Routledge Parliaments in the Czech and Slovak Republics: Party Competition and Parliamentary Institutionalization (Routledge Revivals)

This title was first published in 2001. Based on a unique set of structured interviews with parliamentarians and additional interviews with party leaders and activists, this significant volume provides an illuminating account of the formation of the new democracies in Czechoslovakia and later, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Examining efforts to construct stable democratic parliamentary regimes in the wake of communist breakdown, it provides a rigorous analysis of parliaments’ relations with the electorate and the executive, as well as their internal working. Richly detailed and clearly written, this original study is an invaluable addition to the collection of anyone interested in post-communist Europe or parliamentary studies. Review ’An impressive study, an excellent blend of theory and empirical research, essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the development of the Czech and Slovak parliaments. This should be of value to all students of legislative developments.’ Professor The Lord Norton of Louth, University of Hull, UK ’Both the detailed evidence on many topics and the wide sweep of inquiry make a valuable contribution to our knowledge of one pair of post-communist countries and their parliaments.’ Journal of Legislative Studies ’...informative and theoretically well elaborated...’ Slavic Review About the Author Dr Petr Kopecký, Lecturer in Politics, Department of Politics, The University of Sheffield, UK. He read economics at the University of Economics in Prague for his first degree and subsequently gained an MA in European Government at Manchester University. He completed his doctoral thesis at Leiden University in the Netherlands. He works in the field of comparative politics and his main research interests include East European politics, political parties, parliaments and problems of democratic transition and consolidation