Czechoslovakia 1989 and Rational Choice Theory: A General Model of Regime Change

This work adds to the existing research on regime change by exploring the political history of Czechoslovakia in 1989. Using an integrative approach of agency and structure, game-theoretical models founded on rational choice theory, and the political process model are employed to describe politics in communist Czechoslovakia. The classical works on democratisation by Moore, Przeworski, and Huntington as well as the 'transitologist' and 'post-totalitarian' concepts are discussed. Moreover, an original consolidative model for interpreting actors and institutions in a non-democratic regime is presented. Finally, this work proposes a new rationality-based model of regime change and suggests that the concept of democratic equilibrium has been undervalued in the existing research, arguing that its role is of crucial importance in the study of regime change.