Came across this news article the other week -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/czechrepublic/10404238/Czech-elections-Communists-could-end-up-back-in-power.html
In some of the most deliciously ironic political news seen in years, it appears that the supposedly reviled communist party may soon be back in power in the Czech Republic. The country's legislative elections were held late last month. Due to the appearance of several new parties, the Communist's didn't win quite as big a portion of the vote as was predicted, but they did substantially increase it. The results of the election can be found here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_legislative_election,_2013
And further analysis of the result here -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-bandow/czech-republic-elections_b_4209431.html
In summary, their share of the vote increased from about 11% to 15%, putting them in third place. Given the sudden mishmash of political parties, with no fewer than seven winning at least a few percent of the vote, it is unclear which parties will be able to form a coalition government. At the very least however, the news that the communists are in with a shot has made headlines around the world. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the start of the 1990s had many people assuming that communism as a movement was dead and buried.
The reality is much more complicated. Most European countries still have active communist parties, and many have been governed by only slightly less left-wing socialist parties in recent years. In Bulgaria for instance the most successful post-1991 political party has been the 'Bulgarian Socialist Party' which, it turns out, is the direct successor of the Cold War-era Bulgarian Communist Party. As of 2013 they're not currently in government, but won 26.6% of the vote in the most recent elections, placing them second. Similarly, Hungary's most successful post-1991 party is the 'Hungarian Socialist Party', again a partial successor to Hungary's Cold War-era government.
Even in Russia, the 'Communist Party of the Russian Federation' has won between 11 and 25% of the vote in every election since the fall of the Soviet Union, remaining one of Russia's largest parties. Countries such as Greece, Ukraine and Belarus all have prominent communist parties, by which I mean they consistently win parliamentary seats and significant portions of the vote. Moldova has actually had an elected communist government, which was in power from 2001 to 2009.
My point is, the collapse of the Eastern Bloc did not completely see the end of Communism as a political movement in Europe. The state of politics in most Eastern European countries post-Cold War has basically been a reflection of what's been happening in western Europe ever since the end of WW2. Governments have typically switched back and forth every few years between socialist parties, which are usually the strongest parties individually (France for instance is currently ruled by the Socialists) and a coalition of more right-wing parties. Rarely have the Communists actually been voted into office, but they've persistently lurked on the fringes of the electoral scene, refusing to be vanquished, and occasionally re-emerged to form part of a coalition government with other left-wing parties.
Why am I saying all this, you may ask? My point is simple, it is that we shouldn't be so shocked if one day we wake up and find the following scenario has indeed come back to life -
http://www.boreme.com/posting.php?id=11391
Our past is still closer than we think. I wouldn't be shocked if in twenty or thirty years we find that much of Europe has again fallen under communist rule, though this time buoyed with the priceless legitimacy the democratic process brings. I make this prediction with mixed feelings. I'm a leftie, I believe that ultimately democratic socialism will prevail over dictatorship and unregulated capitalism, and given that government spending as a percentage of GDP in most western countries is now rising past 40% or more, it would seem that most of the developed world agrees. The fall of the Eastern Bloc saw the global trend towards socialism, prevalent in much of the 20th century, reversed in the region for a few decades. Now however, things seem to be getting back on track. I hope above all else however that politically the region does not revert to authoritarian rule, be it of the one-party-state kind found in the Soviet Union of its satellites, or the US-backed military junta kind seen in Greece and Turkey. Ultimately I suppose I believe in a big government over a small government, but only if its a democratic one. People should be allowed to determine their own future.
