The Games of the Velvet Revolution : An Integrative Approach to the Transition in Czechoslovakia 1989
2011
Abstract
The article takes an integrative approach to the transition in Czechoslovakia in 1989. It applies game theory to the Velvet Revolution in order to explain the choices made by various political figures.
It examines various attempts to liberalise Socialist Czechoslovakia, asking why several such attempts failed and one was successful. A key point of the analysis is the tension between structural determiners and individuals’ ideas and plans of action.
The article is explicitly positioned as both a contribution to the study of Czech history, and to game theory as an analytical method. Emphasising that a number of different options would have been available, the article problematises teleological concepts of ‘progress’ towards democracy