Possible Outcomes of Introducing a Majority System for Elections to the Czech Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Středoevropské politické studie |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://journals.muni.cz/cepsr/article/view/8292 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CEPSR.2017.2.135 |
| Field | Political sciences |
| Keywords | Elections; Czech Politics; Electoral System; First-Past-the-Post;Two Round Majority System |
| Attached files | |
| Description | This paper explores the possibility of introducingamajority electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies in the Czech Republic, and discusses the virtues and drawbacks of suchasystem. It recalculates the electoral results from two previous elections using majority electoral systems (first-past-the-post and two round majority system) to examine how suchachange could influence the formation ofgovernmental majorities in the chamber and what the possible consequences for the quality ofdemocracy in the Czech Republic could be. The results show that majority system would likely radically simplify the formation of governments with clear majorities, and hinder emerging populist parties as well as weaken the communist party. On the other hand, the adoption ofamajority system would substantially lower barriers to enter the chamber, which could lead to the disintegration of the party system and its increased fragmentation. Combined with the common practice of Czech politiciansto hold various mandates at different levels of the political system at the same time, this could beasignificant risk factor. |
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