State funding of Czech political parties: The signs of a cartel?

In: Osterreichische Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft, Heft 4, S. 391-406

Abstract

The paper analyses the system of public funding of political parties in the Czech Republic in the framework of the cartelization theory. After a theoretical introduction, the paper presents an overview of the laws governing political party funding in a wider socioeconomic context. The second part of the paper contains empirical analyses of party funding, focusing primarily on the role that state funding plays in the overall political party income structure. Specific attention is paid to the differences between parliamentary and non-parliamentary political parties. The overall findings suggest that the system of state financing in the Czech Republic strengthens the status quo, rather than promoting higher inclusivity of the party system. State funding is the most important source of income for most parties included in the analysis. It is also disproportionally higher for parliamentary than for non-parliamentary parties and in the period under observation state funding did not help - with only one possible exception - non-parliamentary parties enter the parliament. Adapted from the source document.