This book provides a contextual and authoritative overview of the principles, doctrines and institutions that underpin the Czech constitution. The book explores key topics including; the Czech pluralist constitution, constitutional principles, the interaction between the legislature, executive and the judiciary, the role of local governance and application of fundamental rights in practice. It also covers the morphing of Czech constitutionalism as a result of personal politics, conventions, informal institutions and constitutional narratives and sentiments. This informative study allows students and scholars of law and politics to develop an informed view of how Czech democracy actually works and what its main challenges are.

The outset of the Czech statehood reaches all the way back to the ninth century. Since then, the Czech state has gone through difficult development - from feudal patrimonial state, through attempts of its integration into wider state units (the Habsburg monarchy), to its today's modern shape. The origination of the modern constitutional system which is now in place in the territory of the today's Czech Republic is intrtwined with the revolutionary year 1848.

To what extent is the language of judicial opinions responsive to the political and social context in which constitutional courts operate? Courts are reason-giving institutions, with argumentation playing a central role in constitutional adjudication. However, a cursory look at just a handful of constitutional systems suggests important differences in the practices of constitutional judges, whether in matters of form, style, or language. Focusing on independently-verified leading cases globally, a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis offers the most comprehensive and systematic account of constitutional reasoning to date. This analysis is supported by the examination of eighteen legal systems around the world including the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. Universally common aspects of constitutional reasoning are identified in this book, and contributors also examine whether common law countries differ to civil law countries in this respect.

"Democracy theories and comparative political science have been challenged within the last decade by an unexpected democratic deficit and the rise of populism in the new EU-member states. This volume written by German and Czech scholars gives some food for thought for solving these research problems by means of thorough analyses of the polity, the politics and selected policies of the Czech Republic since 1990."Dieter Segert, retired Professor of Political Science (Area Studies on Eastern Europe), University of Vienna, Austria "Czech Democracy in Crisis is a long-overdue comprehensive study of the Czech political system. Using institutional approaches to change, it explores crucial policy outcomes. A perfect book for academics and practitioners who want to understand the challenges of democratic consolidation in a new democracy."Lenka Bustikova, Associate Professor of Political Science, Arizona State University, USA, and author of Extreme Reactions: Radical Right Mobilization in Eastern Europe The image of the Czechs as a poster child of democratization has changed into a crisis narrative in recent years. This edited volume traces this change and examines the suitability of different theories to explain developments in Czech democracy. The contributors, all renowned experts in their fields, offer well-founded and compact insights into the post-1989 Czech political system. They cover political institutions and parties; civil society; the media; and selected policy areas such as foreign, economic, migration and regional policy. The book takes into account processes of democratization and Europeanization, explaining the political picture at various stages of development. Finding that many of today’s problems—fragmented political parties, government instability, inefficient state administration and low quality of governance—have not been new developments but have constantly existed, the authors present a plea for theoretical adjustments that should be read by all academics, students, practitioners and readers with an interest in Czech politics and society.