Programme Differences between Czech and Slovak Social Democratic Parties in the 2024 European Parliament Elections

Abstract

This article addresses the identification of major programme differences among social democratic political entities in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic during the 2024 European Parliament elections. It assesses the extent to which the programme documents and pre-election communications of the analysed political parties Sociální demokracie, Smer-SD, and Hlas-SD corresponded with the fundamental ideological principles of social democracy as defined by Heywood, as well as their alignment with the theoretical framework of social democracy. The content analysis shows that the Czech entity adheres to the ideological framework of social democracy, while the Slovak entities present tendencies toward nationalism and conservatism. This raises questions about the appropriateness of labelling the Slovak parties as social democratic, reflecting their significant deviation from this ideological framework in terms of political programs and practices.