Control body, representative of regions, or elitist chamber of wisdom? The perceived roles of upper chambers and the case of the Czech Senate

HRUŠKA, Jan and Stanislav BALÍK. Control body, representative of regions, or elitist chamber of wisdom? The perceived roles of upper chambers and the case of the Czech Senate. Journal of Legislative Studies. Abingdon: Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis, 2024, neuveden, neuveden, p. 1-20. ISSN 1357-2334. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2024.2355729.

Basic information

• Original name: Control body, representative of regions, or elitist chamber of wisdom? The perceived roles of upper chambers and the case of the Czech Senate
• Authors: HRUŠKA, Jan and Stanislav BALÍK.
• Edition: Journal of Legislative Studies, Abingdon, Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis, 2024, 1357-2334.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 50601 Political science
• Country of publisher: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: article - open access
• Impact factor: Impact factor: 1.000 in 2022
• Organization unit: Faculty of Social Studies
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2024.2355729
• UT WoS: 999
• Keywords in English: Bicameralism; elitism; legitimacy; perceptions; second/upper chambers; the Czech Senate
• Tags: online first
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

Existing research on bicameralism has paid rather limited attention to examining the legitimacy of upper chambers. This paper addresses this research gap and examines the unintended roles of upper chambers using the case of the Czech Senate. It explains how citizens perceive the role of the upper chamber and how their perceptions can differ from the chamber’s actual role. The research employs content analysis of semi-structured interviews with two groups of citizens (30 in total). The results show that the Senate is perceived as an elitist, apolitical institution that is or should be composed of wise, experienced, and moral people. A minority of citizens perceive the Senate as a body representative of local interests. However, these perceptions do not correspond to reality. The difference between the Senate’s perceived and real role can have both negative and positive effects on the institution’s legitimacy.

Links

• EF19_073/0016943, research and development project: Name: Interní grantová agentura Masarykovy univerzity
• MUNI/A/1488/2023, interní kód MU: Name: Aktuální problémy politologického výzkumu X.

Investor: Masaryk University, Current Issues in Political Science Research X.