Publication at Faculty of Social Sciences |
2013
Abstract
The chapter begins by tracking the origins of the great but unwritten authority the Czech president enjoys. The key figure in this sense was the main architect of Czechoslovakia’s First Republic (1918–1938) Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.
The Czech presidency naturally carried over from the Czechoslovak model, moreover, the last Czechoslovak president, Václav Havel, became the first president of the Czech Republic. Havel and his successor Václav Klaus were highly visible presidents.
We can pick out some of the moments in which the Czech presidents behaved as autonomous political actors. Our goal is also to outline how their active style in office has, in certain situations, increased the weight of the presidency.