Nineteen years after the fall of the communist regime, Slovakia is a country with a pluralistic democratic political system and functioning market economy. It is a member state of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO). Since gaining state independence in January 1993, the country has gone through complicated domestic political development. In the first five years democratic political forces and civil society players were forced to struggle to preserve the political regimes democratic character that was threatened by authoritarian practices of nationalist and populist parties that ruled the country at that time. The 1998 parliamentary elections brought to power a broad coalition of democratic political forces that promptly remedied deformations caused by the previous authoritarian administration. Thanks to extensive political and socio economic reforms that were further deepened by the centre right coalition government formed in 2002, Slovakia managed to catch up in the process of European integration and joined the EU and NATO in 2004. The taxation systems reform, changes in labor law, recovery of the banking sector and decentralization of public administration made the country attractive to foreign investors, boosted its GDP growth and substantially reduced the unemployment rate. Unfulfilled social expectations of a certain voter segment, the centre right administrations inability to explain to citizens the long term objectives of socio economic reforms and disenchantment of the critical mass of citizens over frequent political conflicts and corruption scandals have reduced voter support for reform oriented democratic forces. The 2006 parliamentary elections brought to power a coalition government comprising parties that had criticized the liberal reforms and used populist methods of appealing to voters Smer Social Democracy (Smer SD), self-declared social democrats, the Slovak National Party (SNS), radical nationalists, and the Peoples Party Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (ĽS HZDS), ideologically unclear national populists. The inherited favorable economic development created exceptionally comfortable conditions for the new government led by Robert Fico, chairman of the Smer-SD party. In 2007 2008 Ficos cabinet was not forced to adopt any austerity measures that diminished the probability of conflicts with certain social groups. The ruling coalition enjoyed a comfortable majority in the parliament that allowed it to put through its legislative proposals. The Robert Fico administration de facto halted the process of liberal reforms. But despite general expectations ensuing from incumbent ruling parties election promises it refrained from wholesale abolition of launched reforms. Instead, the incumbent administration took the path of their selective and partial revision in 2008. In some areas, it has kept the course set by the previous administration essentially unchanged while in others it attempted to put through its own ideas based on furthering etatist concepts, strengthening centralist elements, restoring clientelist methods and using populist ways of appealing to citizens. In 2008 the following trends could be observed in the performance of the ruling coalition: the broadening state interventionism, deepening the governments role and influence of executive organs in a number of areas, including economy and social policy.