ABSTRACT
The chapter argues that Slovakia and the Czech Republic have been parliamentary regimes since 1989, and Poland since 1997. This conclusion does not result only from the book’s conceptualization of semi-presidentialism, but also from further facts. First, the key features of the parliamentary form of government can be clearly identified in the constitutions, and all countries under scrutiny here work in line with the logics of parliamentary regimes. Second, the parliamentary nature of the Central European regimes results from the constitutional history of those countries. Third, explanatory reports on the Czech and Slovak governments’ proposals for the constitutions state that constitution makers intended to establish a parliamentary regime. Fourth, the parliamentary regime is confirmed by constitutional law and by several rulings by the constitutional courts. In all three discussed countries, one can find rulings from the constitutional courts which either explicitly or implicitly confirm the parliamentary form of government in the Czech and Slovak cases and the parliamentary-cabinet regime in the Polish case. Fifth, there has traditionally been a strong consensus in academia. In addition, an overwhelming majority of the political representation in all three countries has always been supportive of the parliamentary character of their polities.
