Since the ‘velvet split’ in January 1993, the Czech and Slovak Republics seem to have developed into completely different directions: towards a role model and a problematic case of post-communist democracy respectively. This supposedly sharp difference in development provides in itself a very interesting topic for study, but also makes for a very useful set-up to evaluate the many theories that have been offered to explain (un)successful processes of democratization in Eastern Europe. In this article, we compare the two countries in light of their degree of ‘democratic consolidation’, to establish in more detail in which way they actually differ. On the basis of this comparison the strengths of the main theories that have been put forward to explain different paths of democratization in the region more general, and in these two republics in particular, are tested. The article shows how, relatively independently from existing social structures and institutions, political elites create and maintain a particular opportunity structure of political competition or conflict which, in turn, may develop its own (democracy endangering) momentum.