scholarly journals Possible Outcomes of Introducing a Majority System for Elections to the Czech Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-163
Author(s):  
Michal Pink
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Party System ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Significant Risk Factor ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Common ◽  
Chamber Of Deputies

This paper explores the possibility of introducing a majority electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies in the Czech Republic, and discusses the virtues and drawbacks of such a system. It recalculates the electoral results from two previous elections using majority electoral systems (first-past-the-post and two round majority system) to examine how such a change could influence the formation of governmental majorities in the chamber and what the possible consequences for the quality of democracy in the Czech Republic could be. The results show that majority system would likely radically simplify the formation of governments with clear majorities, and hinder emerging populist parties as well as weaken the communist party. On the other hand, the adoption of a majority system would substantially lower barriers to enter the chamber, which could lead to the disintegration of the party system and its increased fragmentation. Combined with the common practice of Czech politicians to hold various mandates at different levels of the political system at the same time, this could be a significant risk factor.

NEW TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARTY SYSTEM OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

2018 ◽  
pp. 133-142
Author(s):  
Т. P. Fedorchak
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Maximum Protection ◽  
Chamber Of Deputies

The article examines the development of the political process in the Czech Republic following the results of the last regular elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament, which took place on October 21-22, 2017 under the proportional electoral system. The results of the elections revealed a number of new trends in the development of the parties and the party system of the Czech Republic, which at the same time have many similarities with the ideas of populists and Euro skeptics spread in the CEE region. The analysis of the specific “differentiated electoral barrier” and the Czech electoral legislation is made. The path to victory in the elections of the ANO and the ODS parties, the new in the Czech politics third party-winner – the Pirate party, members of which advocated the maximum protection of individual freedoms and the uncontrolled Internet. It is noted that the traditional and leading parties of the Czech Republic – KDU-CSL, TOP 9, KSCM, CSSD did not achieve the expected success in the Parliament elections. The regularities that emerged during the elections to the Chamber of Deputies were revealed: a steady demand of voters for new leaders, new political forces, the weakening of the positions and authority of political parties that have occupied leading positions for a long period, the change in the current political agenda. Confirmed pan-European trends: the growth of populist sentiment and a significant increase in skepticism towards the leaders of the European Union, which are manifested in many CEE countries.

Study of Volatility and Party System Transformation in the 2010 Election of the Czech Chamber of Deputies

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Šedo
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Party System ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Strongly Connected ◽  
Gains And Losses ◽  
Chamber Of Deputies

The paper deals with measuring volatility in the election of the Chamber of Deputies in the Czech Republic, calculated for both national and regional levels (the latter being the level of electoral constituencies). The main aim of the paper is to identify the link between the gains and losses of parties, and the volatility of a region. In comparison with the 2006 election, an overall increase in volatility was recorded in 2010, but most of the more volatile regions remained the same in both elections compared. Volatility on the regional level is strongly connected with the losses of the previously governing parties (in office 2006-9) and with the gains of the strongest new party, TOP09. We also compare three possible calculations of volatility involving the category of “other” parties. In calculating volatility we could not recommend the omission of “other” parties from the numerator without a corresponding change in the denominator. As for the remaining two methods (“other” parties calculated as one bloc, or “other” parties omitted both in the numerator and the denominator), future comparisons would be required.

Japanese Electoral Systems since 1947

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Political Reforms ◽  
Science Theory ◽  
Lower House ◽  
Japanese Diet

This chapter describes and analyzes the electoral systems used to elect members of the Japanese Diet since 1947. The more powerful lower house has used two different electoral systems, and the upper house has used three. The chapter focuses on each system’s effects on the quality of democracy, particularly malapportionment and alternation in power. Electoral systems powerfully influence the quality of democracy. Many of those effects can be predicted by political science theory, but others cannot. The chapter shows that the effects of the first electoral system have long-lasting effects. The institutions and practices developed as the party system develops are not easily changed by later political reforms.

scholarly journals Introduction: (De)democratisation in Slovenia and Montenegro: Comparing the Quality of Democracy

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-592
Author(s):  
Olivera Komar ◽  
Meta Novak
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Small Population ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Internal And External Factors

AbstractThis paper creates a framework for the comparison of two similar and yet different democratisation cases – Slovenia and Montenegro. The two countries have obvious similarities: their geography and small population, as well as their common socialist Yugoslav heritage and common aspirations to join international organisations, most importantly the European Union. However, while Slovenia went through the democratisation process rather smoothly, Montenegro took the longer road, struggling for more than a decade to regain its independence and complete its transition. We take into account different internal and external factors in these two cases such as the year of independence and of joining NATO, the political and electoral system, ethnic homogeneity, the viability of civil society, EU integration status, economic development and the presence of war in each territory in order to identify and describe those factors that contributed to the success of democratisation in different areas: the party system, the interest groups system, the defence system, Europeanisation and social policy. We find that the democratisation process in these countries produced different results in terms of quality. Various objective measures of the quality of democracy score Slovenia higher compared to Montenegro, while public opinion data shows, in general, greater satisfaction with the political system and greater trust in political institutions in Montenegro than in Slovenia.

Candidates in Parliamentary Elections: Analysis of the Preferential Voting in the Elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic in 2006

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Voda ◽  
Michal Pink
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Total Count ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Chamber Of Deputies

The paper deals with the issue of the "candidate effect" within the proportional electoral system. The basic database consists of the total count and the share of preferential votes won by the candidates listed as first on party ballots in the Czech national parliamentary elections in June 2006. These election results, which are analyzed in the following text, are limited only to the ballots of those political parties that won seats in the Chamber of Deputies (that is, CSSD, KDU-CSL, KSCM, ODS, SZ). Individual outputs are based on a comparison of the election results for particular candidates in their electoral districts, in relation to their positions on the party ballots.

scholarly journals Does Participatory Budgeting Bolster Voter Turnout in Elections ? The Case of the Czech Republic

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soňa Kukučková ◽  
Eduard Bakoš
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Participatory Budgeting ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThough participatory budgeting (PB) is often discussed as a tool to bolster the level of civic participation and the quality of democracy, empirical research on the subject offers ambiguous results. In the Czech Republic, PB was introduced 5 years ago, and the number of implemented PBs has since increased substantially. The purpose of this article is to evaluate whether the use of PB is associated with higher voter turnout in municipal and parliamentary elections. Voter turnout in Czech municipalities that implemented PB is analyzed and compared with the control group of municipalities without PB. Considered by type of election, we found that the impact of PB use on voter turnout is higher for local elections than it is for national elections, which is in line with our assumptions. However, our results were significant for Prague districts only. Participatory budgeting could increase voter turnout in local election, but there are other factors that must be considered.

scholarly journals Democratic Erosion and Democratic Resilience in Central Europe during COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 91-104
Author(s):  
Petra Guasti
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Previous Literature ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

What are the effects of populists in power on democracy during a pandemic? The paper seeks to distinguish the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic can (not) be traced to democratic erosion and democratic resilience. Are the changes in the quality of democracy resulting from political leaders' actions or rather a path-dependent continuation of previous trends? This contribution focuses on two paths – democratic erosion and democratic resilience – in the Visegrad Four countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia), which are all governed by populist leaders. It builds on previous literature that focused principally on the first wave of the pandemic by focusing on institutional guardrails and accountability (vertical, horizontal, and diagonal) during the 18 months of the pandemic. It seeks to answer the following question:  What conditions are necessary and sufficient to prevent democratic erosion?

The quality of democracy: Mass‐elite linkages in the Czech republic

1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 63-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew T. Green ◽  
Carol Skalnik Leff
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
The Czech Republic

INTERNATIONAL GRANT COOPERATION AS A TOOL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS

2018 ◽  
pp. 4-8
Author(s):  
Milan Chmura
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
European Countries ◽  
International Project ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Quality Of Higher Education ◽  
Education And Development

The education and development of university teachers have its justifcation and its importance is signifcant not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad. This study provides an analysis of further professional education of university teachers in the Czech Republic and in selected European countries. Subsequently, it presents an international project with participants from the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland, which, ultimately, plays a role in the improvement of the quality of higher education.

Activity of modern right-wing radical parties in the Czech Republic

2019 ◽  
pp. 164-173
Author(s):  
Tetiana Fedorchak
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Political Radicalism

The author investigates political radicalism in the Czech Republic, a rather heterogeneous current considering the structure of participants: from political parties to the extremist organizations. The peculiarity of the Czech party system is the existence, along with typical radical parties, of other non-radical parties whose representatives support xenophobic, nationalist and anti-Islamic statements. This is primarily the Civil Democratic Party, known for its critical attitude towards European integration, and the Communist party of the Czech Republic and Moravia, which opposes Czech membership in NATO and the EU. Among the Czech politicians, who are close to radical views, analysts include the well-known for its anti-Islamic position of the Czech President M. Zeman and the leader of the movement ANO, billionaire A. Babich. Voters vote for them not because their economic or social programs are particularly attractive to the electorate, but because of dissatisfaction with the economic situation in the state. Almost all right populist parties oppose European integration, interpreting it as an anti-national project run by an elite distorted by a deficit of democracy and corruption. Keywords: Czech Republic, right-wing radical political parties, European integration, nationalism.

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