Referendum in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Abstract

For more than 80 years the Czechs and the Slovaks have been functioning within one political, economic and social system. Various political and economic circumstances resulted in the division of Czechoslovakia to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Ever since the political systems of both countries became different. These various political systems inspired me to examine the people’s participation in the political life of those countries. The aim of this paper is to analyse and compare the most common form of direct democracy – a referendum – in both the Czech and Slovak political systems. It will be compared on two levels. The first one will deal with general constitutional background of a referendum and its procedures, as well as with a comparison of regulations in the respective countries. The second one will concern the practice of referendum in the analysed countries.Artykuł nie zawiera abstraktu w języku polski