Until 2012 the Czech Republic was almost unambiguously classified as a parliamentary regime. However, in 2012, the previous scholarly consensus concerning the classification of the Czech Republic dissolved, and ‘post-Duvergerian’ scholars now regard the Czech regime as semi-presidential. The article works with the original Duvergerian definition into which it introduces the new concept of semi-presidentialism, which is based on presidential powers. The article applies this new concept to the Czech regime for the period since the first directly elected president, Miloš Zeman, took office. Enjoying a legitimacy advantage, Zeman broke with the constitutional conventions that had hitherto been followed and appointed a cabinet headed by Jiří Rusnok without consulting with the parliamentary parties and in opposition to their original opinion. This attempt to change Czech parliamentary practice nevertheless failed: the Rusnok cabinet lost the vote of confidence in parliament and further attempts by Zeman to shift constitutional practice in favour of the Office of the President and to acquire greater influence over the Executive were unsuccessful. The Czech political regime should therefore still be classified as a parliamentary regime.
The article concerns a legal way of election the President in the Polish legal order between second world war. The April Constitution 1935, which made the head of state the most powerful body, tried to reflect the political orientation of its creators. The Constitution from 1935 was made personally for Józef Piłsudski. The political option, ruling Poland after 1926, had to construct the wise of president election, which would be secure for the this option.