Coalition Politics in Central Eastern Europe: Governing in Times of Crisis

0579534 - SOÚ 2025 RIV GB eng M - Část monografie knihy
Guasti, Petra - Mansfeldová, Zdenka
Regularity and Instability. Coalition Governments in Czechia 2008-2022.
Coalition Politics in Central Eastern Europe: Governing in Times of Crisis. London: Routledge, 2024 - (Bergman, T.; Ilonszki, G.; Hellström, J.), s. 68-93. ISBN 978-1-003-32848-3
Grant CEP: GA MŠMT(CZ) LX22NPO5101
Institucionální podpora: RVO:68378025
Klíčová slova: Coalition government * Czechia * instability
Obor OECD: Political science

The chapter is part of the study of coalitions and coalition governance in Central and Eastern European democracies up to date, with an analytical focus framed by difficult economic and social periods, such as the end of the economic crisis and the Coronavirus pandemic.
Between 2008 and 2021, Czechia held four parliamentary elections but had nine governments. With one exception (Babiš I), all governments were different types of coalitions, and only two served a full term. The period under study was plagued by external and internal crises – economic, migration, and pandemic. The weak and unstable governments struggled to manage crises, personal scandals, and internal conflicts within cabinets. The lack of stability results from a fragmented party system, permanent opposition, and the relative balance between the left and the right. Between 2008 and 2021, Czechia shifted from a Coalition Compromise Model based on inter-party compromise and negotiation to a rather Dominant Prime Minister Model under Babiš. At the end of our observation period, the trend was reversed under Fiala. During the period, President Zeman transformed his formal power of appointing ministers into a de facto ‘veto power’. In a show of force, the President created several standoffs with prime ministers over refusing to name ministers. Unlike his predecessors, the current Prime Minister, Fiala, chose public confrontation in his ministerial appointment standoff with the President and won. Power struggles, not policy seeking, are a key defining feature of Czech coalition governments.
Trvalý link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0348352