Abstract
This article deals with the question of how to grasp changes of Czechoslovak non-democratic regime in the late 1980's. The study is based on an analysis of so far generally unknown findings of archive research resources related to the origin of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
The analysis is carried out in two steps. Firstly, the author briefly introduces particular theoretical perspectives which determine the areas of focus.
Subsequently, the intra-party development in the period of 1986 - 1988 is described. This period is tentatively divided into three qualitatively distinctive phases.
The first chapter presents reflections of the outset of the soviet reform on the part of the Czechoslovak elites. The second chapter depicts the importance of the January 1987 plenary session of the Central Committee of the CPSU, which was a vital factor for accepting and initiating the specific process of the perestroika in Czechoslovakia.
This impulse caused a conflict both inside the state and the party-leadership. The decision-making process was therewith seriously influenced and so was the following phase of the reform, which is analysed in the third chapter.