Archive 2/2000

Abstract

The paper discusses the fate of the Grande Centra and the successor center parties in the party system transformation in Italy in the 1990s. It argues that there is no more any genuine Center pole within this arrangement. There are two major poles and/or alliances which have left no space between them for establishing of any viable independent “classic” centrist and centre-based political and electoral option. However, the center area has been not yet effectively occupied and controlled by the major alliances. Moreover, the two major poles have been represented by composed and heterogeneous alliances with difficult internal equilibria and mechanics. Therefore, the essentially bipolar framework of the Italian party arrangement seems to be still vulnerable in the late 1990s.

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Italian multipartism, bipolarity, Grande centra

Abstract

The article is treating the relation between the type of government and a degree of democratic consolidation in postcommunist countries. Some political scientists claim that a parliamentary regime is more convenient for democratic consolidation than a presidential or semi-presidential regimes. However, this opinion encounters many serious contraarguments. In reality the experience of postcommunist countries does not bring anything new into the discussion on political regimes. It is not possible to confirm or disclaim the supremacy of one type of government over another on basis of the examination of constitutional theories and political practice in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The assertion that parliamentarism or presidentialism is in all circumstances better working, more contributing for democratic consolidation, more flexible etc. is unsustainable. Many other factors different from a type of government contribute to a democratic consolidation, or on the contrary to endangering democracy.

Key words

Government, democratic consolidation, postcommunist Europe, postsoviet

Abstract

The article deals with the issue of the campaigning in the Czech Republic in terms of the existing legal regulation and its real interpretation. The legal regulation of the field is strongly fragmented; that's the reason an explanation must relate to a series of other fields and necessarily is very complex. Therefore, the author deals with the most important laws including in the first place election laws, laws on mass media, civic code, law on trespasses, law on the right to assemble and criminal code. Afterwards he concentrates on the legal definition of the basic concepts, primarily the very concept of the election campaign and its temporal limitation. Second part of the article focuses on the efforts to formulate first principles of the legal regulation of the campaigning, among which we can especially rate the principle of equal political opportunities and realization of some basic rights such as freedom of speech, right to be informed and political rights. In the conclusion, the article defines the criteria enabling to decide whether the rules of the campaigning were broken or not.

Key words

Regulation, election campaign, Czech Republic, basic rights

Abstract

At the turn of 1989/1990 several parties were constituted in Czechoslovakia which intended to realize republican policy (like in the US or in France). While the Republican Union kept to this intention (the party became the leading power of the coalition Free Bloc), and became irrelevant, the SPR-RSČ (The Association for the Republic - Republican Party of Czechoslovakia) carried out far right populist policy. This strategy won the party (SPR-RSČ) only 1% votes in 1990, but in 1992 it enabled them to win seats in the Federal Assembly and the Czech National Council (about 6%). The leader of the party, Miroslav Sládek, attacked in his speeches President Havel, he accused the leading representatives of the Civic Forum of being in agreement with the Communists, he spoke strongly against Romanic crime and Vietnamese workers in the republic. Therefore, in Czech environment the expression “republican” is connected with the far right extremism.

Key words

Far right, Czech party system, SPR-RSČ, Sládek

Abstract

The article deals with the current problem of the financial scandal of CDU. In the beginning the author describes factual circumstances of the affair, then goes on putting some key questions: Why do we need political parties? Why do these parties need money? From what sources do the parties obtain money? In what way the emergent state of affairs should be solved? Is it necessary to amend laws? Answering these questions, the author defines main functions of political parties (participation, transmission, selection, integration, socialization, self-regulation and legitimization) and presents main sources of incomes of political parties - both from the state budget and from the private sector. He uses description of the expenditures of the parties to graphically show for what purposes the parties need funds (party apparatus, funding of election campaign); moreover, he digestedly demonstrates a development of the legal regulation of the party funding. He also notes the development has been strongly influenced by decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court. When answering the final question, i.e. how to solve the present state of affairs, the author primarily accentuates the problem of the party funding does not exclusively lie in the current legal regulation, but in a necessity to change legal consciousness.

Key words

Bribes, corruption, money, politicians, political parties

Abstract

The suggested electoral system, absurdly called “balancing” d’Hondt formula and 35 small districts, which would produce disproportional results, is considered by its authors to be a type of proportional representation. The comparison shows this system is more disproportional than the British plurality formula. But such electoral system is inconsistent with the Constitution. The Constitutional court issued some judgments which prefer the principle of natural differentiation over the principle of purposeful integration because the first one is a matter of Art. 22 of The Charter of fundamental rights and liberties. The governmental bill contradicts the principle of natural differentiation, opposes the system of proportional representation and limits the free competition of political powers. In my opinion and with regard to the upper mentioned judgments the suggested integrative stimuli will be considered to be repugnant to the Constitution.

Key words

Changes, election act, constitution, Czech Republic

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R. Dahl (1998): O demokracii, Yale University, 208 pages.

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J. Liďák / V. Koganová / D. Leška (1999): Politické strany a hnutia na Slovensku po roku 1989, Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Ekonóm, 165 pages.

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P. B. Gay (1995): The Politics of Bereaucracy, Longman Publishers.

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E. J. Hobsbawm (2000): Národy a nacionalismus od roku 1780. Program, mýtus, realita, Brno: Centrum pro studium demokraticie a kultury (CDK), 208 pages.

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