Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920
The Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920 was the second constitution of Czechoslovakia. Ratified after World War I, the constitution established Czechoslovakia as a democratic republic. It was adopted by the National Assembly on 29 February 1920 and replaced the provisional constitution adopted on 13 November 1918.
The constitution, modelled after constitutions of established democracies, was conceived in the light of Hans Kelsen's contribution to constitutional law. The system of government the constitution introduced made Czechoslovakia the most westernized of all of the central and eastern European nations on the verge of World War II.
The constitution created a parliament but also a president and cabinet, sharing powers of executive branch. Beneath them was a judiciary that was advanced with many levels of courts delegated for various types of cases.
The parliament, the National Assembly, was bicameral. The Chamber of Deputies consisted of 300 members elected for six years. The Senate consisted of 150 members elected for eight years. Suffrage was exercised by all citizens, of both sexes, over the age of 21 for elections to the lower chamber; and over the age of 26 for elections to the senate. Candidates for the lower chamber had to be at least 30 years of age; and for the senate, at least 45 years of age.
The parliamentary system that was installed created a complicated system of proportional representation, with relatively few constituents for each representative. It was possible to get a seat with as little as 2.6 percent of the vote. This allowed for a great variety of political parties to emerge, with no clear front runner or leading political entity. A typical Chamber of Deputies during the First Republic had well over 10 factions represented. With so many parties as part of the national forum, it was all but impossible for one party to win the 151 seats needed for a majority. No party came close to being able to govern alone until the Communist Party was able to secure 38% percent of the votes in 1946; before then, no party won more than 25 percent of the vote.
Since it was so hard to secure a majority, the government was at times stalled out and unable to effectively legislate. Under the circumstances, Czechoslovak prime ministers were fairly weak figures compared to their counterparts in the rest of Europe. In most cases, the prime minister was more the chairman of the cabinet than its leader.
If parliament rejected a government bill, the cabinet could unanimously refer the proposed law to referendum. No recourse was made to this constitutional provision during the First Republic.
The president was elected by both chambers of parliament in joint session (acting in accordance with the standing orders of the lower chamber). The presidential term was seven years, with no more than two in a row (the first president was exempted from this provision). Candidates for the presidency had to be at least 35 years old. The framers intended for the prime minister and cabinet to hold the real power. Hence, the constitutional powers of the president were limited. However, the personal prestige of the first two presidents, Tomáš Masaryk and Edvard Beneš, and the instability of successive governments (for example, Masaryk's presidency saw 10 cabinets headed by nine statesmen) meant that the president wielded in practice more authority than the plain text of the constitution suggested. The constitution laid down that all executive functions rested with the government except as expressly assigned to the president. However, the president could address written or verbal messages to parliament, appoint and dismiss ministers, attend and preside over cabinet meetings, and demand written reports from individual ministers. Hence, presidential influence on the executive was in practice considerable.
Hub AI
Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920 AI simulator
(@Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920_simulator)
Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920
The Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920 was the second constitution of Czechoslovakia. Ratified after World War I, the constitution established Czechoslovakia as a democratic republic. It was adopted by the National Assembly on 29 February 1920 and replaced the provisional constitution adopted on 13 November 1918.
The constitution, modelled after constitutions of established democracies, was conceived in the light of Hans Kelsen's contribution to constitutional law. The system of government the constitution introduced made Czechoslovakia the most westernized of all of the central and eastern European nations on the verge of World War II.
The constitution created a parliament but also a president and cabinet, sharing powers of executive branch. Beneath them was a judiciary that was advanced with many levels of courts delegated for various types of cases.
The parliament, the National Assembly, was bicameral. The Chamber of Deputies consisted of 300 members elected for six years. The Senate consisted of 150 members elected for eight years. Suffrage was exercised by all citizens, of both sexes, over the age of 21 for elections to the lower chamber; and over the age of 26 for elections to the senate. Candidates for the lower chamber had to be at least 30 years of age; and for the senate, at least 45 years of age.
The parliamentary system that was installed created a complicated system of proportional representation, with relatively few constituents for each representative. It was possible to get a seat with as little as 2.6 percent of the vote. This allowed for a great variety of political parties to emerge, with no clear front runner or leading political entity. A typical Chamber of Deputies during the First Republic had well over 10 factions represented. With so many parties as part of the national forum, it was all but impossible for one party to win the 151 seats needed for a majority. No party came close to being able to govern alone until the Communist Party was able to secure 38% percent of the votes in 1946; before then, no party won more than 25 percent of the vote.
Since it was so hard to secure a majority, the government was at times stalled out and unable to effectively legislate. Under the circumstances, Czechoslovak prime ministers were fairly weak figures compared to their counterparts in the rest of Europe. In most cases, the prime minister was more the chairman of the cabinet than its leader.
If parliament rejected a government bill, the cabinet could unanimously refer the proposed law to referendum. No recourse was made to this constitutional provision during the First Republic.
The president was elected by both chambers of parliament in joint session (acting in accordance with the standing orders of the lower chamber). The presidential term was seven years, with no more than two in a row (the first president was exempted from this provision). Candidates for the presidency had to be at least 35 years old. The framers intended for the prime minister and cabinet to hold the real power. Hence, the constitutional powers of the president were limited. However, the personal prestige of the first two presidents, Tomáš Masaryk and Edvard Beneš, and the instability of successive governments (for example, Masaryk's presidency saw 10 cabinets headed by nine statesmen) meant that the president wielded in practice more authority than the plain text of the constitution suggested. The constitution laid down that all executive functions rested with the government except as expressly assigned to the president. However, the president could address written or verbal messages to parliament, appoint and dismiss ministers, attend and preside over cabinet meetings, and demand written reports from individual ministers. Hence, presidential influence on the executive was in practice considerable.