Information on the thesis

The complex political science analysis of the evolution of the Slovak model of the social and political development has been performed in the dissertation. The main factors, goals and dynamics of social and political changes at the key stages of Slovakia’s development during the last three decades have been studied. The changes at the level of the party system, the state institutions, the public sector, the political culture of the Slovak society and their impact on the evolution of the development model have been analyzed through the structural and dynamic prism.

In accordance with the elaborated conceptual scheme of analysis, the specifics of the processes of liberalization/democratization of the political regime, its hybridization, consolidation of democracy and realization of its potential in modern conditions have been gradually revealed. The model of the social and political development of Slovakia has been shown to reproduce its specific national characteristics at each stage: the overthrow of the communist regime and multilevel democratization in the early 1990s proved the implementation of the “catch-up” modernization model accompanied by the  national and political transformation; the hybridization of the political regime during the development of the Slovak statehood aggravated the conflicting elements of the model, nourished at the political, power and institutional, social and cultural levels; the consolidation of democracy in the early 2000s became possible due to the «second wave» of modernization and strengthening of the consensus style in political relations in the context of implementation of the European integration course; stabilization and improvement of the Slovak model of the consolidated democracy in the light of new trends in social and political development can be observed at the present stage.

The procedural characteristics of the model of social and political development of Slovakia that appeared during the study period have been clarified: evolution (from the communist post-totalitarianism to the consolidated democracy); nonlinearity of the transit trajectory; four-dimensionality of the vertical structure of the transformation; «Catching up» nature of modernization; European orientation in the course of development. The current state of scientific contribution to the problem of social and political development of Slovakia has been elucidated. Theoretical and methodological principles as well as problems of the research of the post-communist transformations in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been specified.

The social and political changes in Slovakia during the collapse of the communist regime and the federal stage of democratic transformations in 1989-1992 have been analyzed. The specifics of the democratic transformation of Slovakia in the context of the general transitory characteristics of CEE countries have been revealed. The analysis of the political process in 1994-1998 has indicated a complex confrontational struggle of authoritarian and democratic tendencies of Slovakia’s development whilst forming a hybrid regime. The factors of formation and peculiarities of functioning of the hybrid political regime during the premiership of V. Meciar have been established. The peculiarities of the Slovak model of democratic consolidation in terms of its structural levels and factors that influenced the completion of the transition to democracy have been clarified. The features and directions of reforming state and government institutions, as well as the impact of institutional modernization on social and political development have been revealed.

The formation of Slovak multiparty system and the development of the party system in the conditions of democratic transformation have been analyzed. The connection between the strengthening of electoral influence of populist, extremist, anti-systemic political subjects and destructive tendencies in the development of the modern party system of Slovakia has been traced. The analysis of the party and political development has shown the existence of numerous social and political divisions, which are systematized in terms of both traditional cleavage types and non-standard lines of conflict inherent only in the Slovak society. The political and cultural aspects of transformation processes in terms of value orientations and political participation of citizens have been elucidated. The post-communist transformation of political consciousness was established to have incomplete nature, which had absorbed a set of contradictory orientations. The main problems and tendencies of social and political development of Slovakia at the present stage have been clarified.

Keywords: Slovak Republic, model of the social and political development, social and political changes, political system, political regime, transition to democracy, consolidated democracy, transformation, evolution.