Ideological Discourses of Anti-Corruption in the Czech Way: Similarities and Discrepancies Between Parties, Governments, and Official Anti-Corruption Strategies

Abstract

Drawing on constructivist approaches, this article contributes to the debate on ideological discourses of (anti-)corruption. The text is inspired by the research of Blendi Kajsiu and focuses on the ideological discourses contained in textual production at different levels of Czech politics–party election manifestos, government policy statements and official governmental anti-corruption strategies. The aim of the analysis is to identify similarities and differences in how political actors formulate their ideas about (anti-)corruption in the electoral process, after gaining executive power and finally in the formulation of the foundations of anti-corruption policies contained in governmental anti-corruption strategies. Thus, the main research question asks whether there is consistency in the discourses carried by a given actor before the elections and after gaining a share of executive power. In the text, we argue that when governments are formed by parties reproducing a centrist or neoliberal discourse, they usually carry this discourse from their election manifestos into the government’s declaration and also into the government’s official anti-corruption strategy. On the contrary, in the case of populist discourse, this transfer has not happened even once, and populist discourse thus appears primarily as a strategy designed to appeal to the electorate.