High initial legitimacy made a communist party repressive and rigid rather than responsive.

Evidence

For the Czechoslovak Communist Party, the trauma of the postwar elections led the party to value stability above all else. The KSCˇ both counted on its membership to maintain its control and was suspicious of any pluralist overtures. It hence emphasized membership size and purity, denounced reformist efforts, and clamped down on the members after political crises. Having gained legitimacy once, the leadership saw no need to negotiate with society or otherwise demonstrate responsiveness. The irony was that the party with the highest levels of initial political legitimacy became the one to repress its society far more than its counterparts. — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 330

Categorization

• XREF: Directly bears on the comparative question of whether threat-loss (here, legitimacy gained early) produces rigidity versus the post-1989 communist successor case orbiting this reading purpose. — connects to: Persistent illusions about a party’s revolutionary character prolonged resistance to new strategy.; Communist parties lacking legitimacy bargained with society and reformed, preparing them for transition. — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 331; Recruitment openness and internal pluralism determined which communist elites could later transform their parties. — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 367 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Communist parties lacking legitimacy bargained with society and reformed, preparing them for transition. #corroborates (0.85) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 331
• Persistent illusions about a party’s revolutionary character prolonged resistance to new strategy. #complicates (0.82)
• Communists feared accepting reformist leadership would liquidate revolutionary perspective. #exemplifies (0.75)
• Recruitment openness and internal pluralism determined which communist elites could later transform their parties. #complicates (0.72) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 367