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million, the lowest figure since 1948. In May 1973 this figure grew to only 1.25 million, despite the fact that more than 92,000 new candidates were admitted. This indicates that the net gain in party membership during the 1971-73 period was almost matched by the number of purged, resigned, or otherwise dropped members.
Membership is technically open to all citizens over 18 years of age. Under Novotny, membership was dependent upon numerous qualitative requirements regarding each applicant's social background and political views. As a result, the rank and file have normally been conservative in outlook and, until the late 1960's, disinclined to regard the party as a vehicle for social or political innovation. The average age is high, due to the large numbers who joined immediately after World War II. Many members have joined the party for opportunistic reasons—personal or professional ambition, desire for political protection, travel abroad, or even professional survival. In 1971 candidate membership, in effect a 2-year probationary period, was established to enable the regime to screen its members more carefully.
Below the top levels, the KSC membership has never displayed marked ideological fervor. Except for the period of Nazi occupation, the party has been a legal political movement; it enjoyed a measure of success in free electoral competition with other parties, having at times during the interwar period polled as much as 10% of the total vote.
Most of the party members who survived the purge have not proved to be the militant "vanguard" of society that the regime sought. Whatever loyalty to the new regime the bulk of the rank and file has developed has been diluted by the post-1968 organizational disruptions that seriously affected the party's local effectiveness.
In view of these disruptions, data on the social composition of the party are sparse. In 1971 workers constituted only 25% of the membership, and another 20% consisted of retired people. The average age of the membership in 1971 was 49 years, a slight increase over the previous year. In mid-1973, the regime claimed that 40% of party members "were working in factories and on farms," a figure undoubtedly inflated to include administrative staffs. Other devices to give an illusion of a rising percentage of workers in the party include the use of statistical categories such as "workers and former workers," who together were said to constitute 68% of the party in 1973.
The party's efforts to reestablish its "proletarian" basis by increasing the proportion of industrial workers on the party rolls have had limited success. The Husak regime, both for ideological and practical reasons, largely spared the workers during its purge of the membership rolls, in spite of the large number that had rallied to the Dubcek banner. Many workers, however, disgruntled over the reversal of liberalization policies, resigned from the party.
The regime is also paying particular attention to recruiting young people and the technical intelligentsia. The skills and assistance of this latter group, consisting mostly of professionals such as scientists and economists, are indispensable if the regime is to deal effectively with the country's numerous economic troubles. The regime has acknowledged having considerable difficulty in recruitment, however, and this is not likely to change unless the party relaxes its restraints on initiative and constructive criticism.
Nor does the regime appear to be improving the balance between Slovak and Czech membership. Prior to 1968, Slovaks comprised only about 12% of the total membership of the party, although they formed 28% of the population of the country. No reliable data on the ratio of Czechs and Slovaks within the party as a whole have been available since the invasion. Within the party leadership, however, the Slovaks enjoy representation more than consistent with their proportion of the total population, with four of 11 members in the Presidium and three of seven in the Secretariat, including General Secretary Husak.
Little is known about party finances. According to party statutes, income is derived from membership dues, revenues of party enterprises, and "other" sources. The party purports to be financed by monthly membership dues which are roughly 1% to 4% of each member's net monthly wages, depending on the income bracket.
4. Mass organizations and other parties (C)
As in other Eastern European countries, the Czechoslovak Communist Party has from the beginning of its rule employed a number of political and sociopolitical mass organizations to extend its control and influence over the population. The purpose of the mass organizations has been to reach all segments of society and activities and organizations, particularly those which were carryovers from the democratic era and could not be disbanded or neutralized in any other way. Under the total domination of the Communist Party, these mass organizations are designed to channel the political and social energies of the population into pursuits which either further party goals or which at least are politically harmless. Virtually every Czechoslovak
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