How Strong Is the President in Government Formation? A New
Classification and the Czech Case

KOPEČEK, Lubomír and Miloš BRUNCLÍK. How Strong Is the President in Government Formation? A New Classification and the Czech Case. East European Politics and Societies. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2019, vol. 33, No 1, p. 109-134. ISSN 0888-3254. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0888325418770737.

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TY  - JOUR
ID  - 1475856
AU  - Kopeček, Lubomír - Brunclík, Miloš
PY  - 2019
TI  - How Strong Is the President in Government Formation? A New Classification and the Czech Case
JF  - East European Politics and Societies
VL  - 33
IS  - 1
SP  - 109-134
EP  - 109-134
PB  - SAGE Publications
SN  - 08883254
KW  - Czech presidents
KW  - formation of governments
KW  - Miloš Zeman
KW  - Václav Havel
KW  - Václav Klaus
UR  - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0888325418770737
L2  - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0888325418770737
N2  - The article deals with the influence of presidents in the government formation process (GFP). The authors propose an original classification of roles of presidents, reflecting real constitutional practice, with five categories based on real presidential influence on the GFP, from the weakest to the strongest: observer, notary, regulator, co-designer, and creator. This classification is applied to Czechia, where the formal constitution gives the president great opportunities to intervene in the GFP. The results of the analysis of all cases of GFP show a significant variety of roles the Czech presidents have played: from notary to creator. Two factors are particularly important. Firstly, the timing of elections proved significant. When the GFP directly followed parliamentary elections, the presidents were weaker. In contrast, if the GFP followed a government break-up during the electoral term of the Chamber of Deputies, presidents were significantly stronger. Secondly, it depends on the real power of parties, that is, their ability to act together as a cohesive parliamentary majority. In most cases, the presidents showed their resolve to play a greater role than a notary, but they often faced a firm parliamentary majority that actually did not allow them to exert greater influence on the GFP. In contrast, the political proximity between the president and parliamentary parties appears difficult to assess, because there has been the public desire of non-partisan or “above-partisan” presidents in Czechia.
ER  -

Basic information
Original name	How Strong Is the President in Government Formation? A New Classification and the Czech Case
Authors	KOPEČEK, Lubomír (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution) and Miloš BRUNCLÍK (203 Czech Republic).
Edition	East European Politics and Societies, Thousand Oaks, SAGE Publications, 2019, 0888-3254.

Other information
Original language	English
Type of outcome	Article in a journal
Field of Study	50601 Political science
Country of publisher	United States of America
Confidentiality degree	is not subject to a state or trade secret
WWW	článek v databázi SAGE
Impact factor	Impact factor: 0.543
RIV identification code	RIV/00216224:14230/19:00108949
Organization unit	Faculty of Social Studies
Doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0888325418770737
UT WoS	000456439100006
Keywords in English	Czech presidents; formation of governments; Miloš Zeman; Václav Havel; Václav Klaus
Tags	rivok
Tags	International impact, Reviewed
Changed by	Changed by: Mgr. Blanka Farkašová, učo 97333. Changed: 27/3/2020 15:04.

Abstract

The article deals with the influence of presidents in the government formation process (GFP). The authors propose an original classification of roles of presidents, reflecting real constitutional practice, with five categories based on real presidential influence on the GFP, from the weakest to the strongest: observer, notary, regulator, co-designer, and creator. This classification is applied to Czechia, where the formal constitution gives the president great opportunities to intervene in the GFP. The results of the analysis of all cases of GFP show a significant variety of roles the Czech presidents have played: from notary to creator. Two factors are particularly important. Firstly, the timing of elections proved significant. When the GFP directly followed parliamentary elections, the presidents were weaker. In contrast, if the GFP followed a government break-up during the electoral term of the Chamber of Deputies, presidents were significantly stronger. Secondly, it depends on the real power of parties, that is, their ability to act together as a cohesive parliamentary majority. In most cases, the presidents showed their resolve to play a greater role than a notary, but they often faced a firm parliamentary majority that actually did not allow them to exert greater influence on the GFP. In contrast, the political proximity between the president and parliamentary parties appears difficult to assess, because there has been the public desire of non-partisan or “above-partisan” presidents in Czechia.

Links
MUNI/A/0850/2017, interní kód MU	Name: Aktuální problémy politologického výzkumu IV.
MUNI/A/0850/2017, interní kód MU	Investor: Masaryk University, Category A

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How Strong Is the President in Government Formation? A New Classification and the Czech Case

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