Executive-Legislative Relations in the Budgeting Process in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The budget is the government's key policy document. Negotiations on the budget can be taken as a case study to analyse the bargaining process in legislative institutions, reflecting the various clashes between political & partial interests in parliament & in parliamentary committees. The distribution of political power in parliament is a crucial factor: if a minority cabinet is in power, coalition-building is a key issue in budget bargaining. In this context, the Act on the State Budget (which in many ways is the basic law relating to the functioning of the state & especially the state & public administration) is an example of the efforts made to achieve a broad consensus & political compromises, not only among coalition cabinet partners but also between the government coalition & the opposition.