ABSTRACT
This chapter comes from the assumption that the overall power of presidents rests only partly on formal constitutional powers. Thus, it pays particular attention to other factors that make the picture of presidential powers (almost) complete. It argues that four factors are relevant to this analysis: past legacies, the popularity of presidents and public expectations from them, the president’s relationship to parties and the popular election of the president. As far as the last factor is concerned, the chapter explores the reasons why this constitutional change was introduced. In Poland and Slovakia, the amendment was directly caused by particular sets of factors in each case, which was related to a transition: in Poland, a transition to democracy following the Round Table Talks, and in Slovakia, a transition from the illiberal era of Mečiarism to Slovak democracy. In contrast, the Czech reform was not conditioned by a particular cause but was a result of a general consensus that the direct election per se is a positive and desirable feature of the constitutional system. However, in all countries, the popular election was by no means related to the target of giving the president more powers.
