About a third of Czech residents believe that the communist regime is better than the current one. This is demonstrated by the results of a recent survey carried out by the STEM agency.
It is reported that 31% of adults in the Czech Republic have good memories of the era of communism and less than half have an unequivocally positive assessment of the current situation. At the same time, new data shows that people who survived the communist regime are much more critical of modernity than the generation under 30.
According to the current survey, older people primarily want greater stability and security than the previous regime provided, rather than returning to an undemocratic system. In this sense, researchers believe that the negative assessment of modernity is explained by the current anger, disappointment and uncertainty in society.
“Disappointment may play a role, since they could have imagined the development of events after the revolution completely differently. Furthermore, their responses are more reflective of current dissatisfaction, so this is not simply a comparison of regimes.” —said the chief STEM analyst Jitka Ugrová.
It should be noted that in recent years the number of people who critically assess the development of Czech democracy has increased. The reason, according to the study, is that people confront its practical shortcomings and therefore tend to rate the pre-1989 regime as better.
At the same time, the modern generation values the open possibilities of the new era much more. According to Ugrova, young people in general see things with more optimism. It has a much more positive assessment of, for example, morality in society, the importance of NATO and the EU or state security.
“Young people look at the world through the prism of the opportunities provided by the current regime. For older people, another type of need influences, for example, sufficient security in old age. “If they feel insecure in these areas, a negative evaluation occurs.” – he emphasized.
In the long term, people are likely to be dissatisfied with how democracy works in the Czech Republic.
“There was criticism in previous periods and it intensified especially during political crises. Now the level of dissatisfaction is also high and reaches 60%.” – said Ugrov.
The study also focused on the value of freedom and its practical experience. The survey showed that democratic ideals such as judicial independence are more in the background. On the other hand, almost half of people associate the possibility of traveling, working and studying freely with freedom, closely followed by freedom of expression.
