Lacking portable skills made new party elites hostage to conservative members and orthodox committees.

Evidence

In short, the Czech elites’ caution and hesitation in implementing organizational centralization and a break with the past reflected their lack of experience in formulating policy alternatives, negotiating with political competitors, and developing other political skills. Their lack of portable skills or a usable past made the new party elites dependent on the conservative rank and file and vulnerable to domination by the orthodox Executive Committee. As a result, the few changes they implemented were piecemeal and gradual. — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 499

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Orthodox elites denied younger cadres reform experience, leaving the party unable to adapt. — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 238; Elites lacking portable skills become hostages to their conservative rank and file.; Activists with no portable skills become the most determined brakes on party reform — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 464

Broader Connections

• Elites lacking portable skills become hostages to their conservative rank and file. #corroborates (0.95)
• Activists with no portable skills become the most determined brakes on party reform #qualifies (0.80) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 464