ABSTRACT
Between 2008 and 2021, Czechia held four parliamentary elections but had nine governments. With one exception (Babiš I), all governments were different types of coalitions, and only two served a full term. The period under study was plagued by external and internal crises – economic, migration, and pandemic. The weak and unstable governments struggled to manage crises, personal scandals, and internal conflicts within cabinets. The lack of stability results from a fragmented party system, permanent opposition, and the relative balance between the left and the right. Between 2008 and 2021, Czechia shifted from a Coalition Compromise Model based on inter-party compromise and negotiation to a rather Dominant Prime Minister Model under Babiš. At the end of our observation period, the trend was reversed under Fiala. During the period, President Zeman transformed his formal power of appointing ministers into a de facto ‘veto power’. In a show of force, the President created several standoffs with prime ministers over refusing to name ministers. Unlike his predecessors, the current Prime Minister, Fiala, chose public confrontation in his ministerial appointment standoff with the President and won. Power struggles, not policy seeking, are a key defining feature of Czech coalition governments.
