The Czech Republic is a landlocked country located in Central Europe and is bordered with Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Austria. The country’s capital city is Prague and is located in the country’s Central North-East.
The Czech State is traced back to the 9th Century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire. In 1002 the Duchy was recognized as an Imperial State by the Holy Roman Empire. Bohemia became the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. After the Battle of Mohacs in 1526, the Crown of Bohemia was eventually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy. Protestant Bohemian’s revolted against the Catholic Habsburg’s leading to the Thirty Years’ War. The Habsburg’s consolidated their rule, eradicated Protestantism and adopted a policy of gradual Germanization.
After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the Crown lands of Bohemia became a part of the Austrian Empire and the Bohemia language and literature experienced a revival. The First Czechoslovak Republic, otherwise called Czechoslovakia, was formed in 1918 after the collapse of Austro-Hungary due to World War 1.
Parts of Czechoslovakia were occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II while the Slovak region became a puppet state of Nazi Germany. Czechoslovakia would be liberated from Nazi Germany by the Allies. The country’s Communist party won a plurality in the 1946 elections and a coup in 1948 backed by the Soviet Union established a one-party Communist state.
Over time there was mounting dissatisfaction with the Communist regime that led to the Prague Spring in 1968 from people wanting mass reform and change, but ended in the country being invaded by the Soviet’s and other Warsaw-pact countries to quash it. The country was occupied until the Velvet Revolution in 1989, which ended Communist rule peacefully and reinstated multi-party democracy.
Czechoslovakia later dissolved peacefully in 1993 due to Nationalist tensions, leading to the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The largest religion is Roman Catholic although the country also has a significant Atheist population, which is in-fact the largest in the world. The country’s currency is currently the Czech Koruna but it is legally bound to eventually adopt the Euro. The country’s population is estimated to reach 10,702,498 by July 2020.
Government Type
The Czech Republic is a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic with a semi-presidential system where there is President who is Head of State and a Prime Minister who is Head of Government, making up the executive government. There is a Bicameral (Senate and Chamber of Deputies) parliament that makes up legislative government. Multiple parties are allowed as long as they go by the principles of democracy and do not use force as a means to get to power.
Executive Government
So as said there is a President who is Head of State, as Head of State the President represents the country abroad in diplomatic and foreign affairs and has a number of executive powers at their disposal.
Presidential Absence
If the presidency becomes vacant before a new President is elected or if the President is uncapable of performing his duties for serious reasons then the powers of the President are temporarily split between the Prime Minister and the Chairperson of the Assembly (or the Chairperson of the Senate if the Assembly is dissolved) until the President is capable again or a new President is elected.
President, Government, Appointments and Parliament
The President appoints and recalls the Prime Minister and other members of Government and accepts their resignations. Convenes sessions of the Assembly of Deputies and also dissolves the Assembly of Deputies when needed and calls elections for the Assembly of Deputies or the Senate.
The President has the right to take part in the meetings of both chambers of parliament, including their committees and commissions and has the opportunity to speak whenever requested (this also applies to Government members). The President also has the right to take part in meetings of the Government and to request reports from the Government and/or its members and to discuss issues with them and the Government within their competencies.
The President can return acts and legislative bills back to parliament for a 2nd consultation (except for constitutional amendments) before giving them assent, if they disagree with certain parts or all of it. If the Assembly of Deputies passes the bill unchanged again with an absolute majority then the President must give assent to it.
The President appoints the President and Vice-President of the Supreme Auditing Office via nomination of the Assembly of Deputies. Also appoints members of the Banking Council of the Czech National Bank.
International Affairs
International treaties require the consent of parliament or if otherwise stated via a national referendum. The President can negotiate and (with consent) ratify international treaties or the President may delegate negotiation of international treaties to the Government, or with the Government’s consent, to individual members. The President receives heads of diplomatic missions, accredits and recalls heads of diplomatic missions.
Armed Forces
The President is the Supreme Commander of the country’s armed forces. The President commissions and promotes generals. May grant and award state orders unless this power has been delegated by the President to another body to do so.
Other Powers
The constitution states that the President can also possess powers that are not explicitly enumerated in constitutional acts if statute so provides, in this case, such decisions in order to be valid will need the counter-signature of the Prime Minister or a member of Government designated by the Prime Minister. The Government and Prime Minister are held responsible for decisions of the President that require a counter-signature by the Prime Minister or member of Government.
The Government and Prime Minister
The Government consists of the Prime Minister, any Deputy Prime Ministers and also Ministers. The Government is the highest body of Executive Power. The Government is responsible to the Assembly of Deputies and must hold their confidence to remain in power.
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President after parliamentary elections and is based on who is believed to hold the confidence of the House of Deputies. The President appoints the other members of Government on proposal of the Prime Minister.
Within 30 days of the appointment of Government, they shall go before the Assembly of Deputies and ask for a vote of confidence, if the Government fails this vote of confidence then a new Government is appointed, if it fails again then a new Prime Minister appointed on the guidance of the Chairpersons of the Assembly and Senate.
The President recalls members of Government on proposal of the Prime Minister.
The Government makes decisions as a body (Cabinet) and adopts resolutions with an absolute majority vote. The Prime Minister organizes activities of the Government, presides over Government meetings and represents the Government
The Government can submit a vote of confidence on itself at any time. The Assembly of Deputies can also bring forth a vote of confidence against the Government themselves, this requires at least 50 Deputies to bring the proposal of a confidence vote forward. An absolute majority vote is required against the Government for no confidence to pass. Upon the loss of confidence, the Government and Prime Minister resign and a new government will attempt to be formed by the President, which could lead to dissolution of the Assembly of Deputies and fresh elections if there is trouble forming a new Government.
Presidential Removal
The Senate can charge the President of the nation with High Treason and bring him before the Constitutional Court for a verdict which may lead to him being removed from office and/or prevented from running for further terms.
Legislative Government
The Legislative Government is made up of a Bicameral parliament which consists of the Assembly of Deputies as the lower but Primary chamber and the Senate as the upper chamber of parliament. It is the main job of the parliament to introduce, debate, amend, pass or reject legislative bills and other agreements to then be passed to the President of the nation of for assent. All bills originate or are introduced first to the Assembly of Deputies either by the Government, members of the Assembly, the Senate, or representative bodies of higher self-governing regions.
Both chambers of parliaments have committees and commissions for introduction of legislation and for other operations. Senators or Deputies who are members of Government cannot also be members of committees, commissions or be elected as a chairperson of either chamber.
Absolute Majority
Some matters require an absolute majority vote from both the Assembly of Deputies and the Senate, this includes declarations of war; assent to sending armed forces outside the country or the stationing of armed forces of foreign states within its territory and also adopting a resolution that concerns the country’s participation in defensive systems of an international organization. In some situations, the Government can send forces outside the territory or have foreign forces stationed in the territory for a period not going past 60 days, if it is to do with fulfilling ratified treaties etc, the parliament can still annul these decisions via an absolute majority vote.
The Assembly of Deputies
The Assembly of Deputies has a set 200 members and as the primary chamber determines the Government that is appointed based on its composition after parliamentary elections and is in-charge of holding the government to account and can have the Prime Minister and Government resign through a vote of no confidence in them.
The Assembly elects a Chairperson and vice-chairpersons. The Chairperson regulates debate and makes sure house rules are abided by. The Chairperson of the Assembly can convene a joint-sitting of both chambers of parliament.
The Assembly upon one-fifth of members proposing, can form investigative committees for investigation into matters of public interest.
The Senate
The Senate has a set 81 members.
The Senate elects a Chairperson and vice-chairpersons. The Chairperson regulates debate and makes sure Senate rules are abided by.
While the Assembly of Deputies is resolved the Senate is empowered to adopt legislative measures concerning matters that cannot be delayed and of which would otherwise require the adoption of statute. But the Senate is not authorized to adopt legislative measures concerning the Constitution, state budget, final state accounting, electoral law or treaties. During this time only the caretaker Government can submit such legislative proposals. These legislative proposals are signed by the Chairperson of the Senate, the President of the Nation and by the caretaker Prime Minister. When the Assembly of Deputies returns the legislative proposals passed by the Senate must be ratified and if they are not, they will cease to be in force.
Under normal circumstances the Senate scrutinizes bills passed by the Assembly of Deputies and if it rejects or amends them, they will be returned to the House of Deputies. The House of Deputies can overrule the Senate via an absolute majority on a bill that has been rejected or a bill that has had amendments added by the Senate rejected.
The Senate cannot be overruled on certain things such as ratification of treaties, declaration of war, constitutional amendments etc.
Judicial System
The President appoints the 15 Justices of the Constitutional Court and also its Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons, with the consent of the Senate.
The President also appoints from among judges the Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons of the Supreme Court.
The President appoints other judges of the above courts.
The President can grant pardons or commute sentences, order that criminal proceedings be instituted and can further order they be discontinued and the criminal record expunged. The President also has the right to issue amnesties.
Electoral System
Presidential Elections happen every 5-years and uses a two-round system where a candidate requires an absolute majority to be elected, if not a 2nd round is held between the top two candidates won via simple majority. One person can serve a max of two consecutive terms, but afterwards can wait a term and run again.
To become a candidate for president a person shall need either 50,000 signatures from registered voters or to be nominated by 20 Deputies from the House of Deputies or 10 Senators from the Senate (chambers of parliament). Candidates must also be a Czech citizen from birth and be at least 40-years or older.
Parliamentary elections happen every 4-years for the Assembly of Deputies while the Senate is elected in one-thirds every 2-years with its members having 6-year terms.
The Assembly of Deputies members are elected from multi-seat constituencies using a proportional representation system, guaranteeing a proportional share of seats to parties that garner at least 5% of the vote.
Candidates for the Assembly of Deputies must be a Czech citizen who is at least 21-years or older and be registered to vote.
The Senate members are elected from single-seat constituencies via a two-round system where candidates require an absolute majority to win in the first round, otherwise a 2nd round is held between the top two candidates won by simple majority.
Candidates for the Senate must be a Czech citizen who is at least 40-years or older and be registered to vote.
To vote one must be a citizen of the Czech Republic and be at least 18-years-old. Voting is not mandatory.
Sources
My sources are from the Czech Republic’s 1993 constitution with amendments through to 2002 (constituteproject.org), I found one part of it to have since been changed (the way the President was elected) but I had foreknowledge of this and also made sure to cross-research on other parts not yet included so everything should still be as accurate as possible, but of course there is still the chance I may have missed something, misinterpreted something and as always the constitution can be amended and so this post may eventually become out of date so cross-research is suggested to those using this in a serious capacity.
Got some information on population and electoral information from the Czechia entry of the CIA World Factbook.
A constitutional amendment requires a three-fifth majority from both the Assembly of Deputies and Senate to be adopted.
So, this was the final C country and so next up we will move on to the D countries beginning with Denmark’s government system.
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