ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the main features of the public finance model in the Czech Republic, analyzes the level and the structure of the income and the expenditures of major parties and indicates the effect of party finance on Czech parties and the party system. Before addressing issues related specifically to party finance, the first two parts of the chapter are devoted to an introduction to the Czech political system, including a discussion of the major parties, party system and electoral system. Later, the chapter describes the party finance model and its main components: private donations, state subsidies and indirect funding. We also report on disclosure measures, and we examine trends in party finance which indicate an increased level of state funding that has caused party finance to become a significant part of total income for all main parties. In the last section, we suggest three main effects of public finance on the development of parties and the party system in the Czech Republic.
