Spoutaný parlament

The book discusses the Czech parliament in a period of time during which it was unable to fulfill its basic mission, i.e., to be an open forum for an exchange between different interest groups and governing and opposing parties. Its “hands were tied” because of the National Front-approved list of candidates, dominated by members of the Communist Party. This is a topic that deserves more attention than it has received so far. It is evident that the parliament was unable to fulfill many of its traditional missions between 1948 and 1989. However, it did play other important roles. In many ways, it provided support to the governing dictatorship. In addition, in terms of scope, this period is a major chapter in the history of the Czech parliament, which, despite changes in regime, shows clear signs of continuity. Much as the causes of the post-World War II transformations of the parliament can be traced back to the pre-war period, our current parliament is inevitably based on how it worked before 1989. The book aims to contribute to a better understanding of this legacy.