Survival of Civil Society Organizations Across Multiple Political Regimes: The Case of the Czech Scouting Organization Junák, 1914–2019

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores how civil society organizations survive multiple regime changes. This is a case study of Junák, a Czech scouting organization, that experienced the shift from democratic capitalism to authoritarian communism and back again. I build on archival and interview data to test how new institutional concepts of the regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive institutional pressures fare when applied to organizational survival across regime change. I found that Junák responded to institutional pressures through a multiplicity of responses, including isomorphic, ceremonial, and innovative changes as well continuity of selected attributes. During communism, ceremonial change prevailed, helping the CSO to preserve some of its organizational aspects. After 1989, Junák opted for a combination of change and continuity. This case study raises new questions about voluntarism in Central and Eastern Europe during authoritarianism and its impact on civil society and its organizations after 1989.