East European Politics and Societies and Cultures Volume XX Number X Month 201X 1–25 © 2019 SAGE Publications 10.1177/0888325419852157 journals.sagepub.com/home/eep hosted at http://online.sagepub.com Excluding the Radical Economic Left from the Slovak Public Discourse: A Moderate Leftist Talk Show as a Case Study Tomáš Profant Institute of International Relations, Prague, Czech Republic If democracy is a discussion, then the exclusion of radical leftist economic perspectives may hamper democracy. Does this exclusion take place and if so, how? In this case study an analysis of the discourse in the Slovak evening panel discussion Dinner with Havran shows the various ways in which the exclusion (and marginalization) of such perspectives is achieved. This exclusionary discursive practice is then explained through interviews with the team behind the show and the norms and constraints that guide the production of the show. The analysis is based on Stuart Hall’s critical para- digm and, confirming Hall’s insights, it argues that the show is independent from the dominant political and economic forces in Slovakia, yet at the same time the show contributes to the functioning of the Slovak public broadcasting service as an ideo- logical state apparatus that is biased in favor of the interests of economic elites. Keywords: postcommunism; discourse analysis; Dinner with Havran; ideology; political economy; neoliberalism; hegemony Introduction “Democracy is a discussion,” 1 and the exclusion of particular perspectives from a discussion could hamper democracy. This is the basic assumption of my research, and it leads me to an analysis of one particular talk show (i.e., a discussion) with regard to the plurality of perspectives offered to the audience in it. Such a plurality is demanded by law from both private and public broadcasters 2 even though the two differ with regard to the proportion of programs broadcasted in the public interest. If minority perspectives are to be represented on Slovak TV sta- tions, an analysis such as the one presented here should be of interest not only because of some abstract notion of democracy as a discussion but also due to the Slovak legislation that clearly articulates the obligation of TV broadcasters to pro- vide space for minority views in their programs. The analysis presented here is theoretically inspired by a detailed empirical analy- sis of the 1977 program Panorama. 3 The position of the latter’s authors is based on “the critical paradigm” 4 inspired by Althusser’s 5 notion of the communication 852157EEP XX X 10.1177/0888325419852157East European Politics and SocietiesProfant / Excluding the Radical Economic Left research-article 2019