1976 Czechoslovak federal election (WFAC)

Federal elections were held in Czechoslovakia on 2 October 1976. All 300 seats in the Federal Assembly were up for election, with MPs elected by party-list proportional representation.

It has since been referred to as the Landslide Election (Czech: Lavinové volby, Slovak: Lavínové voľby), as three new or previously unrepresented parties won seats, and more than a third the members of the Chamber of Deputies were replaced.

Background
In the previous election, held in 1972, the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) had once again defended their position as the largest party, winning 36.13% of the popular vote and 121 seats. Prime Minister Alexander Dubček and his ČSSD-ČSNS coalition emerged with a combined 44.75 percent of the vote and 149 seats. Together with the KSČ, the left-wing parties had won a majority of 167 seats and won the popular vote with 50.69%. The ČSSD had celebrated their best result ever. The RS, on the other hand, turned in its worst performance since 1935 with 20.88% percent of the vote and 62 seats. The ČSSD increased its vote by 1.69 percent, the ČSNS by 0.26 percent, while the RS lost 3.97 percent.

On 15 November 1972 the MPs of the Chamber of Deputies re-elected Alexander Dubček prime minister. His second cabinet returned to government the next day, again with ČSNS chairman Bohuslav Kučera as deputy prime minister and minister of justice. Defeated Martin Hrabík eventually resigned as RS chairman on 15 May 1973, he was succeeded by Lubor Zink.

Political developments
Dubček's second term was characterized by a polarized political climate, characterized by the left's youth movement and the right wing's frustration with increasing taxes and the expanding and regulated welfare state. Economically the impacts of the economic downturn and oil crisis affected most of his second term.

Dubček's government continued the program of social reforms, paying special attention to the fields of welfare, labour reforms and education. In 1974 the Federal Assembly passed the Social Security Act of 1974 (Act No. 108/1974) with support from the ČSL/SĽS and the Republicans, which integrated all health services into a one-tier system, where citizens who needed assistance only had to contact one place, namely with the social committee in their residence municipality, as well as increased the minimum replacement rate from 64% to 90% of earnings. The reform saw a change of perception of social security, from the point of view of rights-based assistance to needs-based assistance, with assistance had to be given on the basis of an individual assessment of the citizen's needs. An educational grant and loan program was introduced in 1974 (Act No. 58/1974), which provided students with grants and, if needed, a supplementary student loans. Grants were introduced for pupils from lower income groups to stay on at school, together with grants for those going into any kind of higher or further education.

In the period between 1968 and 1976 there had been an increasing number of strikes, as Czechoslovak workers presented their demands alongside the established trade union organizations in greater extent than before. However, the public seemed to have become accustomed to these strikes, and the ČSSD's popularity in the opinion polls did not suffer significantly from the strikes. The strikes decreased following The Employment Protection Act of 1975 (Act No. 117/1975) introduced rules regarding consultation with unions, notice periods, and grounds for dismissal, together with priority rules for dismissals and re-employment in case of redundancies. That same year, work-environment improvement grants were introduced and made available to modernising firms "conditional upon the presence of union-appointed 'safety stewards' to review the introduction of new technology with regard to the health and safety of workers." In 1976, a law on co-determination at work (Act No. 173/1976) was introduced that allowed unions to be consulted at various levels within companies before major changes were enforced that would affect employees, while management had to negotiate with labour for joint rights in all matters concerning organisation of work, hiring and firing, and key decisions affecting the workplace.

However, the planned land reform ended with a defeat for the Dubček government. On _____, the ČSSD-ČSNS coalition, along with the KSČ, passed the land reform in parliament, which centered on obligatory residency (anyone acquiring an agricultural estate was required to take residence at the estate within six months of the acquisition) and the state's or municipality's first option to buy (the state would have the first option to buy when a land owner sold a property in a rural area of 1 hectare (10,000 m2) or more, while the municipality would have the first option to buy when a land owner sold a property outside of rural areas (i.e. in towns and the outskirts of towns) of 6,000 m2 or more). The opposition (the RS, CSL/SLS, LDS, SDVP and MNP) voted against the law. The same day, _____ of 300 members of parliament (i.e. every member of the RS, CSL/SLS and the LDS) filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court, on the grounds that the law was in violation with the constitution's section on the right to own land. However, on ______ (21 days later) the Constitutional Court ruled that the law was not in violation with the Czechoslovak constitution.

As a result, on _____ the RS submitted a Draft Constitutional Act on the Referendum on the Implementation of the Land Reforms to the Chamber of Deputies. Two days later, the bill passed the Chamber with ___ votes in favor, ___ votes against, ___ abstaining and the remaining ____ being absent from the vote. Several centrist ČSSD and ČSNS members had either abstained or been absent from the vote,. Five days later the bill was submitted to the Chamber of Nations, which approved the motion two days later. In the subsequent referendum, the voters rejected the land reform with ____ against, forcing Dubček to withdraw the reform. On the day following the referendum, the Federal Minister of Agriculture Josef Borůvka resigned.

The ČSSD pledge to introduce economic democracy (Czech: ekonomické demokracie, Slovak: ekonomickej demokracie) caused much political controversy. In 1974 the OSČ Congress (Odborové sdružení československé, Czechoslovak Trade Union Association) officially adopted the proposal for economic democracy, with OSČ President Karel Hoffmann playing a leading role in developing the idea. The core of the proposal comprised the Czechoslovak government taxing a proportion of company profits and put this into special funds charged to buy shares in listed Czechoslovak companies, with the goal of gradually transferring companies from private to collective employee ownership. The proposal would ensure the Czechoslovak employees with co-ownership and co-determination over their jobs and allow employees into the company's boards.

The issue of economic democracy, or employee funds, became very central in the 1970s political debate. While proponents described them as an attempt to increase the power of labour over Czechoslovak companies, opponents described it as large step towards socialism. Within the right-wing opposition, the LDS formulated its own proposal for funds. Within the ČSSD, the proposal was met with considerable skepticism and among younger officials with direct criticism. The proposal also caused a rift between the business sector and the government, in particular with  and the Hlaváček family.

Economic crisis
When Dubček was elected prime minister in 1969, the Czechoslovak economy had experienced a long period of high growth rates, enjoyed full employment and government budget surpluses, and the government's external debt was stable at around 15% of GDP. Only the rising inflation indicated there were potential weaknesses in the economy. The economy had grown during Dubček's first term, but when his government was re-elected in 1972, there were clear signs of overheating, with the economy running at the limit of its capacity. Changing governments had, since 1964, pursued an expansionary fiscal policy despite they had achieved full employment and were reliant on importing labor. Wages had risen more in Czechoslovakia than in many of their export customers. The abundant demand had led to inflation, and rising inflation led to expectations of even more inflation that manifested itself in increasingly wage demands – all to the detriment of competitiveness. The expansionary government fiscal policy and a generous collective wage agreement among unions in 1974-1976 thus put Czechoslovakia on a highly inflationary path. As a result, the Dubček government's fiscal policy was tightened in the budgets for 1973.

Czechoslovakia's economic problems were exacerbated by the dramatic upsurge in oil prices of 1973-74 following the 1973 oil crisis. Czechoslovakia's GDP in 1975 fell by 1.6 percent (in constant prices), the first time in the postwar era that it had fallen so sharply, with a negative growth of 1.05%. In 1975 the Czechoslovak trade balance also fell as global demand declined and as the terms of trade deteriorated because of the rise in petroleum prices. At the same time, inflation rose from 7.92% in 1973 to 9.72% in 1974. With the budget for 1974, the government therefore sought to operate with a budget surplus. The aim was to curb public and private demand pressures to prevent the economy from overheating. The budget contained a number of minor savings, also on welfare (for example, pensions), but the budgeted surplus would primarily be achieved through through tax increases in the form of increases in corporate tax and wealth tax. From the autumn of 1974 rising unemployment (due to the first oil crisis) forced the Dubček government to ease the fiscal policy in 1975 and 1976.

While the Slovak state elections in 1974 was expected to result in a Republican victory, the Czech state elections in 1974 was widely seen as a test for Dubček's ruling ČSSD and ČSNS coalition. On ____ 1974 Zink led the RS to a huge victory in the Czech state election, gaining an plurality of the votes and formed a coalition government with the ČSL and the LDS. Zink had campaigned heavily on reducing the mounting deficits by a package of tax increases and budget cuts, and his victory was seen as a sign of expression of hostility of the middle class to the left's 1968 movement and the increasing taxes. With his victory he effectively received the Republican nomination for federal prime minister. On 15 May 1974 Martin Hrabík resigned as RS chairman, and was succeeded by Zink.

Although popular with the electorate, Dubček's promised economic reforms had little effect on the growing rate of inflation, and he struggled with conflicting advice on the crisis. In October 1975, Dubček and Finance Minister Šik introduced wage and price controls. During the annual 1975 Christmas interview with ČST, Dubček discussed the economy, citing market failures and stating that more state intervention would be necessary. However, the academic wording and hypothetical solutions posed during the complex discussion led much of the public to believe he had declared capitalism itself a failure, creating a distrust among increasingly neoliberal business leaders.

Parties
The parties that had been elected to the Federal Assembly in the previous elections and still were represented had the right to participate in the federal elections - that is, they were automatically eligible for the election.

New parties wishing to participate in the election should send their application to the Minister of the Interior by 12:00 p.m. fifteen days before the election. Together with the application papers, the party had to submit a number of signatures corresponding at least to 1/300th of all valid votes cast at the last federal elections. In that election, 9,666,764 valid votes were cast, and a new party should therefore collect at least 32,223 signatures to become eligible for the election.

Campaign
By the 1976 election the economic hardships, exacerbated by the worldwide oil crisis, had brought unemployment and inflations. The ČSSD had lost the state election in Czechia and Slovakia, and intra-ČSSD feuds had erupted over the issue of economic democracy. As a result, the economic problems and the issue of inflation would become key in the election campaign.

At the 1975 ČSSD congress the right-wing members had refrained from feuding to avoid giving the opposition a chance to exploit intraparty rifts. But it was hard for the ČSSD to rally members, less enthusiastic over the Dubček government and their ability to bring Czechoslovakia out of the economic crisis. As a result, the campaign lacked the spirit of the 1972 campaign.

The ČSSD did not promise major economic and social reforms, given their financial costs. Instead, it focused on the government's need to restore full employment, reduce public borrowing and curb inflation. The ČSSD and the ČSNS emphasized the advances in welfare policies and detente, which would be endangered by an opposition victory, and its support for the environment and abortion reform. The most controversial campaign issue for the ČSSD was the topic of introducing economic democracy. The opposition parties, spearheaded by Zink and the RS, described it as large step towards socialism.

The RS's slogan "Freedom or Socialism" (Czech: Svoboda nebo socialismus, Slovak: Sloboda alebo socializmus) in particular raised much controversy, which angered ČSSD officials just as the Republicans had hoped.

Issues and the economic crisis gave way to clashes between ČSSD and RS leaders. Their confrontation reached an unprecedented emotional and vituperative level. When the two ideologically profiled party leaders Dubček and Zink met in the election debates, Dubček criticized Zink's election program and the Republican tax proposals, claiming they would increase inequality and insecurity in Czechoslovak society. In turn, Zink contrasted that the policies of the ČSSD-ČSNS government had given a "frightening picture of the future of a socialized country", and accused Dubček of _________. The question of the ČSSD's alleged focus on socialism was one of the most important campaign issues for the opposition. The importance of socialization for the bourgeois parties culminated in the final election debate, where all four right-wing party leaders began their introductory speeches in the debate by arguing that Czechoslovakia was threatened by socialization under ČSSD rule.

Polls showed that Dubček outranked RS candidate Lubor Zink because voters saw him as more competent, a better speaker, and more a "man of the people". Zink, immensely popular among right-wing middle-class voters in Czechia, found it difficult to appeal to people in other parts of Czechoslovakia. One important reason for Zink's unpopularity compared to Dubček, was his tendency to talk sharply and militantly about his political opponents. Dubček, by contrast, was still seen by many Czechoslovak voters as a moderate and practical manager and doer, who focused on getting concrete political and economic results more than on political rhetoric.

Chamber of Deputies
'''Summary of the 14–15 May 1976 Federal Council of Czechoslovakia election results !style="text-align:left" colspan="2"| Parties !style="text-align:left"| Leaders ! Votes ! % ! Seats ! ± ! 9,712,384 ! 100.0% !style="text-align:left; " colspan="2"|300
 * - style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
 * style="background-color:#F0001C"|
 * style="text-align:left"| Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (Československá strana sociálně demokratická) (ČSSD)
 * style="text-align:left"| Alexander Dubček
 * 2,712,347
 * 28.03%
 * 87
 * 0
 * style="background-color:#008000"|
 * style="text-align:left"| Republican Party (Republikánská strana) (RS)
 * style="text-align:left"| Lubor Zink
 * 2,113,366
 * 21.84%
 * 67
 * 0
 * style="background-color:#ffe03e"|
 * style="text-align:left"| Czechoslovak People's Party (Československá strana lidová) (ČSL)
 * style="text-align:left"| Ivo Ducháček
 * 1,065,392
 * 11.01%
 * 34
 * 0
 * style="background-color:#5566CC"|
 * style="text-align:left"| Slovak People's Party (Slovenská ľudová strana) (SĽS)
 * style="text-align:left"| Michal Kováč
 * 1,003,461
 * 10.37%
 * 32
 * 0
 * style="background-color:#BF0202"|
 * style="text-align:left"| Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Komunistická strana Československa) (KSČ)
 * style="text-align:left"| Gustav Husák
 * 725,743
 * 7.50%
 * 23
 * 0
 * style="background-color:#F4C2C2"|
 * style="text-align:left"| Czechoslovak National Social Party (Československá strana národně sociální) (ČSNS)
 * style="text-align:left"| Bohuslav Kučera
 * 581,562
 * 6.93%
 * 21
 * 0
 * style="background-color:#003399"|
 * style="text-align:left"| Free Democrats - Liberal Party (Svobodní demokraté – Liberální strana) (SD–LS)
 * style="text-align:left"| Václav Klaus
 * 670,587
 * 6.01%
 * 18
 * 0
 * style="background-color:black"|
 * style="text-align:left"| Sudeten German People's Party (Sudetendeutsche Volkspartei) (SDVP)
 * style="text-align:left"| Franz Neubauer
 * 342,551
 * 3.54%
 * 10
 * 0
 * style="background-color:green"|
 * style="text-align:left"| Hungarian National Party (Magyar Nemzeti Párt–Maďarská národní strana) (MNP)
 * style="text-align:left"| Ján Gregor
 * 260,300
 * 2.69%
 * 8
 * 0
 * style="text-align:left" colspan="3"| Other parties
 * 101,604
 * 1.05%
 * 0
 * 0
 * - style="background-color:#AAAAAA"
 * colspan="7"|
 * style="background-color:gray"|
 * style="text-align:left" colspan="2"| Blank votes
 * 99,668
 * 1.02%
 * 0
 * 0
 * style="background-color:gray"|
 * style="text-align:left" colspan="2"| Invalid votes
 * 35,803
 * 0.36%
 * 0
 * 0
 * - style="background-color:#AAAAAA"
 * colspan="7"|
 * style="text-align:left; " colspan="3"| Total&emsp;(Turnout: 91.2% – electorate: 10,649,261)
 * 0
 * 0
 * style="background-color:gray"|
 * style="text-align:left" colspan="2"| Invalid votes
 * 35,803
 * 0.36%
 * 0
 * 0
 * - style="background-color:#AAAAAA"
 * colspan="7"|
 * style="text-align:left; " colspan="3"| Total&emsp;(Turnout: 91.2% – electorate: 10,649,261)
 * style="text-align:left; " colspan="3"| Total&emsp;(Turnout: 91.2% – electorate: 10,649,261)
 * style="text-align:left; " colspan="3"| Total&emsp;(Turnout: 91.2% – electorate: 10,649,261)
 * - style="background-color:#AAAAAA"
 * colspan="7"|
 * style="text-align:left; " colspan="3"| Turnout in the Czech Federative Republic – electorate: 7,418,482
 * 6,783,554
 * colspan="3"| 91.44%
 * style="text-align:left; " colspan="3"| Turnout in the Slovak Federative Republic – electorate: 3,230,779
 * 2,928,830
 * colspan="3"| 90.65%
 * }
 * colspan="3"| 90.65%
 * }

Aftermath
Most unionized workers voted faithfully for the ČSSD or the KSČ, but many disillusioned Catholic workers returned to the ČSL and SĽS, mainly due to the abortion issue and ________.