Time for Regional Parties to Shine or for National Parties to Lock Horns Again? The True Nature of Czech Regional Elections

Abstract

Establishing representative bodies for the regions was an opportunity for politics to be decentralised. Using a three-dimensional index of congruence of the vote, this text explores the extent to which this opportunity has been taken up in Czech regional elections. Analysing all such ballots since 2000, it compares electoral competition at the national and regional levels; the success of regional parties is also analysed. The results show that Czech regional polls are strongly national in flavour, and their results are similar to those of national elections (only the second-order-election effect is visible); the success of regional parties is very limited, while national parties clearly dominate.