Civic Movement

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title: "Civic Movement" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["civic-movement", "defunct-political-parties-in-the-czech-republic", "liberal-parties-in-the-czech-republic", "defunct-liberal-political-parties", "political-parties-in-czechoslovakia", "political-parties-established-in-1991", "political-parties-disestablished-in-1995", "1991-establishments-in-czechoslovakia", "1996-disestablishments-in-the-czech-republic", "centrist-political-parties-in-the-czech-republic", "civic-forum-breakaway-groups"] topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_Movement" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox political party"]

Field	Value
country	the Czech Republic
name	Civic Movement
native_name	Občanské hnutí
colorcode
logo	File:Občanské hnutí logo.png
leader	Jiří Dienstbier
predecessor	Civic Forum
foundation
dissolution	December 1995
merged	Free Democrats – Liberal National Social Party
ideology	Liberalism
Social liberalism
position	Centre to centre-left
international	Liberal International
european	ELDR (affiliate)
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| country = the Czech Republic | name = Civic Movement |native_name = Občanské hnutí |colorcode = |logo = File:Občanské hnutí logo.png |leader = Jiří Dienstbier |predecessor = Civic Forum |foundation =
|dissolution = December 1995 |merged = Free Democrats – Liberal National Social Party |headquarters = |newspaper = |youth_wing = |membership_year = |membership = |ideology = Liberalism Social liberalism |position = Centre to centre-left |national = |international = Liberal International |european = ELDR (affiliate) |colors = |website = |footnotes = The Civic Movement (, OH) was a liberal political party based in the Czech Republic, which existed from 1991 to 1995. The party was established after the break-up of Civic Forum by the liberal wing of Civic Forum, while the conservative wing established the Civic Democratic Party. Foreign Minister Jiří Dienstbier was elected leader of the Civic Movement. The party participated in the 1992 legislative election but failed to reach the required 5% threshold and was left without parliamentary representation.

The party then renamed itself as the Free Democrats (Svobodní demokraté, SD), modelled on the Free Democratic Party of Germany, as the party tried to position itself as a more clearcut liberal party. The party joined the Liberal International and was admitted as an affiliate to the European Liberal Democrats and Reformists (ELDR) in 1994.

In December 1995 the Free Democrats merged with the Liberal National Social Party (successor to the former bloc party Czechoslovak Socialist Party) and formed the Free Democrats – Liberal National Social Party (SD-LSNS), which was again, however, unsuccessful in the 1996 legislative election. Some former members of OH established the Party for the Open Society in 1998.

Election results

Chamber of Deputies

::data[format=table]

Year	Vote	Vote %	Seats	Place	Notes	Position
1990	...	...		1st	Split from Civic Forum in 1991
1992	297,406	4.6		9th
1996	124,165	2.05		9th	as Free Democrats – Liberal National Social Party
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References

References

1. "Občanské fórum (OF) provedlo zemi prvními lety demokracie {{!}} ČeskéNoviny.cz".
2. "Podle Klause se ODS mění v Občanské hnutí". Česká televize.
3. (23 June 2011). "Testy – Politologie a mezinárodní vztahy". Fragment, Albatros Media a.s..
4. (2010). "Historical Dictionary of the Czech State". Scarecrow Press.
5. Öhlén, Mats. (August 2008). "The Eastward Expansion of the European Liberal Party Family: the Relation between the European Liberal Party Family and Liberal Parties in Central and Eastern Europe". XV Conference of the Nordic Political Science Association (NoPSA).
6. (2 May 2011). "POLITIKA: Dvacet let by bylo i Občanskému hnutí".
7. "OF(F). Před čtvrtstoletím se rozpadlo Občanské fórum". Česká televize.

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