It’s Transactions, Stupid! Networks of
Czech Social Movement Organizations
Twenty Years after Communism
Ondrej Cisar and Jiri Navratil
Institute for Comparative Political Research
Masaryk University
Specific Research Goals/Questions
1.
2.
How do the networks of Czech SMOs look
like? Are there differences between the
distribution of particular network properties
in the case of post-materialistically-oriented
‘new’ SMOs and the ‘old’ type of
participatory activism?
What accounts for the observed variation in
network properties?
Two Modes of Activism
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
Participatory activism - its strength and
legitimacy depends on its ability to mobilize a
significant number of followers, who also
supply it with necessary resources (trade
unions…).
Transactional activism - its strength
depends on its (transactional) capacity to link
up with other organizations, and integrate
them into broader platforms
(environmentalists, human rights…).
Expectations
Descriptive part
Two different network structures – a dense networking
of transactional activists and a less dense
networking of participatory activists

Explanatory part
The bigger the exposure to international assistance
programs, the bigger the capacity on the part of a
local organization to assume a central position
within inter-organizational networks.

Data: Czech SMOs Survey
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sectors: environmental, women’s rights, gay and
lesbian, civil rights, developmental, agrarian, social
services, radical Left groups, and trade unions
snow-ball sampling (some sectors supplemented by
expert knowledge), 70 % response rate, N=220
key informant face-to-face interviewing using a
standardized questionnaire, October 2007 –
December 2009
Operationalization
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
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Two dimensions of horizontal transactional capacity:
„real“ (sharing resources) and „nominal“ (potential
facilitation of information flow)
Real ties – existing relations of cooperation among
SMOs – all-degree centrality measure
Nominal ties – position of actor within the whole
network – betweenness centrality measure
Network(s) of Czech SMOs I.
Weak components of the network (energy layout, Kamada-Kawai, separate components, adjusted)
Network(s) of Czech SMOs II.
Distribution of the all-degree centrality within the network - main issue area (energy layout, Fruchterman Reingold)
Network(s) of Czech SMOs III.
Distribution of the all-degree centrality within the network – internally mobilized resources (energy layout, Fruchterman Reingold)
Network(s) of Czech SMOs IV.
Extraction of the strong network components – the main issue area (energy layout, Fruchterman Reingold, adjusted)
Network(s) of Czech SMOs V.
Extraction of the strong network components – internally mobilized resources (energy layout, Fruchterman Reingold, adjusted)
Explanatory model
Questions
 Operationalization
 Explanation
model improvement
 Structure of argument