Action Programme (1968)

Drafting and content

The Action Programme was prepared between January and March 1968 by about two hundred people, building on a background document prepared since 1967 by a commission under Zdeněk Mlynář. According to academic work on the period, it was constructed through "working groups" with influential input from Mlynář (socialist democracy), Radovan Richta (science, culture and education) and Ota Šik (national economy and standard of living). The document of more than thirty pages responded to the social development of the 1960s, the economic crisis, criticism of Stalinism and international détente, combining partial analysis of existing problems with a series of proposals for change.

The programme unfolded the "revival process" conceived by the reform wing of the Communist Party. Its main aim was reform of the political system: transforming existing state socialism into democratic socialism, "socialism with a human face," along a specifically Czechoslovak path relatively independent of the Soviet Union. The document criticized in unusually open terms the precipitate expansion of heavy industry at the expense of other sectors, with disproportionate demands on raw materials, labour and investment, and admitted for the first time in two decades that the centrally directed economic model did not work and did not correspond to the country's possibilities or needs.

The economic critique was spelled out in the document's own words: the growth of heavy industry caused considerable technical retardation of Czechoslovak production, upset the market equilibrium and worsened the international position of the Czechoslovak economy, and had to end in stagnation and in some cases even in a reduction of the living standard. It described slow wage growth, stagnation of living standards, catastrophic housing conditions, a precarious transport system and poor quality goods and services.

The core of the economic reform was to remove directive management and central planning, replace production ministries with a few departmental offices setting rules for state enterprises, create workers' enterprise councils, and ultimately permit small private enterprise. In the first quarter of 1968 wages accordingly rose by 10.4 percent, on average about 106 crowns per person per month, and wage and social demands became the subject of negotiation between the trade unions and the government, a novel social phenomenon.

Civil liberties and political institutions

The document itself attributed the deformations of the preceding period to the personality cult, insufficient experience, dogmatism and subjectivism, and stated that the leading bodies and institutes of the Party and State of that time were "fully responsible" for mechanically accepting conceptions at variance with Czechoslovak conditions. It called sectarianism, suppression of democratic rights and violation of laws an irreparable loss and a warning against similar methods. It held that antagonistic classes no longer existed and that the main feature of internal development was becoming the bringing together of all socialist groupings in society; methods of direction used during sharp class struggle were outdated, and broad social initiative, frank exchange of views and democratization of the whole social and political system were conditions for the dynamism of socialist society.

On guarantees of civil liberties, the programme confirmed the right of assembly, the formation of voluntary organizations and associations, freedom of expression (practically abolishing censorship), and freedom of residence connected with travel abroad. Practically all its measures were worked out at the same time as draft laws. It also proposed federalization to strengthen Slovak autonomy, and after the 1968 invasion this federalization was the only point of the whole Action Programme that was realized.

The programme envisaged a strict division of powers: the National Assembly rather than the Communist Party would control the government, and courts were to become independent. Political pluralism was not recommended, but the Communist Party would have to justify its leading role by competing freely with other organizations. The reconception of that leading role was the programme's leading idea: the party should "not rule over society but serve it," winning its role by democratic means rather than directives. The programme rejected a system of ruling and opposition parties, so that the KSČ would to some degree share power with other partners while retaining the leading role.

Among the most important points were the promotion of Slovakia to full parity within a new Czechoslovak federation, long overdue industrial and agricultural reforms, a revised constitution guaranteeing civil rights and liberties, and the complete rehabilitation of citizens whose rights had been infringed in the past.

On ideological pluralism the programme proposed "interest pluralism," in which citizens, party members and non-members alike, would raise problems through lower bodies of the National Front and propose solutions in democratic discussion, with full involvement of non-party people and professional careers no longer conditioned on party membership. The programme also addressed science, education and culture, stipulating full freedom of scientific research, with scientific works and journals subject to no censorship. On democratic claims concerning the state, elections to national committees, the National Assembly and the Slovak National Council were postponed owing to outdated electoral laws and dissatisfaction with the chosen candidates, to be held in autumn under new rules allowing more candidates. Within the party, officials were to be elected by secret ballot, accumulating leading party, state and public functions in one person was banned, and communists were to be able to leave the party voluntarily.

Foreign policy and aftermath

The programme covered foreign policy including both the maintenance of good relations with Western countries and cooperation with the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc nations, and it spoke of a ten-year transition making democratic elections possible. At the Čierna nad Tisou talks, Dubček defended the reformist wing's proposals while pledging commitment to the Warsaw Pact and Comecon.

Those who drafted the Action Programme were careful not to criticize the actions of the post-war Communist regime, only to point out policies they felt had outlived their usefulness. The immediate post-war situation had required "centralist and directive-administrative methods," but since the "antagonistic classes" had been defeated, such methods were no longer necessary, and workers could now be rewarded for qualifications and technical skill without contravening Marxism-Leninism.

Within the party there were varying opinions on the economic course: certain economists wished for a more mixed economy while others wanted the economy to remain mostly planned, and Ota Šik, who was behind the economic reforms, saw his economic views as "third way" ones. Dubček continued to stress that economic reform must proceed under Communist Party rule. Although it was stipulated that reform must proceed under KSČ direction, popular pressure mounted to implement reforms immediately: radical elements became more vocal, anti-Soviet polemics appeared in the press on 26 June 1968, the Social Democrats began to form a separate party, and new unaffiliated political clubs were created. Party conservatives urged repression while Dubček counselled moderation and re-emphasized KSČ leadership.

The 14th Party Congress was to incorporate the Action Programme into the party statutes, draft a federalization law and elect a new Central Committee. The programme's implementation ended with the Warsaw Pact invasion of 21 August 1968, and the following years were marked by normalization. The Action Programme was officially annulled by the Central Committee of the KSČ only in 1970, though its validity effectively ended in late summer 1968. The invasion is conventionally treated as the end of the Prague Spring and of the programme.

Distinctions

The Action Programme was not the same document as the "Two Thousand Words." That manifesto, written by the reformist writer Ludvík Vaculík and signed by intellectuals and artists on 17 June 1968 (published 27 June), was a separate civic appeal urging the population to hold the party accountable to standards of openness. It was denounced by Dubček, the party Presidium, the National Front and the cabinet, as well as by the Soviets.

It is also distinct from the wider concept "socialism with a human face." The slogan, first authored by Radovan Richta, referred to the social-democratic and democratic-socialist programme agreed at the KSČ Presidium in April 1968. It described a process of moderate democratization, economic modernization and political liberalization seeking an advanced socialist society while still allowing the Communist Party to govern. It was vital in initiating the Prague Spring and was rolled back by the Warsaw Pact invasion of 21 August 1968.

The Action Programme was not a departure from socialism or from the leading role of the KSČ, which was anchored in the constitution. It stated somewhat vaguely that the party must pursue policies such that it "fully deserved" the leading role, claimed it relied on "voluntary support of the people" and that it did not rule society but "most devotedly served its free, progressive socialist development," and reaffirmed that the KSČ regarded Marxist-Leninist political leadership as a condition of correct development and would continue to rest on the working class.