secret police. The elite structure was essentially a power vacuum after the fall of the Communist Party. Baylis believes that a "counter-elite" was never established. The bulk of the political elite belongs to what Czechs refer to as the "grey zone," those that avoided both Party membership and political dissent. The elite turnover was not dramatic after the Velvet Revolution. Essentially, the same types of people retained thier privileged positions even after the fall of Communism, and practiced the same types of non-responsive behaviors that while were aceptable in a authoritarian society, they are destructive to the represenative democracy. Miroslav Singer, a Czech banker, echoes the concern of many of his fellow citizens at the influx of former Communist officials in influential postitions when he says, the problem is that they are stupid. They form networks that are ignorant at best, and corrupt at worst.7 LA Times, jan. 30, 2000, david holleyThe elite structure is another reason why many Czechs feel disillusioned with their government and see the public sphere as disgusting. They do not see any reason to change the views that they held during the Communist regime, since they believe that not much has changed. The disillusion that many Czechs feel towards their elected officials was reflected in the Thank You, Now Leave petition that was publicized on November 26, 2000.8 CTK prague, nov 26, 2000 - DNM More than fifty percent of the population supported the resignation call for their top officials. police brutalityOSD corruption, wont publicize financial statementsbureaucratic legacy - stats on untrustworthy officialscult of personality - Klausimpact of the dissident movement (apolitics)fatalism amongst peoplereligionidealized goals of the velvet revolutionIts only a few tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people who have become active, but I think its really a turning point, Pehe said, looking back on all t...
