the causes for this low political participation in
Czechoslovakia in the wake of the Velvet Revolution. The Communist legacy played a large role in political participation and the other causes were directly linked to this because of the bad experience the citizens had with the Communist regime, making them rather sceptical towards politics.