SGI 2024 | Czechia | Executive Summary

Executive Summary

Recent Governments Experts

SGI experts on Czechia

Lenka Buštíková

Lenka Buštíková is a Director of the Center for European Studies and Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida (UF). She grew up in Prague and previously taught at the University of Oxford and Arizona State University. Her research focuses on illiberalism, polarization, and democratic erosion. She is part of the East European Politics Group in the Department of Political Science at UF. Her book, Extreme Reactions: Radical Right Mobilization in Eastern Europe, received Harvard University’s Davis Center Book Prize in political and social studies. She is also a recipient of the Best Article Prize from the European Politics and Society Section and Best Paper Prize from the Comparative Democratization Section of the American Political Science Association. Dr. Buštíková currently serves as editor of the journal East European Politics. She is also an editor of Cambridge Elements on Politics and Society from Central Europe to Central Asia and Routledge Studies on Political Parties and Party Systems. She serves as Head of the Advisory Board for the Czech National Institute for the Study of Socioeconomic Impacts of Risks.

Zdenka Mansfeldová

Zdenka Mansfeldová is a senior researcher and head of the Department of the Sociology of Politics at the Institute of Sociology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Her research focuses on the functioning of modern democracies and their institutions, the representation of interests, political representation in parties and parliaments and non-political interests’ structures. She has a long-lasting interest in social dialogue.

Martin Myant

Martin Myant is a senior researcher and head of the research unit on European Economic, Employment and Social Policy at the European Trade Union Institute in Brussels. He has been researching the economic and political development and recent history of East-Central Europe for many years with a primary focus on the Czech Republic. His publications include The Czechoslovak Economy 1948-1988: The Battle for Economic Reform, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989 (paperback, 2010), Transforming Socialist Economies: The Case of Poland and Czechoslovakia, Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1993, The Rise and Fall of Czech Capitalism: Economic Development in the Czech Republic Since 1989, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2003 and Transition Economies: Political Economy in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia (with Jan Drahokoupil), Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.

Petra Guasti (Coordinator)

Petra Guasti is an Associate Professor of Democratic Theory at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences (on leave). Between 2016 and 2021 served as a senior researcher, an Interim Professor and adjunct lecturer at the Goethe University Frankfurt. In April 2021 she completed her (cumulative) habilitation Democracy Disrupted at the Goethe University Frankfurt. Petra received her doctoral degree in political science from the University of Bremen. She also previously earned a doctoral degree in political sociology from the Charles University in Prague. In March 2019, she completed an eight-month Visiting Democracy Fellowship at Harvard University’s Ash Centre for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. She serves as an expert for Bertelsmann Transformation Index, Sustainable Governance Indicators for over a decade, and V-Dem since 2018. In 2020 she has been appointed to the expert board of the Nation in Transit (Freedom House).

Developments during the review period have confirmed the successful establishment, development, and protection of basic democratic institutions. Procedures for selecting candidates and voting adhere to good international practices, and the government operates with reasonable transparency. Laws ensure freedom of information, with structures in place for parliamentary oversight, auditing by an independent office, and control by independent media. Additionally, government-wide and ministerial structures have been established for policy discussion and coordination, involving external stakeholders.

However, corruption and the close ties between political and economic power remain significant weaknesses. The media control by former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš was significantly reduced by the final approval in 2023 of amendments to the conflict-of-interest law, though these will be only partially effective. While political competition is not formally restricted, financial backing provides a substantial advantage, as seen in presidential elections where candidates heavily depend on business group support.

During this period, the government was a five-party coalition with a parliamentary majority. Although not always unified in its stance, the visibility of differences over EU policy, environmental, and gender issues encourages public debate. An active structure for tripartite consultation exists, involving the government, trade unions, and employers’ organizations, alongside non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that advocate on various issues. Several NGO representatives are included in government advisory committees and have, in some cases, significantly influenced legislation.

The state budget has been the central issue in economic policy. Tax revenue as a share of GDP remains low by European standards, limiting the scope for investment and spending in other areas. The slow growth and increasing debt during the pandemic extended into 2023, with high inflation persisting. Slower income growth led to reduced consumption and a further GDP decline.

In response, the government introduced a 2023 package that cut spending and increased taxes, especially on businesses. Public sector employees and pensioners are the main losers, while cuts to government subsidies for enterprises threaten other objectives. Assuming economic growth recovers despite budget restrictions and excluding external shocks, there is no imminent threat of budget instability.

Long-term prospects are also threatened by a general labor shortage. Foreign workers have partially filled the gap, but the integration of foreigners remains a persistent weakness, limiting the import of skilled labor. The influx of Ukrainian refugees has brought significant changes in this area and spurred some protest actions by extra-parliamentary groups opposing government economic policies, refugee aid, and support for Ukraine’s war effort.

Addressing the labor shortage domestically is hampered by inadequate early childhood care facilities, reflecting a preference for encouraging parents to stay home with young children. Gender issues are viewed with suspicion by some political segments, concerned about perceived threats to the traditional family. Nevertheless, high employment levels have kept poverty relatively low, and the pension system has ensured adequate, though not high, pensions relative to average earnings. Social exclusion remains a serious issue for the Roma minority, who continue to face discrimination, as well as for other social groups.

Policies on infrastructure development, the environment, and climate change have aligned with EU directives, receiving strong support from some politicians and pressure groups, but evident reluctance from others. EU support has compensated for inadequate state budget resources. While this support is not permanent, the EU-funded National Recovery Plan offers assistance in various policy areas for the next few years.

Czechia has been passive in international initiatives, ranking among the poorest OECD members in efforts to combat climate change and showing weak involvement in international economic and social development. However, during the review period, significant changes occurred, particularly in aid for Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees.