Miroslav Novák

This is how the Russian logician and writer Alexander Zinoviev (1922-2006) characterized the "program" of the dissident movement in the Soviet Union: "The authorities must respect the letter of Soviet law, fulfill the obligations they have undertaken, put an end to the persecution of those who think differently and really want to enjoy the civil liberties they proclaim. If we were to use the term "program" here, taken in a somewhat informal sense, we would have to speak of a negative program. As for a positive program (a program in the precise sense of the term), a program for reforming Soviet society that would realize the aspirations and slogans of the dissidents, the dissident movement has none". This applies not only to dissidence in the Soviet Union, as Zinoviev thought, but more generally to most human rights groups in the Soviet bloc, and in particular to Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia. In its documents, from its founding manifesto of January 1, 1977 onwards, Charter 77 constantly repeats that it does not want to serve as a basis for opposition, that its aim is not to draw up a program of reforms, and that it wishes to engage in constructive dialogue with the powers that be.

One element in the choice of a constitutional design or model of democracy is the criterion of efficiency. Different political scientists, however, understand the word ‘efficiency’ in different ways. The author suggests a distinction between its two main meanings: (1) efficiency-action capacity and (2) effectiveness-socioeconomic performance. It is not just socio-economic effectiveness that is important, but also political efficiency-action capacity. Efficiency-action capacity is closely linked with the theory of democracy put forward by Schumpeter and adopted by the majority of political scientists today. Thus efficiency is essential not only for the government (in that it simplifies the operation of power) but also, and even more importantly, for the governed, for the citizens (in that it simplifies the choice and peaceful removal of the rulers, i.e. the executive).