Suchergebnisse

Several years ago, Slovakia created a furor with its radical economic reforms. Although the Slovak economy has grown with great speed since then, the reformers were unseated in June 2006. The new government promised a reform of the reforms: The unified tax rates were to be repealed & the labor market more strongly regulated. Social policy was to deserve the name again. A year after the parliamentary election, it is clear that the Fico government -- berated abroad, but beloved in Slovakia -- has at least not yet introduced a radical turnaround in economic policy. Tables, Figures. Adapted from the source document.

In Slovakia, we are witnessing something truly extraordinary. Within the first hundred days of the new administration, Slovakia has experienced a paradigmatic change in the penal codes, an attack on civil society organizations, an abolishment of the Special Prosecutor's Office, a bill for a limitation of the whistleblower protection, and politicization of independent institutions. Accordingly, I argue that Slovakia faces a much faster democratic backsliding than what was happening in Hungary and Poland. Based on the pace of the initial steps, we can expect a radical shift in Slovakia's democratic character and its position in international relations.

The recent assassination attempt of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico represents the nadir of a long-developing crisis of societal polarization in the small, Central European nation. As the first European Union (EU) president or prime minister seriously wounded in an...

Imprint varies. ; "(3a Divisio n del Estado mayor del Eje rcito)" ; Mode of access: Internet.

The February 2020 parliamentary election marked a significant moment for Slovakia after years of public dissatisfaction with endemic corruption, political mismanagement, and unaccountable leadership associated with the political hegemony of Smer-SD and its leader Robert Fico. The resounding victory of the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities Party offers the country an opportunity to not only address the problems with Slovakia's political culture of corruption and oligarchism, but also to strengthen democracy, the rule of law, and good governance. However, contrary to international expectations, the electoral demographic that chose Zuzana Čaputová as Slovakia's new president in 2019 failed to secure enough votes to place any liberal democratic party in parliament, leaving the current legislature dominated by a collection of conservative, populist, and Eurosceptic parties. While seen by some analysts as a setback, the prognosis for Slovakian politics appears rather optimistic. This article assesses the outcomes of the February election and notes a continued pattern of political entrepreneurialism where the most successful parties tend to be those that promote broad-based issues of policy instead of any particular ideology, conservative or liberal. Slovakian politics might have been significantly influenced by a number of nationalist and conservative parties over the past three decades, but actual policy has been directed by opportunists instead of ideologues. This has enabled these larger entrepreneurial parties to adopt conservative elements into their programmes for electoral advantage instead of from actual conviction. This leaves open the possibility that entrepreneurial parties might gravitate towards more liberal democratic and even progressive policies should advantageous opportunities arise in the future. Given the current efforts by Slovakian political actors to break with past patterns of oligarchism, coupled with the discrediting of entrenched political elitism and the visible-yet-manageable threats from Slovakia's far right, such outcomes are increasingly likely.