Political System of the Czech Republic
by Agnieszka Lamers
1. General information about the Czech Republic
Physical Background
Czech Republic is situated in the middle-east of Europe between Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. It covers 78 864 km2 and about 93% of the country are highlands and mountains. The highest peak, which is situated in Krkonoše Mountains, is Snĕžka -1602 m, the longest river - Vltava - 433 km, (passes through the capital); and the largest lake Černé - 18,5 ha.
The state consists of three main, historical lands: Czech, Morava and Silesia. (Silesia is parted between Czech Republic, Poland and Germany, each of these countries has a part of this land, which is historically conditioned).
The people of ČR
The Czech Republic has over 10,3 million of people, most of which (94%) claims Czech citizenship. There are also numerous Germans, Poles and Slovaks. Generally Czech Republic is inhabited by:
94% Czech
4% Slovaks
0,7% Poles
0,5% Germans.
Apart from them, there are also Moravians, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Jews, Gypsies and Russians. Though Czech Republic is a completely laic country, as far as the religion is concerned the majority are Catholics and Protestants.
The largest cities in the Republic are: Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Olomouc.
52% of the population is professionally active, about 2,7% of those is unemployed.
Language
Czech is a western Slavic language spoken by over 12 million of people all over the world. A special Czech signs such as: č [ch], ĕ [ye], š [sh] and others, were introduced by John Hus, great reformer, not only of Czech church, but also orthography. After the year 1620, when most of the Czech aristocracy perished in one battle of White Hill, Czech was spoken only by the commons, and it was shameful to use it in the upper classes.
The situation changed in the XIX century, when the self-consciousness of the nation revived. Many books were written and press published in Czech. The people of greatest merit for the revitalisation of literary Czech were Josef Dobrovský and Josef Jungmann.
2. Political System of the Czech Republic
The House of Parliament
The House of Parliament, according to the constitution of 1992, consists of two chambers and is the main legislative body in Czech Republic:
a)Senate - it is the upper house of the Czech Parliament, an has 81 members. This is the Czech Republic's main legislative body. 81 senators (members of Senate) are elected by a simple majority system in 81 constituencies; one third of senators comes up for election every two years. The Senate can return bills to the lower house, but neither the Senate, nor the President has a final power of veto.
b)The Chamber of Deputies - is the lower house of the Czech Parliament with 200 members elected to a four-year term off office under a proportional voting system. Unlike the Senate, it can be dissolved in the course of an electoral term, leading to early elections. This is the Czech Republic's main legislative body.
For the elections to the House of Deputies there are 14 electoral districts, corresponding to the 14 regional administrative units. The Czech Constitution stipulates a proportional electoral system.
Seats are distributed between parties that receive over 5% of the vote nationwide. If two parties enter the election as a coalition they require over 10% of the vote, for a coalition of three parties the threshold is 15% etc. Within the individual electoral districts (each of which returns a predetermined number of deputies) the distribution of seats is determined using the "d'Hondt" method, which - for example - is also used in Germany.
c)Functions of Parliament:
law-making
controlling the government, it's power and policies
authorising taxation and controlling public expenditure
discussing about foreign affairs, the state of agriculture, educational problems and others.
d)Electoral system:
All Czech citizens over the age of 18 are entitled to vote, unless they have been deprived of their legal capacity. Citizens do not have to be resident in the Czech Republic. It is also spossible for Czech citizens to vote at Czech embassies and consulates abroad.
e)Campaign:
Parties are not allowed to campaign on election day at the polling stations themselves. For a three-day period before the election and during the election itself there is a total ban on publishing the results of new opinion polls. All parties standing are allotted equal slots in the public service media (Czech Television, Czech Radio) for party political broadcasts, for which they do not have to pay.
Presidency
The president is elected to a five-year term of office by both chambers - The Senate an the Chamber of Deputies. President, who is, with the government the executive body:
summons and dissolves the Parliament,
nominates and takes a demission from the prime minister and other ministers,
approves the new laws, passed by the parliament,
decides about many others heads of the posts, such as The Highest Court, or National Department of Control.
He acts also representative functions in the relations with other countries. He represents the State abroad, signs all the international agreements.
President, according to the Czech constitution, is the head of the state, chosen by the parliament but he's not politically responsible to it. The same person can be chosen for this function only twice.
President can resign, then his functions are taken by the chairman of The Chamber of Deputies.
He's the commander-in-chief of all arm forces, he nominates the judges, generals, he has a right to grant a pardon. He orders a voting to the parliament.
The president had an immunity, which means, that he cannot be punished during acting his function.
The Government:
The government is composed of ministers and a prime minister, and it is responsible to the parliament. The prime minister is appointed by the president. Prime minister is a head of Government and he's a leader for the party who gained majority, or created a coalition in the Parliament.
Every new government has to gain 2/3 of votes in the Parliament for the vote of confidence.
50 of member of the lower house of the Parliament have a right of initiative for the vote of the distrust for the government, but a vote itself has to gain a 2/3 of votes.
Chosen ministers are nominated by the president and they resign to him.
Ministries having a legislative power, can bring out new regulations.
The Czech Constitution
The Czech constitution was passed in1992, and came up to live in 1st of January 1993, when Czechoslovakia ended its existence, and two new independent republics became - The Czech republic and The Republic of Slovakia. The most important law, that concern the state wealth are passed by both chambers of the parliament. Also constitution, if to changed, has the bill of it be passed by both chambers and approved by the nation in the referendum.
The Party System
The most important political parties in the Czech Republic are:
Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD)
Social democrats have in Czech Republic long history. There was a time after a World War II, when any party, including Social Democratic, was forbidden except KPCz, The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. In the velvet revolution it was in the opposition to the governing party - KPCz. The party revived in the year1989, and came to an opposition.
Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
It comes from main anti-communist opposition, a party called Civic Forum, which parted in 1991 into two parties, one of which was ODS. It has conservative and centro-traditions. Professor Vaclav Klaus used to be it's chairman in '90.
Christian Democratic Union - People's Party (KDU-CSL)
Comes from an opposition to KPCz in '80 and '90. It appeals to Christian traditions in a democratic spirit. Used to make a coalition in the parliament of 1992-1996. It appeared in late '80, after a democracy in the Czech Republic became.
The Freedom Union (US)
Also came up to live after democratic transformation. It has liberal views, and presents an alternative to other central parties.
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM)
After a democratic transformations had little support, that's because it comes directly from KPCz. In 1990 KPCz transformed into federation of two parties: Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, and The Communist Party of Slovakia. KSCM used to make a left wing bloc in the parliament of 1992-1996.
Civic Democratic Alliance - ODA
Between 1992 and 1997 this was one of the parties of government. It failed to win the 5% of votes needed to enter parliament in June 1998. Afterwards the party joined the right of centre opposition grouping, the Four Coalition, but a row over the ODA's considerable debts led to the break up of the coalition at the end of last year, leaving the party in the political wilderness.
Republicans of Miroslav Sladek
This is a far right-wing party, appealing to nationalist sympathies. The party emerged from ashes of the Republican Party of Czechoslovakia, which failed to cross the 5% parliamentary threshold in the 1998 election. The new name of the party reflects an attempt at a political comeback by its controversial leader Miroslav Sladek. With its vehemently anti-Romany and anti-German rhetoric, the party can be described as extremist. The party is anti-NATO, anti-EU and strongly opposed to immigration.
Czech National Social Party - CSNS
This is one of the oldest parties, going back over a hundred years, but has failed to win mass support in the Czech Republic in recent years. It styles itself as a party of Czech national interests. The party's rhetoric is often at its strongest in criticizing illegal immigration, which it sees as one of the main sources of organized crime. The party is investing large sums of money into its election campaign, having recently sold its headquarters in central Prague.
The Party for Security in Life - SZJ
The party is the successor of the party "Pensioners for Security in Life", which gained just over 3% of the vote in the last parliamentary elections, when the party leader kept his promise to eat a beetle if the party failed to break the 5% barrier. The party aspires to represent the weaker in society: pensioners, unemployed people, disabled people, rural voters and women who feel disadvantaged. It has a socially based programme, based on a strong welfare state.
The Green Party - Strana Zelenych
In terms of electoral support the Greens have never really got off the ground in the Czech Republic. The party is strongly opposed to nuclear power, which is one of its key electoral issues. The Greens' pre-election manifesto also calls for policies to "reduce the rate of divorce, abortion and other undesirable phenomena."
The Path for Change - Cesta zmeny
Hope - Nadeje
These two parties have common roots in the wave of public disillusionment with the current political elite that came at the end of the 1990s. However their founders quarrelled and went their separate ways. Both are close to the centre of the political spectrum, pro-free market and strongly pro-European, and both accuse the two strongest political parties, the Social Democrats and the Civic Democrats of corruption and cynicism.
Bibliography:
The Constitution of Czech Republic
Encyclopaedia, PWN 2000
Kaczorowski B., Historia wiek XIX i XX, PWN Warsaw 2002
National Geographic nr 10/49 October 2003, polish edition
Pascal's Guide Europa na weekend, Optimus Pascal 2000
Pascal's Guide Let's Go: Europa Środkowa, Optimus Pascal 1991
Tomaszewski J., Czechosłowacja, Warsaw 1997
www.czech.cz
www.hrad.cz
www.senat.cz
www.vlada.cz