NATIONALIST POPULISM AND POST-COMMUNISM

opposition to the communist regime were recruited overwhelmingly from the Catholic Church. Last but not least, the process of the transition from authoritarian rule to democracy was different in Poland and Slovakia. Without doubt, this was due to a different character of the political regimes in Poland and Slovakia in the late eighties. 70 To put it briefly, while some scholars characterised Czechoslovakia as a frozen post-totalitarian regime, Poland was defined as a mature post-totalitarian regime. 71 The transition in Poland also followed different rules than the transition in Czechoslovakia. Contrary to the negotiated transition in Poland, the opposition in Czechoslovakia was allowed to negotiate with the representatives of the Communist Party only after the total collapse of the communist government. 72 3.1.5. Differences in ethnic structure According to several political analysts, ethnic heterogeneity can make the political and economic transition of a particular country from authoritarian rule to liberal democracy more difficult than in the case of mono-ethnic countries. 73 Before World War II, both Poland and Slovakia were significantly heterogeneous in ethnic terms. The war, as well as the post-war development had a significant impact on changing the ethnic structures in both countries. Poland became an almost ethnically homogenised state, with a few remnants of German, Jewish, Ukrainian, Belarusian and other populations living in its territory. 74 Even though Slovakia experienced the forced displacement of the Germans, as well as the extermination of the Jewish population, due to the 70 Radosław Markowski, for instance, summarised the peculiarities of Polish socialism in relation to four points: 1. Structural factors – existence of a huge private sector in the economy – mainly agriculture, but also some services; 2. Institutional factors – formal recognition of the Catholic Church, its potent role and its real ideological influence on the society 3. Relative liberalism in the cultural domain – science, the press and art; 4. Enormous economic errors, especially in the division of labour within COMECOM, leading to recurrent deep economic crises. See K. Jasiewicz, R. Markowski (eds.) Did Poland Have Founding Elections? The 1991 and 1993 Elections to the Polish Sejm. (Berlin: Sigma, 2006). 71 J. J. Linz, A. Stepan Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation. Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe . (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996). 72 Soňa Szomolányi Kľukatá cesta Slovenska k demokracii . (Bratislava: Stimul, 2000). 73 J. Linz, A. Stepan Problems of Democratic Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press 1996). 74 See, for example, P. Madajczyk (ed.) Mniejszości narodowe w Polsce . (Warszawa: ISP PAN, 1998).

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