This year marks the thirty-sixth anniversary of November 17. The Velvet Revolution brought back democracy, freedom, and an open society. Today, the generation born after 1989 makes up a significant share of the population and the electorate. They have never experienced life without freedom, yet they are growing up in an age of uncertainty — geopolitical, economic, and environmental. How do young people understand values such as freedom, democracy, and civic responsibility? And what challenges does this pose for the state, the education system, and society as a whole?

Key Takeaways:

• The post-1989 generation sees democracy as something taken for granted. That doesn’t mean they don’t value it — they simply understand it differently. For democracy to stay alive, it has to be lived every day.
• The apathy of young people is not a rejection of democratic values, but a reaction to dysfunctional institutions and political language that feels unclear and inaccessible.
• The future of the democratic system depends on whether young people learn to work with information, think critically, and take part in shaping public life. Freedom should be understood not as a textbook concept, but as a practice.

Policy Paper – Irena Krcháková

The analysis is in PDF under the link below.