Content area
Full Text
Abstract
This study presents constructive censure as an element used to strengthen the stability of Governments in parliamentary regimes. It analyses its strengths and weaknesses and use in the political systems of European countries. An analysis of the draft amendment to the Constitution of the Czech Republic, presented by the Czech Government in the spring of 2012, is then put to this framework. Although the Chamber of Deputies had been dissolved in the meantime and the discussion of the draft had not been completed, it was the first and so far only legislative proposal to address the instability of Governments.
Keywords: parliamentary control, Czech Republic, government, stability
In parliamentary regimes, with the Czech Republic being an example, the political stability and the stability of Governments is largely dependent on the stability of parliament, respectively on the chamber of parliament that performs powers of creation and control in relation to Government and that the Government is constitutionally and politically accountable to. Much has been written about the fact that one of the key factors that can bring stability to the legislative assembly (and thus to the Government which is based on it) is for example an electoral system with all its implications for the party system, its structure and fragmentation. However, the functionality of parliamentary systems is also dependent on the behaviour of individual participants and institutions and their mutual relations which, in addition to political culture and traditions, are also affected by the tools that individual components of power have against the other components, and governing procedural rules.
If we look at what tools legislatures have against Governments in parliamentary systems, then it is particularly a contribution to creating the Government, mostly in the form of a vote of confidence, as in the Czech Republic, or a choice of the Prime Minister or Chancellor, which is the case in Hungary and Germany. During the term of the Government, the legislature performs a supervisory role mainly through interpellations. An important element that affects governance is the approval of the Government's draft state budget. Last but not least, the legislature in a parliamentary system has the right to express no confidence in the Government, which is an element to be addressed in the following article. The...