Social Democracy (Czech Republic)

Social Democracy (Czech: Sociální demokracie, SOCDEM), known as the Czech Social Democratic Party (Czech: Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD) until 10 June 2023, is a social democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum, it is a member of the Party of European Socialists, the Socialist International, and the Progressive Alliance. Masaryk Democratic Academy is the party-affiliated's think tank.

Social Democracy
Sociální demokracie
AbbreviationSOCDEM
LeaderJiří Nedvěd
Deputy LeadersRadek Scherfer
Michal Chalupný
Alžběta Kálalová
Jiří Ott
FoundersJosef Boleslav Pecka
Ladislav Zápotocký
Founded7 April 1878; 147 years ago (1878-04-07)
HeadquartersLidový dům, Hybernská 1033/7, Prague 1
Think tankMasaryk Democratic Academy
Youth wingYoung Social Democrats
Women's wingSocial Democratic Women
Religious wingChristian Social Platform
Membership (2025)3,090
IdeologySocial democracy
Left-wing populism
Political positionCentre-left
National affiliationNational Front
(1945–1948)
Stačilo! (since 2025)
European affiliationParty of European Socialists
European Parliament groupProgressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
International affiliationProgressive Alliance
Socialist International
Colours  Pastel red
Chamber of Deputies
0 / 200
Senate
0 / 81
European Parliament
0 / 21
Regional councils
12 / 675
Governors of the regions
0 / 13
Local councils
799 / 61,780
Party flag
Website
socdem.cz

The ČSSD was a junior coalition party within Andrej Babiš' Second Cabinet's minority government from June 2018, and was a senior coalition party from 1998 to 2006 and from 2013 to 2017. It held 15 seats in the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic following the 2017 Czech parliamentary election in which the party lost 35 seats. From 2018 to 2021, the party was led by Jan Hamáček, who has since been replaced by Michal Šmarda as leader after the 2021 Czech parliamentary election, in which the party lost all of its seats after falling below 5%.

History

The Social Democratic Czechoslavonic party in Austria (Czech: Sociálně Demokratická strana Českoslovanská v Rakousku) was a political group founded on 7 April 1878 in Austria-Hungary as a regional wing of the Social Democratic Party of Austria. Founded in Břevnov atop earlier social democratic initiatives, such as the Ouls, it represented much of the Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austrian parliament, and its significant role in the political life of the empire was one of the factors that led to the creation of an independent Czechoslovakia. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I, the party became one of the leading parties of the first Czechoslovak Republic. Its members were split over whether to join the Comintern, which in 1921 resulted in the fracturing of the party, with a large part of its membership then forming the new Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

During the occupation of the Czech lands by Nazi Germany, the party was officially abolished, but its members organized resistance movements contrary to the laws of the German-controlled Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, both at home and abroad. After the re-establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1945, the party returned to its pre-war structure and became a member of the National Front which formed a new governing coalition. In 1948, after the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia gained a parliamentary majority, the Czech Social Democratic Party was incorporated into the Communist Party. At the time of the Prague Spring, a reformist movement in 1968, there were talks about allowing the recreation of a social democratic party, but Soviet intervention put an end to such ideas. It was only after the Velvet Revolution of 1989 that the party was recreated. Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which came into effect on 1 January 1993, the ČSSD has been one of the major political parties of the Czech Republic, and until October 2017 was always one of the two parties with the largest number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

At the 1998 Czech parliamentary election, the party won the largest number of seats but failed to form a coalition government, so formed a minority government under its leader Miloš Zeman. With only 74 seats out of 200, the government had confidence and supply from the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), under the so-called Opposition Agreement. At the 2002 Czech parliamentary election, the party gained 70 of the 200 seats in the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. Its leader Vladimír Špidla became prime minister, heading a coalition with two small centre-right parties, the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU–ČSL) and the Freedom Union – Democratic Union (US-DEU) until he was forced to resign in 2004 after the ČSSD lost in the 2004 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic.

The next leader was Stanislav Gross, serving as leader from 26 June 2004 to 26 April 2005 and as prime minister from 4 August 2004 to 25 April 2005. He resigned after a scandal when he was unable to explain the source of money used to buy his house. The successor of Gross as prime minister was Jiří Paroubek, while Bohuslav Sobotka became acting party leader from 26 April 2005 to 13 May 2006. Paroubek was then elected as the new party leader in the run-up to the 2006 Czech parliamentary election, at which the party won 32.3% of the vote and 74 out of 200 seats. The election at first caused a stalemate, since the centre-right parties plus the Green Party and the centre-left parties each had exactly 100 seats. The stalemate was broken when two ČSSD deputies, Miloš Melčák and Michal Pohanka, abstained during a vote of confidence, allowing a coalition of the Civic Democrats (ODS), the KDU-ČSL, and the Green Party to form a government, while the ČSSD went into opposition.

At the 2010 Czech parliamentary election, the ČSSD gained 22.08% of the vote but remained the largest party, with 56 seats. Failing to form a governing coalition, it remained in opposition to a government coalition of the ODS, conservative TOP 09 and conservative-liberal Public Affairs parties. Paroubek resigned as leader on 7 June and was succeeded by Sobotka. It remained the largest party after the 2013 Czech parliamentary election, and in December of the same year formed a governing coalition with the populist ANO 2011 and the centrist Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party. The leader of ČSSD, Bohuslav Sobotka, became the new Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.

The party suffered heavy losses in the 2017 Czech parliamentary election and was reduced to 15 seats, the worst result in its history. ČSSD suffered another defeat in the Prague Municipal, local and Senate elections in 2018. ČSSD lost 12 senators (only one managed to win re-election), all Prague deputies and more than half of their local councillors. In 2019 ČSSD lost all their representatives in the European Parliament. Some political commentators have interpreted the string of poor results as a sign of ČSSD losing their position in national politics. ČSSD suffered another defeat in 2020 Regional Elections and Senate elections, when they lost 10 senators (none re-elected) and 97 regional deputies. From 2018 to 2021, ČSSD had Jan Hamáček as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Jana Maláčová as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Lubomír Zaorálek as Minister of Culture, and Miroslav Toman as Minister of Agriculture.

Extra-parliamentary party since 2021

In the 2021 election the party fell short of the 5% threshold and subsequently lost all of its seats in the Chamber of Deputies. This came as a shock to much of the party membership, who were reportedly optimistic about party results even as predictions showed party losing its representation. Party chair Jan Hamáček resigned on the election day, as some high-ranking members blamed ANO for the loss.

Later that year, Mayor of the Nové Město na Moravě Michal Šmarda defeated former Minister of Labor Jana Maláčová in the leadership contest, vowing to return the party to Parliament. He also said he does not want to repeat the cooperation with ANO, as he reckoned that it will not exist when the next parliamentary election is held.

Relaunch

At its 2023, the party elected to change its name to just Social Democracy, and adopt a new visual identity with a new logo. Šmarda was reelected as chairman, claiming that the party will be an alternative to both a Spolu-led government and an ANO-led opposition. He also says he sees the party back at a 30% vote share in four years and at 10% in the next parliamentary election, claiming that under his leadership, SOCDEM will not form a government with ANO, ODS, TOP 09, SPD or KSČM.

For the 2023 Czech presidential election, the party nominated a trade union leader Josef Středula, though he dropped out shortly before the election. Šmarda refused to support any other candidate, but called on his fellow party members to vote against Andrej Babiš, Jaroslav Bašta and Karel Diviš.

Former party leader Lubomír Zaorálek was selected as the party's lead candidate for the 2024 European Parliament election. The party had chosen to run independently, after coalition talks with the Greens failed, but opted to invite Budoucnost members on its list. SOCDEM received 1.86% of the vote share at the election, failing to enter the European Parliament for the second consecutive time, and finishing 9th overall. Šmarda, describing the result as his personal failure, called for a new leadership election, blaming the party disunity for the result.

Under Jana Maláčová

After the unsuccessful election, Jana Maláčová was elected chairwoman of the party, defeating former Minister for Human Rights Jiří Dienstbier Jr.. Maláčová called for the party to shift to the left and called for a Czech version of the French New Ecological and Social People's Union alliance. Doing so, she refused to work with KSČM, causing a stir among some party members. Later, former ministers Jan Petříček, Petra Buzková and former party leader Jan Hamáček had left the party in protest.

Shortly after being elected, Maláčová began talks with the Stačilo! alliance, seeking cooperation for the 2025 Czech parliamentary election, citing the success of the French NUPES. This resulted in further protests from party members as well as the Young Social Democrats, which warned against another mass departure of members if SOCDEM collaborates with Stačilo!.

In February 2025, Maláčová announced that the talks had broken down, saying that Stačilo! was "not left-wing enough" and that it focused on anti-system politics rather than on social-economical issues. The party has added that it is still open to cooperation with other subjects.

On 7 April 2025, former MEP Libor Rouček left the party in protest against SOCDEM leaders secret negotiations with ANO for places on ANO's candidate lists for the 2025 Czech parliamentary election.

On 25 June 2025, SOCDEM leaders released a press release where they invited Stačilo! to cooperate for the 2025 Czech parliamentary election again. Former Minister for Human Rights Jiří Dienstbier Jr., Senator Petr Vícha, former MP Václav Votava, former MEP Miroslav Poche and governor of Pardubice Region Martin Netolický left the party in protest. Former Czech president, PM and ČSSD chairman Miloš Zeman commented cooperation between SOCDEM and Stačilo! as "sensible solution".

On 17 July 2025, both Stačilo! and SOCDEM agreed on cooperation for the 2025 Czech parliamentary election. Former SOCDEM leader Michal Šmarda announced that he will leave the party in protest.

On 21 July 2025, Maláčová at the Stačilo! press conference announced that she will lead Stačilo! in Prague, vice-chairman Jiří Nedvěd in Karlovy Vary Region and first vice-chairman Lubomír Zaorálek would be listed second in Moravian-Silesian Region after Stačilo! leader Kateřina Konečná. Forty SOCDEM members would be listed on Stačilo! candidate lists.

The party used to hold pro-European views until early 2020s. However, in August 2025, the party pledged to promote and follow the program of Stačilo!, which includes reconsideration and a referendum on the Czech Republic's withdrawal from NATO and the European Union. Maláčová stated that she sees no contradictions between the programs of SOCDEM and Stačilo!, arguing that their programs are "98% similar" and that SOCDEM "has long supported a general referendum, including on foreign policy issues". Czech political scientists Tomáš Cirhan and Mattia Collin wrote that since entering cooperation with Stačilo!, SOCDEM has shifted "towards a less pro-European stance and a more favourable position on Russia", and became increasingly divided in terms of stances in GAL-TAN dimension (progressive and traditional values on social issues).

Stačilo! failed to reach 5% threshold to get in parliament, thus SOCDEM failed to gain any deputies. On 6 October 2025, Máláčová announced that SOCDEM leaders would resign at an extraordinary congress.

Under Jiří Nedvěd

On 13 December 2025, Jiří Nedvěd was elected in a SOCDEM leadership election, with 69 out of 133 votes, defeating Petr Pavlík and Petr Hůla. Former Minister for Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Jan Chvojka, former Chairman of the SOCDEM Prague organization Petr Pavlík and the mayor of Náchod Jan Birke left the party in protest.

Organization

Names

Czech lands as part of Austria-Hungary:

  • 1878–1893: Czechoslavonic Social Democratic Party in Austria (Sociálně-demokratická strana českoslovanská v Rakousku), then part of the Social Democratic Party of Austria
  • 1893–1918: Czechoslavonic Social Democratic Workers' Party (Českoslovanská sociálně demokratická strana dělnická), an independent party

Czechoslovakia:

  • 1918–1938: Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers' Party (Československá sociálně demokratická strana dělnická), and was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1938; after the split-up of Austria-Hungary, the portion of the party that ended up within the new Republic of Austria split from the main party to form the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers Party in the Republic of Austria
  • 1938–1941: National Labour Party (Národní strana práce), which was a merger of the party with the left wing of the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party to unite the left in opposition to the ruling Party of National Unity
  • 1945–1948: Czechoslovak Social Democracy (Československá sociální demokracie)
  • 1948–1989: merged with the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia but concurrently existed as an exile party with its headquarters in London
  • 1990–1993: Czechoslovak Social Democracy (Československá sociální demokracie)

Czech Republic:

  • 1993–2023: Czech Social Democratic Party (Česká strana sociálně demokratická), keeping the previous abbreviation ČSSD
  • Since June 2023: Social Democracy (Sociální demokracie), adopting the abbreviation SOCDEM.

Logos

Policy positions

In economic matters, the ČSSD party platform is typical of Western European social democratic parties. It supports a mixed economy, a strong welfare state, and progressive taxation. In foreign policy, it supports European integration, including joining the Eurozone, and is critical of the foreign policy of the United States, especially when in opposition, though it does not oppose membership of the Czech Republic in NATO.

Membership

After 1989
1990 12,954
1991 12,468
1992 11,797
1993 11,031
1994 10,482
1995 11,757
1996 13,043
1997 14,121
1998 17,343
1999 18,762
2000 17,079
2001 16,300
2002 17,026
2003 17,913
2004 16,658
2005 16,750
2006 17,650
2007 18,354
2008 20,684
2009 24,497
2010 24,486
2011 24,000
2012 23,802
2013 22,881
2014 23,202
2015 21,501
2016 20,349
2017 19,477
2018 17,208
2019 13,845
2020 13,139
2021 11,531
2022 9,403
2023 7,539
2024 6,500
2025 3,090
Before 1948
1913 169,279
1932 194,857
1935 210,898
1947 363,735
Further references

Election results

Cisleithanian elections

Imperial Council elections

Date Leader Votes Seats Position
No. % No. ± Size
1907 Antonín Němec 389,960 8.5
22 / 516
22 6th Opposition
1911 Antonín Němec 357,234 7.9
25 / 516
3 4th Opposition

Czechoslovakia wide elections

Legislative elections

Date Leader Votes Seats Position
No. % No. ± Size
1920 Antonín Němec 1,590,520 25.7
74 / 300
74 1st Coalition
1925 Antonín Hampl 632,403 8.9
25 / 300
45 4th Coalition
1929 Antonín Hampl 963,462 13
39 / 300
10 2nd Opposition
1935 Antonín Hampl 1,032,773 12.6
38 / 300
1 3rd Coalition
1946 Zdeněk Fierlinger 855,771 12.1
37 / 300
1 5th Coalition
1948 as part of National Front
23 / 300
14 3rd Bloc
1954 Illegal. Merged into Communist Party. De jure in-exile.
1960
1964
1971
1976
1981
1986
1990 Jiří Horák 342,455 3.2
0 / 150
0 9th No seats
1992 Valtr Komárek
Alexander Dubček
648,125 6.8
10 / 150
10 4th Opposition

Devolved assembly elections

Czech assembly elections

Date Leader Votes Seats Position
No. % No. ± Size
1990 Jiří Horák 296,165 4.11
0 / 200
0 6th No seats
1992 Jiří Horák 422,736 6.53
16 / 200
16 3rd Opposition

Slovak assembly elections

Date Leader Votes Seats Position
No. % No. ± Size
1928 Ivan Dérer 96,901 7.33
4 / 54
4 4th
1935 Ivan Dérer 148,984 9.86
8 / 54
4 3rd

Czech Republic wide elections

Legislative elections

Date Leader Votes Seats Position
No. % No. ± Size
1996 Miloš Zeman 1,602,250 26.4
61 / 200
45 2nd External support
1998 Miloš Zeman 1,928,660 32.3
74 / 200
13 1st Minority
2002 Vladimír Špidla 1,440,279 30.2
70 / 200
4 1st Coalition (2002–2004)
Coalition (2004–2005)
Coalition (2005–2006)
2006 Jiří Paroubek 1,728,827 32.3
74 / 200
4 2nd Opposition (2006–2009)
Coalition (2009–2010)
2010 Jiří Paroubek 1,155,267 22.1
56 / 200
18 1st Opposition
2013 Bohuslav Sobotka 1,016,829 20.5
50 / 200
6 1st Coalition
2017 Lubomír Zaorálek 368,347 7.3
15 / 200
35 6th Opposition (2017–2018)
Coalition (2018–2021)
2021 Jan Hamáček 250,397 4.7
0 / 200
15 6th No seats
2025 Jana Maláčová 242,031 4.3
0 / 200
0 7th No seats
Part of Stačilo! list, which won 0 seats in total

Senate elections

Election First round Second round Seats Total seats Notes
Votes % Runners-up Place* Votes % Place*
1996 559,304 20.3
48 / 81
2nd 733,713 31.8 2nd
25 / 81
25 / 81
The whole Senate was elected. Only one third of Senate was elected in all subsequent elections.
1998 208,845 21.7
5 / 27
3rd 121,700 22.7 3rd
3 / 27
23 / 81
1999 327 1.0
0 / 1
5th  
0 / 1
23 / 81
By-election in Prague 1 district.
2000 151,943 17.7
5 / 27
3rd 53,503 9.5 5th
1 / 27
15 / 81
2002 122,397 18.4
14 / 27
2nd 224,386 27.3 2nd
7 / 27
11 / 81
2003 2,424 6.8
0 / 2
6th  
0 / 2
11 / 81
By-elections in Strakonice and Brno-city district.
2004 5,203 14.7
1 / 2
3rd 5,358 20.51 3rd
0 / 2
11 / 81
By-elections in Prague 4 and Znojmo districts.
2004 90,446 12.5
3 / 27
4th 24,923 5.2 4th
0 / 27
7 / 81
2006 204,573 19.2
11 / 27
2nd 120,127 20.9 2nd
6 / 27
13 / 81
2007 6,456 21.66
1 / 2
1st 4,338 21.54 2nd
1 / 2
13 / 81
By-elections for Chomutov and Přerov
2008 347,759 33.2
26 / 27
1st 459,829 55.9 1st
23 / 27
29 / 81
2010 290,090 25.3
22 / 27
1st 299,526 44.0 1st
12 / 27
41 / 81
2011 12,088 44.3
1 / 1
1st 13,505 65.1 1st
1 / 1
41 / 81
By-election in Kladno district
2012 199,957 22.7
23 / 27
1st 207,064 40.3 1st
13 / 27
46 / 81
2014 3,695 16.1
0 / 1
3rd  
0 / 1
46 / 81
By-election in Zlín district
2014 226,239 22.0
19 / 27
1st 165,629 35.0 1st
10 / 27
33 / 81
2014 2,092 16.8
1 / 1
1st 3,664 50.9 1st
1 / 1
33 / 81
By-election in Prague 10 district, Ivana Cabrnochová was a Green Party candidate supported by ČSSD
2016 128,875 14.6
9 / 27
2nd 55,622 13.1 3rd
2 / 27
25 / 81
2018 1,294 5.7
0 / 1
6th  
0 / 1
25 / 81
By-election in Trutnov district.
2018 1,270 7.5
0 / 1
6th  
0 / 1
25 / 81
By-election in Zlín district.
2018 100,478 9.2
5 / 27
3rd 33,887 8.10 6th
1 / 27
13 / 81
2019 2,674 13.9
0 / 1
3rd  
0 / 1
13 / 81
By-election in Prague 9 district, Petr Daubner was a Czech Pirate Party candidate supported by ČSSD
2020 81,105 8.1
3 / 27
5th 18,175 4.0 8th
0 / 27
3 / 81
2022 43,870 3.9
1 / 27
7th 10,344 2.2 9th
0 / 27
1 / 81
2024 28,479 3.59
0 / 27
7th  
1 / 27
1 / 81
Notes
  • In 1996, the whole Senate elected (81 seats), while in next elections only one third of seats is to be contested.

Presidential elections

Indirect election Candidate First round result Second round result Third round result
Votes % Result Votes % Result Votes % Result
1998 Václav Havel 130 70.65 Runner-up 146 52.3 Won
2003
Jaroslav Bureš 46 17.04 Eliminated
Miloš Zeman 83 30.18 Eliminated
Jan Sokol 128 46.55 Runner-up 129 48.13 Runner-up 124 46.6 Lost
2008 Jan Švejnar 138 49.82 Runner-up 135 48.74 Runner-up 113 44.84 Lost
128 49.10 Runner-up 141 47.19 Runner-up 111 44.05 Lost
Direct election Candidate First round result Second round result
Votes % Result Votes % Result
2013 Jiří Dienstbier Jr. 829,297 16.12 4th Supported Miloš Zeman
2018 No candidate
2023 Josef Středula withdrawn

European Parliament elections

Election List leader Votes % Seats +/− EP Group
2004 Libor Rouček 204,903 8.78 (#5)
2 / 25
New PES
2009 Jiří Havel 528,132 22.39 (#2)
7 / 22
5 S&D
2014 Jan Keller 214,800 14.17 (#3)
4 / 21
3
2019 Pavel Poc 93,664 3.95 (#8)
0 / 21
4
2024 Lubomír Zaorálek 55,260 1.86 (#9)
0 / 21
0

Regional elections

Election
Votes % Councillors
2000 344,441 14.67
112 / 675
2004 297,083 14.03
105 / 675
2008 1,044,719 35.86
280 / 675
2012 621,961 23.58
205 / 675
2016 386,150 15.25
125 / 675
2020 185,714 6.71
37 / 675
2024 83,829 3.52
13 / 685

Local elections

Election
% Councillors
1994 8.7 1,628
1998 17.54 4,259
2002 15.57 4,664
2006 16.61 4,331
2010 19.68 4,584
2014 12.65 3,773
2018 5.17 1,882
2022 2.49 799

Prague municipal elections

Year Leader Vote % Seats +/− Place Position
1990 484,484 5.6
5 / 76
4th Opposition
1994 Jiří Paroubek 2,435,279 8.6
5 / 55
4th Opposition
1998 Jiří Paroubek 363,917 17.5
10 / 55
5 3rd Coalition
2002 Jiří Paroubek 656,936 14.7
12 / 70
2 3rd Coalition
2006 Petra Buzková 4,197,631 15.9
12 / 70
2nd Opposition
2010 Jiří Dienstbier Jr. 615,209 17.9
19 / 65
7 2nd Coalition
2014 Miloslav Ludvík 2,160,963 10.4
8 / 65
11 5th Coalition
2018 Jakub Landovský 727,826 2.9
0 / 65
8 8th No seats

Chairmen

Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party in Austria

  • Josef Boleslav Pecka (1878–1893)
  • Josef Hybeš (1887–1893)

Czechoslavonic Social Democratic Workers' Party

  • Josef Steiner (1893–1904)
  • Antonín Němec (1904–1915)
  • Bohumír Šmeral (1916–1917)

Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers' Party

  • Antonín Němec (1917–1925)
  • Antonín Hampl (1925–1938)

Czechoslovak Social Democracy

  • Zdeněk Fierlinger (1945–1947)
  • Bohumil Laušman (1947–1948)

Czechoslovak Social Democracy in-exile

  • Blažej Vilím (1948)
  • Václav Majer (1948–1972)
  • Vilém Bernard (1972–1989)
  • Karel Hrubý

Czechoslovak Social Democracy

  • Slavomír Klaban (1989–1990)
  • Jiří Horák (1990–1993)

Czech Social Democratic Party

  • Miloš Zeman (28 February 1993 – April 2001)
  • Vladimír Špidla (April 2001 – 26 July 2004)
  • Stanislav Gross (26 July 2004 – 26 April 2005)
    • Bohuslav Sobotka (2005–2006; acting)
  • Jiří Paroubek (2006–2010)
  • Bohuslav Sobotka (2011–2017)
    • Milan Chovanec (2017–2018; acting)
  • Jan Hamáček (2018–2021)
    • Roman Onderka (2021; acting)
  • Michal Šmarda (2021–2023)

Social Democracy

  • Michal Šmarda (2023–2024)
  • Jana Maláčová (2024–2025)
  • Jiří Nedvěd (since 2025)

wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about Social Democracy (Czech Republic), What is Social Democracy (Czech Republic)? What does Social Democracy (Czech Republic) mean?