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In 2017, in addition to the traditional, old, and more recently established political parties, a new formation – the Czech Pirate Party – espousing more participative principles, including the use of online platforms for discussions – arrived on the political scene in the Czech Republic. This newcomer to the parliamentary ecosystem, shortly after achieving success at the national level, also managed to attract significant support in local elections. For this reason, there is currently a Pirate Party parliamentary group present in the Chamber of Deputies (the lower chamber of the Czech parliament), while simultaneously the mayor of Prague and members of the ruling coalition in Brno – the second biggest city in the Czech Republic – also represent the Pirate Party. Furthermore, recent opinion polls show support for the Pirates running at about 14%. This is coupled with another new feature: the young age of the party's elected parliamentarians and local councilors, which brings new challenges to politics. After the elections, a number of commentators immediately dubbed the Pirate Party a 'youth party.' But is this really the case? What forms of participation do the party and/or its members use and encourage? This article offers answers to these questions. In particular, it presents the electoral base of this new political party through interpretative analysis. The data are based on election results triangulated with other sources – specifically, a Czech election study is juxtaposed against a quantitative survey carried out by three academic institutions in the Czech Republic (the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University, Brno; Palacký University, Olomouc; and the Institute of Sociology at the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague). These statistical tools enable us to identify in great detail the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of Pirate Party voters (for instance: age, education, their views about contemporary democracy, and the timing of their decision to vote) and map their attitudes towards other parties and their leaders. The article reveals how popular the Czech Pirate Party is among the younger generation of voters, where the latter come from, and what political preferences they had previously.

This paper explores the possibility of introducing a majority electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies in the Czech Republic, and discusses the virtues and drawbacks of such a system. 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 such a change could influence the formation of governmental majorities in the chamber and what the possible consequences for the quality of democracy 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 of a majority 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 politicians to hold various mandates at different levels of the political system at the same time, this could be a significant risk factor.

This paper explores the possibility of introducing a majority electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies in the Czech Republic, and discusses the virtues and drawbacks of such a system. 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 such a change could influence the formation of governmental majorities in the chamber and what the possible consequences for the quality of democracy 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 of a majority 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 politicians to hold various mandates at different levels of the political system at the same time, this could be a significant risk factor. ; This paper explores the possibility of introducing a majority electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies in the Czech Republic, and discusses the virtues and drawbacks of such a system. 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 such a change could influence the formation of governmental majorities in the chamber and what the possible consequences for the quality of democracy 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 of a majority system would substantially lower barriers to enter the chamber, which could lead to the disintegration of the party system and its increased ...

The goal of this article is to discuss the electoral base of left-wing political parties in the Czech Republic and Slovakia after 1993, i.e., after the breakup of the joint federal state. The main focus of research is the distribution of electoral support in these countries, its evolution, and the mutual stability among parties it has shown in elections to the legislatures of both countries. Each country is divided into fairly similar units. In the Czech Republic, these are municipalities with extended powers and, in Slovakia, districts. The election results presented are compared with the demographic structure of selected individual regions and subsequently analyzed. The result addresses whether and to what extent the electoral base of relatively similar left-wing political parties in these neighbouring countries are alike or unalike. ; The goal of this article is to discuss the electoral base of left-wing political parties in the Czech Republic and Slovakia after 1993, i.e., after the breakup of the joint federal state. The main focus of research is the distribution of electoral support in these countries, its evolution, and the mutual stability among parties it has shown in elections to the legislatures of both countries. Each country is divided into fairly similar units. In the Czech Republic, these are municipalities with extended powers and, in Slovakia, districts. The election results presented are compared with the demographic structure of selected individual regions and subsequently analyzed. The result addresses whether and to what extent the electoral base of relatively similar left-wing political parties in these neighbouring countries are alike or unalike.

This article discusses the results of the French referendum in May 2005 which was very important for the ratification of the European constitution. It first describes the rules of referendum in the French political system of the Fifth Republic & then goes on to analyze the stances taken by the French political parties & their main representatives in the 2005 referendum. The results of the referendum are analyzed in connection with geographical areas & compared with the results of the referendum in 1992. In selected departments the results of the referendum are also compared with the results of the French presidential elections in 1995 & 2002. Tables, Graphs, 3 Maps, References. Adapted from the source document.

The article deals with the French regional elections in 2004. These elections were interesting for three reasons. Firstly, the majority of regions moved to the left. Secondly, a new mixed system of elections was used. Thirdly, the newly reformed Gaullist party lost its majority in regional councils. The article analyzes the results in each region & explains the patterns of cooperation among political parties. The article also reflects on the results in the departements overseas. 3 Tables, 6 References. Adapted from the source document.

This article addresses the candidate selection process for realistic list positions with regard to multiple-office holding and personal characteristics in flexible-list proportional representation (PR) systems within the Czech context. More specifically, this issue is explored in the 2006–2017 elections to the Czech Chamber of Deputies. Results of binary logistic regression analysis with observations clustered by party or constituency indicate that incumbents (with or without multiple office holding) stand a significantly higher probability of being selected as a realistic candidate. This probability increases only if the incumbent also has the regional mandate. The results also show that candidates with a PhD degree or higher, with a higher public office position, at the age of forty-one to fifty years, or with residence in a regional capital or in Prague have a significant probability of being selected as a realistic candidate. A specific gender bias was also found.

Abstract
Following identification of the areas of electoral support for the ruling parties since 1996 and subsequent analysis of the selection of ministers by each party, it was found that centre-right parties nominated more ministers from their areas of electoral support, mainly from Prague and other large cities. On the other hand, left-wing parties nominated ministers from similar areas to centre-right parties, even if they did not draw their electoral support from there. The Public Affairs party, which was established in Prague, nominated all its ministers from Prague, despite the fact that for the party it was not an area of electoral support. It is evident that, for the completion of a minister's mandate, it is not important whether he or she comes from an area of electoral support. Only TOP 09, the Greens and KDU-ČSL (1998 elections) used the nomination of ministers to maximise votes within electoral regions, which could be identified as areas of electoral support in the previous elections. On the other hand, with ODA and ANO 2011, ministers were used outside the territory of electoral support, which may be related to the improvement of the election result in regions where the party was not so successful.

In 2017, in addition to the traditional, old, and more recently established political parties, a new formation – the Czech Pirate Party – espousing more participative principles, including the use of online platforms for discussions – arrived on the political scene in the Czech Republic. This newcomer to the parliamentary ecosystem, shortly after achieving success at the national level, also managed to attract significant support in local elections. For this reason, there is currently a Pirate Party parliamentary group present in the Chamber of Deputies (the lower chamber of the Czech parliament), while simultaneously the mayor of Prague and members of the ruling coalition in Brno – the second biggest city in the Czech Republic – also represent the Pirate Party. Furthermore, recent opinion polls show support for the Pirates running at about 14%. This is coupled with another new feature: the young age of the party's elected parliamentarians and local councilors, which brings new challenges to politics. After the elections, a number of commentators immediately dubbed the Pirate Party a 'youth party.' But is this really the case? What forms of participation do the party and/or its members use and encourage? This article offers answers to these questions. In particular, it presents the electoral base of this new political party through interpretative analysis. The data are based on election results triangulated with other sources – specifically, a Czech election study is juxtaposed against a quantitative survey carried out by three academic institutions in the Czech Republic (the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University, Brno; Palacký University, Olomouc; and the Institute of Sociology at the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague). These statistical tools enable us to identify in great detail the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of Pirate Party voters (for instance: age, education, their views about contemporary democracy, and the timing of their decision to vote) and map their attitudes towards other parties and their leaders. The article reveals how popular the Czech Pirate Party is among the younger generation of voters, where the latter come from, and what political preferences they had previously.

This article explains the basis for electoral support for political parties in the Czech and Slovak Republics in the post-1993 period. The database consists of results from Parliamentary elections (in the Czech context, elections to the Chamber of Deputies) and of data obtained from censuses carried out by statistical agencies. The theory of conflict lines developed by Stein Rokkan and Seymour M. Lipset was chosen as the theoretical basis. The key analytical tool employed is linear regression. The explanation provided evaluates the dependence of political party electoral support (as defined by seats won in elections) upon socioeconomic variables contained in the theory. Analysis of the results shows that the support parties receive in elections depends significantly upon social characteristics. An especially clear explanation is generated for the support given to Christian and ethnic parties. For protest parties, the impact of the constituent social and economic structure is only marginal.