Demokracia v novoročných príhovoroch českých a slovenských prezidentov

Strany: 410 - 438

Jazyk: slo

The article aims to contribute to understanding how Czech and Slovak presidents constructed the image of the democratic regime and its meaning for everyday life of the population. It presents an analysis of their New Year's addresses delivered between 1994 and 2024, which combines a qualitative exploratory approach inspired by Critical Discourse Analysis’ attention to rhetorical modes of speech, and testing the hypothesis derived from S. M. Lipset's (1959) study on the social preconditions of legitimacy of democratic regimes. The analysis has supported the hypothesis that presidents would separate the topics of democracy and the living conditions of the population during the years the restoration of democracy accompanied, especially in Slovakia, by economic decline. However, Czech and Slovak presidents kept these topics separate throughout the entire period under study and none of them mentioned the social welfare or the redistribution system as institutional components of democracy. The article suggests that by the predominant use of ceremonial and descriptive modes of talking about democracy and by separation and avoidance of the topics, Czech and Slovak presidents might contribute to the weakening of the expectations that the concern for the population quality of life belongs to the fundamental tasks of a democratic regime. However, such a disconnection could lead to a demise of meaning of democracy for a part of the population.

ISO 690:

Kusá, Z. 2025. Demokracia v novoročných príhovoroch českých a slovenských prezidentov. In Sociológia - Slovak Sociological Review, vol. 57, no.5, pp. 410-438. 0049-1225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/sociologia.2025.57.5.15

APA:

Kusá, Z. (2025). Demokracia v novoročných príhovoroch českých a slovenských prezidentov. Sociológia - Slovak Sociological Review, 57(5), 410-438. 0049-1225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/sociologia.2025.57.5.15

Vydavateľ: Sociologický ústav SAV, v. v. i. / The Institute for Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences