Constitutions, EU Law and Judicial Strategies in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland

2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARCIN MATCZAK ◽  
MATYAS BENCZE ◽  
ZDENEK KÜHN
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
East Central ◽  
Institutional Effects ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
Rule Approach ◽  
General Principles Of Law

AbstractGiven far-reaching changes in the legal systems of East Central Europe since the mid-1990s, one might expect administrative court judges to have modified the way in which they decide cases, in particular by embracing less formalistic adjudication strategies. Relying on an original dataset of over one thousand business-related cases from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, this article shows that – despite some variation across countries and time – judges have largely failed to respond to the incentives contained in the new constitutional frameworks. They continue to adopt the most-locally-applicable-rule approach and are reluctant to apply general principles of law or to rely on Dworkinian ‘policies’ in deciding hard cases. The analysis links these weak institutional effects to the role of constitutional courts, case overload and educational legacies.

Reforming Regional Governance in East Central Europe: Europeanization or Domestic Politics as Usual?

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conor O’Dwyer
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Regional Governance ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Governance Reform ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
East Central ◽  
East Central European

In recent years, a number of East Central European (ECE) governments have undertaken to radically alter the territorial structures of their public administration. Some have suggested that this development represents the growing Europeanization of ECE politics, in particular the role of the European Union. This article questions that view by examining the crucial role of domestic party politics in the enactment and implementation of regional governance reform. It does so through a close comparison of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

Religious Change

2019 ◽  
pp. 630-636
Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Political Corruption ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
State Socialism ◽  
Economic Prosperity ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
East Central

After the decline of state socialism in the countries of Eastern and East Central Europe, sociologists and political scientists such as Rodney Stark, Andrew Greeley, and Miklós Tomka predicted a revival of church and religion after decades of their repression under communist rule. More than two decades later, it turns out that the religious situation in Eastern and East Central Europe has become more diverse than expected. Some Orthodox countries, such as Russia, Romania, and Ukraine, have certainly seen a significant increase of religiosity; others, though, such as East Germany, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic, are confronted with religious decline; and others still, such as Poland and Croatia, have seen only comparatively minor changes to the observable level of religiosity. Factors that influence religious changes include the fusion between religious and national identity, levels of economic prosperity, and levels of political corruption.

scholarly journals Examining Illiberal Trends and Anti-EU Politics in East Central Europe from a Domestic Perspective: State of Research and Outline of the Book

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Lisa H. Anders ◽  
Astrid Lorenz
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
East Central ◽  
Central European ◽  
The Subject ◽  
State Of Research ◽  
East Central European

Abstract This opening chapter introduces the subject matter and objectives of the book. It first explains central terms and provides an overview of the different illiberal trends in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It then sketches recent conflicts between EU actors and the four East Central European states and explains why these conflicts are of a new quality. Next, it summarises the state of research on illiberal backsliding and on the EU’s tools against it and identifies shortcomings and gaps in the literature. Finally, it outlines the aims as well as the overall structure of the book and provides an overview of the contributions.

Unraveling a Tradition, or Spinning a Myth? Gender Critique in Czech Society and Culture

Slavic Review ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 919-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Libora Oates-Indruchová
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
East Central ◽  
Cultural Discourses ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Czech Society ◽  
The 19Th Century

The hostility that met feminist ideas and gender equality issues in east central Europe (ECE) after the demise of the Communist regimes was accompanied by a notion that feminism wasimportedto these societies after 1989. In the Czech Republic, the record of the publishing output by feminist scholars in the 1990s, however, speaks against this myth. Drawing on existing scholarship and the author's own research on cultural discourses of gender and on socialist state science policies and censorship, this article argues that there has been a long tradition of gender critique that was present in a variety of discourses even during late state socialism. It proposes that the feminist impulse began in the 19th century and continued in some form throughout the 20th century. It then examines how the myth of the feminist import came to exist and what were the possible sources of the hostility toward feminism in the 1990s.

scholarly journals The Rise of Person-Based Politics in the New Democracies: The Czech Republic and Slovenia

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ladislav Cabada ◽  
Matevž Tomšič
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
East Central ◽  
Political Partisanship ◽  
Democratic Polity ◽  
Communist Countries

Abstract In the article, the authors address certain recent political developments in two former communist countries, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. They focus on the rise of personalized politics, i.e. the type of political conduct that is driven predominantly by the personal character of political leaders (much more than by programs and ideologies). Specifically, the authors look at the weak political partisanship in East-Central Europe as one of the key factors triggering person-based politics. They find that personalized leadership has divergent consequences for political life in a democratic polity. It is very effective in mobilizing mass support as well as in overcoming many organizational obstacles. However, its influence on the quality of the democratic process is questionable.

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