ABSTRACT
Introduction Slovakia’s road to consolidated democracy has not been straightforward. Following the ‘Velvet Revolution’ of November 1989, a multi-party parliamentary democracy was established, at that time still within a framework of the federal Czechoslovak state. Czechoslovakia broke up on 1 January 1993 after the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) and the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), the most successful parties of the June 1992 parliamentary elections in the Slovak and Czech parts of the federation, respectively, agreed to terminate the existence of the common state established in 1918. The decision, although supported by only a minority of citizens in both constitutive states of the federation, resolved the problem of ‘stateness’ which had troubled Czechoslovak politics throughout the entire 1990-1992 electoral cycle1 and confirmed the central role of political parties and party elites in national politics of the two successor states (Kopecký 2001). In the course of the 1990s the quality and even the very principles of democratic processes in Slovakia came into question. Even though concerns for respect for civic and human rights had sporadically appeared since Slovakia’s independence, the most serious backslide in democratic practices occurred between 1994 and 1998 under the Prime Minister, Mr Vladimír Mečiar of the HZDS. The government and parliament, both controlled by the HZDS and its two junior coalition partners, were engaged in a bitter conflict with the head of state, and the rights of minorities were disregarded. The parliamentary opposition was marginalised and various extra-constitutional measures were taken to circumscribe the room for activities of independent civic associations. Moreover, the parliamentary majority ignored important rulings of the Constitutional Court and
1 It was agreed that the first (fully free and fair) multi-party elections of June 1990
would elect federal as well as state parliaments for only a two-year term, thus giving an earlier chance to compete for power to new political parties which were expected to emerge after the first elections.
