multiple mandates opportunity or threat for modern ...paperroom.ipsa.org/papers/paper_58662.pdf ·...

Multiple Mandates – Opportunity or Threat for Modern Democracy?

Michal Pink ([email protected]]

Abstract: With the establishment and growing importance of multi-level governance in democratic

countries comes the opportunity for politicians to gain and hold mandates on various levels at the

same time. Mandates are accumulated at local, regional and in some cases national level as well, and

a member of national parliament can at the same time hold legislative and executive positions at the

local and regional level. This paper analyses the increasing occurrence of multiple mandates in the

Czech Republic. It compares and evaluates the phenomenon in different parties in time. Apart from

analysing the issue in general, the paper also includes a detailed analysis of the phenomenon among

the members of the latest Chamber of Deputies, the lower chamber of the national parliament. A

statistical model will be used to show how accumulation of mandates influences the work of the

deputy, his chances for re-election, as well as how the deputies react to gaining another mandate at

higher (lower) level of the political system.

Keywords: Election, Multiple Mandates, Chamber of Deputies, Senate,

This paper is a work in progress.

1. Introduction

The evolution of multi-level systems and increasing division of competences between the local,

regional, national and European level mean that it is increasingly common to find politicians who

successfully stand as candidates while already holding another elective office at a different level of

the political system. This practice does not necessarily end in the so-called accumulation of mandates

(cumul de mandats, dual or multiple mandates), since in some cases the successful candidate vacates

the office they have previously held. It is, however, more and more common in the Czech Republic for

a politician to hold a mandate at two or more levels. Sometimes, it is even seen as a problem by

political parties themselves and there have been attempts from political parties to prevent their

members from holding multiple mandates by establishing internal rules prohibiting this practice.

I want to contribute to the debate on this phenomenon, which results in one person holding several

mandates at once, having used their elective position as a springboard in a different type of elections

and deciding to keep both (or all) mandates. This phenomenon has not yet been a centre of academic

attention in the Czech environment. Up till now, there is no systematic analysis of accumulation of

mandates in the Czech Republic. The issue has appeared in the media (idnes.cz, Česká televize etc.),

was dealt with by some citizen initiatives (e.g. kohovolit.eu) and a master’s degree thesis (Hájek 2005,

dealing with MPs in the period 2010 – 2013).

Early after the parliamentary elections in 2014, proposals appeared to establish the so-called sliding

mandate which would force members of the government to give up their parliamentary mandates

during their term in the government and regain it only when they are no longer ministers (IDNES.cz,

4.6.2015]. Among the political parties, the social democracy has been the only party attempting to

regulate or prohibit multiple mandates. CSSD in 2014 organized and inter-party referendum in which

a decisive majority of party members (92%) voted in favour of internal rules limiting multiple

mandates. However, there has been no action taken after the results of the referendum were made

public. The phenomenon is, therefore, regulated only by the Constitution, Rules of Procedure of the

Chamber of Deputies, and several laws (on municipalities, civil service and conflict of interest).

It is necessary to clarify what the term “multiple mandates” actually means. At the national level in

the Czech Republic, it is common for a minister to keep his or her parliamentary mandate. Prominent

politicians also often hold positions in statutory bodies of municipal or state enterprises. Neither of

these situations is considered as “multiple mandates” in this paper because ministers and members

of statutory bodies are not directly elected in general elections at communal, regional or national

level. “Multiple mandates” or “accumulation of mandates” in this paper therefore refers solely to the

situation when one person holds two or more directly elected positions. A good example would be

two (or more) mandates on different levels of the political system. It is also possible to gain two

elected mandates at the local level, in the citywide (municipal) council and the municipal district

council. Theoretically, a politician in the Czech Republic can, therefore, hold an elected position on

four levels of the political system: municipal district, municipality, region (with the number of elected

representatives differing region from region) and national level (200 MPs1 and 81 senators).

My analyses is based on lists of elected politicians, MPs and senators (members of the Parliament of

the Czech Republic) since 1996. This was the year of the first elections since the dissolution of

Czechoslovakia and both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate were filled with new members.

While the elections to the Chamber of Deputies are based on a party-list proportional representation

system, the senators are elected through a two round majority system. According to the Constitution,

members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected for four years and senators for six years, which is

the longest elected mandate in the Czech Republic. Unlike the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate

cannot be dissolved and the senators are not elected all at once: one third of them is up for re-election

every two years.

2. Multiple Mandates in the Czech Republic

In the long term, the most important elections in the Czech Republic are the elections to the Chamber

of Deputies, the lower chamber of the Parliament. While there are 200 mandates divided in these

elections, more than 200 persons become members of the Chamber in each electoral term due to

resignation2, death, etc. Table 1 shows that the actual number of persons entering the Chamber varies

term to term. The highest number could be found in the period of 2002 – 2006, with 37 people

becoming members of the Chamber additionally as substitute members. Similar situation happened

in the next term with 224 people serving in the Chamber over all. On the other hand, between the

years 1998 and 2002 only seven candidates became members additionally and 193 elected candidates

retained their mandates during the whole term.

Table 1 also shows how many MPs already held (and kept) another elected mandate while entering

the Chamber of Deputies. These numbers are quite high, with the highest number (exactly 50%) in

2010-2013 and the lowest (38%) in 1998-2002, which is also the term during which the first regional

elections were held in the Czech Republic. Overall, we can say that almost half of the members of the

Chamber also hold another elected position.

1 For practical reasons, I am using the accronym “MP“ for members of the Chamber of Deputies, not for all members of the Parliament (which include senators as well). 2 E.g. when a member of the Chamber of Deputies is elected to the Senate or the European Parliament, since both these mandates are incompatible with a mandate in the national lower chamber. The same goes for the office of the President or judges. A member of the Parliament also cannot enter civil service, become a policeman or join the armed forces.

Table 1. Number of persons elected to the Chamber of Deputies and number of MPs holding another mandate (multiple mandates) when entering the Chamber

Term Overall number of MPs

MPs with another mandate

MPs with another mandate %

1996 - 1998 214 90 42%

1998 - 2002 207 78 38%

2002 - 2006 237 107 45%

2006 - 2010 224 107 48%

2010 - 2013 218 109 50%

2013 - 20163 208 95 46%

Data source: www.psp.cz

Elections to the upper chamber of the Parliament take place every two years, with the possibility of

by-elections. These are not very common, but have happened in the past. That is why the numbers of

senators analysed in this paper is a little higher than 81 in most terms. In the first elections in 1996,

all 81 seats were filled at once, but the senators were divided into three groups with different length

of mandate (two, four or six years). This first term was characterized by a rather low occurrence of

multiple mandates (38%) which subsequently dropped even lower to 33% in the next term. Since then,

however, multiple mandates become more common. As we can see in Table 2, the highest proportion

of multiple mandates (67%) so far was among senators entering the Senate during the years 2010 –

2014. Even though the relative number of senators with multiple mandates fell to 53% in the last term,

it is still noticeably higher than in the Chamber of Deputies. It is also noteworthy that multiple

mandates are on the rise from the year 2000 when the first regional elections were held.

Table 2. Number of persons entering the Senate and number of senators holding another mandate (multiple mandates) when entering the Senate

Term Overall number of senators Senators with another mandate Senators with another mandate %

1996 - 1998 81 30 38

1998 - 2000 82 27 33

2000 - 2002 81 35 44

2002 - 2004 83 42 51

2004 - 2006 83 49 59

2006 - 2008 83 47 57

2008 - 2010 81 50 63

2010 - 2012 82 56 67

2012 - 2014 83 56 67

2014 - 2016 81 41 53

Data source: www.psp.cz The next section of the paper will focus on individual political parties in the Czech Republic, to provide

better insight into this phenomenon. The presented data relate to successful candidates entering the

Parliament while already holding another mandate (or mandates) at a lower level and keeping both

(or all) mandated. The next section does not reflect situations when an MP or a senator gains another

mandate during their parliamentary term.

2.1. The Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD)

3The data for all tables (unless stated differently) was last updated on June 1st 2016.

http://www.psp.cz/

http://www.psp.cz/

The group of social democratic members of the Chamber of Deputies analysed in this paper is quite

diverse when it comes to holding multiple mandates. However, in no term has there been more than

50% of them holding another mandate when entering the Chamber. This maximum was reached

during the years 2006 – 2010, which the party spent mostly in opposition despite the relative success

in the elections, when the party very nearly missed the chance to create a majority. In the end of the

term, 2009, social democrats supported the so-called non-political government of “experts”. Out of

88 social democratic MPs entering the Chamber in this term, 44 held another mandate at a lower

level. Generally, the ČSSD had highest proportion of MPs with multiple mandates after successful

elections, especially in those terms when it was the strongest party in the Chamber of Deputies.

Table 3. Numbers and proportions of MPs with multiple mandates - ČSSD

Term Overall number of MPs MPs with another mandate

MPs with another mandate %

1996 – 1998 61 30 49%

1998 – 2002 74 25 34%

2002 – 2006 89 40 45%

2006 – 2010 88 44 50%

2010 – 2013 65 31 48%

2013 - 2016 53 22 42%


While the proportion of social democratic members with multiple mandates remains rather stable

throughout the time in the Chamber of Deputies, there is a clear upward trend in the Senate, as can

be seen in Table 4. It the first four terms, only 20% or less senators held another elected position when

entering the Senate. Since 2006, however, more than half of senators from the ČSSD has held multiple

mandates, the number reaching as high as 87% in the 2010-2012 term.

Table 4. Numbers and proportions of Senators with multiple mandates - ČSSD

Term Overall number of senators Senators with another mandate

Senators with another mandate %

1996 - 1998 24 4 17

1998 - 2000 22 4 18

2000 - 2002 15 3 20

2002 - 2004 10 2 20

2004 - 2006 5 2 40

2006 - 2008 9 5 56

2008 - 2010 22 16 71

2010 - 2012 31 27 87

2012 - 2014 37 31 84

2014 - 2016 30 18 60

Data source: www.senat.cz

2.2. The Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-ČSL)

Even if the KDU-ČSL is a rather stable element of the Czech party system, it did not manage to reach

the 5% administrative threshold in the 2010 elections and was not represented in the Chamber of

Deputies in the subsequent term. Compared to the ČSSD, the numbers of their MPs are much lower.

While there is no clear trend in the evolution of the proportion of social democratic MPs holding

another mandate when entering the Chamber, Table 5 clearly shows that the proportion of Christian

http://www.psp.cz/

http://www.senat.cz/

Democrats with multiple mandates is growing. Before 2006, less than half of the members held

another mandate when entering the Chamber. In the 2010-2013 term, exactly a half and after 2013

almost three quarters of their representatives do.

Table 5: Numbers and proportions of MPs with multiple mandates – KDU-ČSL

Term Overall number of MPs MPs with another

mandate

MPs with another

mandate %

1996 - 1998 20 9 45%

1998 - 2002 22 7 32%

2002 - 2006 22 8 36%

2006 - 2010 16 8 50%

2013 -2016 15 11 73%


The relative numbers of Christian democratic senators holding multiple mandates are similar to those

in the Chamber of Deputies (see Table 6). There was, however, an interesting development after 2000,

when the number of senators for the KDU-ČSL reached its maximum so far. Out of the 17 members,

only four held another elected mandate. Clearly, success in the 2000 elections to the Senate was not

based on the public visibility provided by another elected position. On the other hand, in 2010, the

number of senators for the party fell to four, three of whom held another mandate4.

Table 6. Numbers and proportions of Senators with multiple mandates - KDU-ČSL



1996 – 1998 11 6 55

1998 – 2000 13 3 23

2000 – 2002 17 4 24

2002 – 2004 14 5 36

2004 – 2006 11 6 55

2006 - 2008 6 3 50

2008 – 2010 3 1 33

2010 – 2012 4 3 75

2012 – 2014 3 2 67

2014 – 2016 8 6 75


2.3. The Civic Democratic Party (ODS)

The Civic Democratic Party is a party with a long history of being both a governmental party and a

member of the opposition. Together with the social democracy, it is historically the party with highest

representation in the Chamber of Deputies. The proportion of MPs holding another mandate when

entering the Chamber has not yet reached 50%. It was the lowest during the 1996 – 1998 term with a

little over 30% of the ODS’ MPs holding another mandate when entering the Chamber. In the other

terms, the numbers fluctuate between 40% and 50% (see Table 7).

4 An interesting example has been senator Stanislav Juránek who has held two other elected mandates at the local level in Brno (as a representative both for the municipality and the municipal district) and an executive office at regional level (as regional vice-president).

http://www.psp.cz/


Table 7. Numbers and proportions of MPs with multiple mandates – ODS


mandate

MPs with another

mandate %

1996 – 1998 77 25 32%

1998 – 2002 67 32 48%

2002 – 2006 67 28 42%

2006 – 2010 86 40 47%

2010 – 2013 59 27 46%

2013 – 2016 17 8 47%


Unlike in the Chamber of Deputies, the incidence of multiple mandates among the ODS’ senators has

been slowly rising since the first elections to 1996 when it started at 46%, which is approximately the

same number as the highest proportion of multiple mandates in the Chamber of Deputies. Holding

another mandate when entering the Senate seems to be a common and probably quite important

part of being a successful senator for the ODS.

Table 8. Numbers and proportions of senators with multiple mandates - ODS



1996 - 1998 35 16 46

1998 - 2000 29 12 41

2000 - 2002 24 12 50

2002 - 2004 28 13 46

2004 - 2006 35 23 65

2006 - 2008 38 24 63

2008 - 2010 32 19 59

2010 - 2012 21 14 67

2012 - 2014 13 8 62

2014 - 2016 14 10 71


2.4. The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM)

The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia is the only long-term member of the Chamber of

Deputies without governmental experience at national level in the Czech Republic. It is also a party

with a little higher than average portion of members with multiple mandates, as we can see in Table

9. Most of their MPs hold another elected position at a lower level of the political system when

entering the Chamber. This was most significant in the years 2002 – 2006 when the party also had the

highest number of MPs in the Chamber so far. In other years, the proportion of MPs with multiple

mandate reaches a little over 50%.

Table 9: Numbers and proportions of MPs with multiple mandates – KSČM


mandate

MPs with another

mandate %

1996 – 1998 21 12 57%

1998 – 2002 24 13 54%

2002 – 2006 46 28 61%

http://www.psp.cz/


2006 – 2010 27 14 52%

2010 – 2013 26 14 54%

2013 – 2016 33 17 52 %


The last table in this section is dedicated to senators for the KSČM. However, the communists tend

not to succeed in the two round majority system used for the elections to the Senate and there have

not yet been more than three senators for the party at the same time. The party is unacceptable for

most voters and is isolated in the party system. Its candidates are rarely able to obtain a mandate even

if they proceed from the first to the second round. It is also not uncommon for popular communist

politicians to defect from the party to smaller regional parties5. As we can see in Table 10, at least one

and often all of the communist senators held or hold multiple mandates.

Table 10. Numbers and proportions of senators with multiple mandates - KSČM



1996 - 1998 35 16 46

1998 - 2000 29 12 41

2000 - 2002 24 12 50

2002 - 2004 28 13 46

2004 - 2006 35 23 65

2006 - 2008 38 24 63

2008 - 2010 32 19 59

2010 - 2012 21 14 67

2012 - 2014 13 8 62

2014 - 2016 14 10 71


2.5. Representatives from Smaller or New Political Parties and Independent Candidates

Another group of MPs and senators explored in this paper comes from smaller or newer political

parties which gained representation in the Chamber of Deputies on only once or twice since 1996.

Most of these are liberal parties which became part of the governmental coalition after entering the

Parliament (The Civic Democratic Alliance - ODA, The Freedom Union–Democratic Union - US-DEU,

The Green party SZ, The TOP 09, and The Mayors and Independents - STAN). There is also a slightly

smaller group of protest parties that base their existence on critique of the existing elites and populist

appeal. Some of them remained in the opposition (The Coalition for Republic – Republican Party of

Czechoslovakia - SPR-RSČ, The Dawn of Direct Democracy - Úsvit), while other became part of the

governmental coalition (The Public Affairs - VV, ANO 2011).

Table 11 clearly shows a sharp increase of multiple mandates among small and/or new liberal parties

after 2010, with the rise of TOP09 and STAN. This is rather logical given the name and character of the

latter formation: STAN stands for “starostové” (mayors) and unites mayors and other local politicians.

Its main goal is to reform budgetary allocation of tax revenues and higher budgets for local

administrations.

5 E.g. the senator Jaroslav Doubrava who started out as a member and candidate for the KSČM, but since 2010 has been on candidate lists for the regional party Severočeši.cz.

http://www.psp.cz/


Table 11. Numbers and proportions of MPs with multiple mandates – small and/or new liberal

parties


mandate

MPs with another

mandate %

1996 - 1998 17 (ODA) 0 0

1998 - 2002 20 (US) 1 5

2002 - 2006 13 (US-DEU) 3 23

2006 - 2010 6 (SZ) 1 17

2010 - 2013 42 (TOP09 + STAN) 27 64

2013 - 27 (TOP09 + STAN) 14 52


In the smaller group of protest and populist parties, shown in Table 12, holding multiple mandates is

again not uncommon. However, especially after 2010, the relative number of MPs holding multiple

mandates is not as high as in many other parties discussed above. While these parties based their

electoral strategies on recruitment of well-known personalities, it is clear that they preferred other

types of public figures than local and regional politicians. Multiple mandates were actually more

common in the far-right SPR-RSČ than in the recent populist parties.

Table 12. Numbers and proportions of MPs with multiple mandates – protest and populist parties


mandate

MPs with another

mandate %

1996 - 1998 18 (SPR - RSČ) 10 56

2010 - 2013 25 (VV) 9 36

2013 - 63 (ANO, Úsvit) 23 37


Table 13 includes information for both small and/or new liberal parties and independent candidates.

The relative number of senators with multiple mandate varies term to term in this group. The most

common combination is with the local level, either as a representative or a mayor (who has to be a

representative as well) followed by regional level. Unlike in the other cases discussed above, there has

been a downward trend for this group of politicians since 2004. Currently only 7 out of 25 senators in

this group (28%) hold multiple mandates, the lowest number ever.

Table 13. Numbers and proportions of senators with multiple mandates – small and/or new liberal

parties and independent candidates



1996 - 1998 8 3 38

1998 - 2000 13 5 38

2000 - 2002 22 13 59

2002 - 2004 29 19 66

2004 - 2006 28 16 57

2006 - 2008 24 12 50

2008 - 2010 19 12 63

http://www.psp.cz/

http://www.psp.cz/

2010 - 2012 22 10 45

2012 - 2014 25 11 44

2014 - 2016 25 7 28


At last, Table 14 is dedicated to protest and populist parties in the Senate, which in this case is only

ANO. Neither SPR-RSČ nor VV or Úsvit ever succeeded in Senate elections6. ANO was able to gain four

seats in the Senate in 2014 and in one case the candidate was a mayor of a middle-sized municipality

and kept this position after entering the Chamber of Deputies.

Table 14. Numbers and proportions of senators with multiple mandates – protest and populist parties



2014 - 2016 4 (ANO) 1 25


3. Chamber of Deputies during the 2010 – 2013 Term

This section deals in more detail with the most recent finished term in the Chamber of Deputies, since

it is the more important chamber in the Parliament. The analysis is based on data collected by Lukáš

Hájek (Hájek 2015) for his master’s degree dissertation. This data makes it possible to include cases

where an already elected MP or senator gains a mandate on lower level of the political system during

their parliamentary term.

This section shows the differences between regions, the effect multiple mandates have on re-election

and the combinations we can find, especially when it comes to executive functions at the lower levels

of the political system7. Most importantly, Table 15 shows the difference between this data set and

the one described above, which dealt only with the cases where the politician already holds a mandate

on a lower level of the political system and decides to keep it after being elected to the Parliament.

This part of the paper covers the whole term and includes situation, where an elected mandate from

a lower level of the political system is added to a parliamentary mandate. This seems to be an

important distinction because while in 2010, less than half of all MPs held another mandate, the

number rose in later years. In the end, 142 MPs held another mandate during their term in the

Chamber of Deputies. It is clear that holding a seat in the Chamber of Deputies does not prevent MPs

from joining candidate lists on regional and communal level and voters are willing to vote for them.

Table 15. Number of persons entering the Chamber of Deputies and number of MPs holding another mandate (multiple mandates) when entering the Chamber and during their term

Term Overall number of MPs

MPs holding another mandate when entering the Chamber

MPs holding another mandate when entering the Chamber %

MPs with another mandate during their term

MPs with another mandate during their term %

2010 - 2013 218 109 50% 142 65%


6 Tomio Okamura, leader of Úsvit, was elected to the Senate before the party was formed, so he is viewed as an independent candidate and included in Table 14. 7 Persons holding executive offices at regional and municipal level have to be elected to the representative bodies of their municipality / region, therefore we are still dealing with multiple elected mandates, as stated in the introduction.



http://www.psp.cz/

3.1. Regional Differences

Table 16 includes MPs and Senators with multiple mandates in different regions. There are significant

differences between regions, since e.g. over 90% of MPs from the Plzeňský region hold multiple

mandates, whereas in Praha (Prague) only 46% do. Prague is also the only district with less than half

of members holding multiple mandates, the numbers are much higher in other regions.

Table 16. Regional distribution of multiple mandates

Region Overall number of

MPs

MPs with multiple

mandates

MPs with multiple

mandates %

Praha 26 12 46

Středočeský 27 19 70

Liberecký 8 6 75

Ústecký 15 10 66

Karlovarský 5 4 80

Plzeňský 13 12 92

Jihočeský 13 8 61

Vysočina 11 7 64

Pradubický 11 8 73

Hradecký 13 8 62

Jihomoravský 23 13 57

Olomoucký 12 8 67

Zlínský 13 9 69

Moravskoslezký 23 18 78

Data source: Hájek 2015

3.2. Re-election

The impact one mandate has on the possibility of gaining another one is unclear. In theory, it can be

both beneficial and detrimental, depending on how voters value issues such as access to information

contra time spent on working in the representative body, etc. My data here does not provide answers

to this question. A simple correlation between the number of terms an MP spends in the Chamber of

Deputies and the number mandates held at the same time can, however, provide some basic

information. In our case, the correlation coefficient is -0.149, so there is a (very) slight negative

correlation between the length of time spent in the Chamber of Deputies and the number of mandates

held by the MP. “New” MPs are, consequently, a little more likely to hold multiple mandates.

Table 17. Correlation between number of terms and multiple mandates

r

Number of terms / multiple mandates -0,149

Data source: Hájek 2015, my calculation. (N 2017)

3.4. Executive Functions at Lower Levels of the Political System

Table 18 presents numbers of MPs (of parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies during 2010-

2013) holding executive office at regional and communal level. All parties were represented by MPs

in municipal governments. KSČM had only one MP who simultaneously held an executive office at

municipal level, which is not surprising since the party is still mostly viewed as an unacceptable

coalition partner and remains mostly in opposition. VV, which briefly rose to national level from local

level (in Prague), had three MPs in municipal government. Only ODS and ČSSD had MPs in regional

governments, ODS only one, ČSSD seven, all of them regional presidents. This situation prompted the

above-mentioned intra-party debate on the desirability of multiple mandates which later forced most

of the regional presidents to give up their parliamentary mandate.

Table 14. MPs with executive office (EO) at regional and local level, by party

ČSSD KSČM ODS TOP 09 VV

Number of MPs 56 26 53 41 24

MPs with EO at local level 10 1 21 13 3

MPs with EO at regional level 7 0 1 0 0

Data source: Hájek 2015

5. Conclusion

This paper offers only preliminary results of my research and is itself a work in progress. All conclusions

are, therefore, also preliminary. It is clear that all parties have had MPs and senators with multiple

mandates. The number of MPs and senators holding multiple mandates has risen since 1996,

especially after the year 2000 with the establishment of regions and regional elections. The results

seem to indicate that success of larger parties in parliamentary elections is not based on recruitment

of successful local and regional politicians. Multiple mandates are much more common in smaller

parties with fewer MPs and senators.

In the upper chamber of the Parliament, the Senate, it is much more common for elected members

to already hold (and retain) another elected mandate at lower levels of the political system. The

analysis of the most recent complete electoral term also indicates that protest and populist parties do

not rely on recruitment of successful local and regional politicians. This is probably due to the

importance of a charismatic leader for these types of parties. During the term 2010 – 2013, multiple

mandates were much less common in Prague than in other electoral districts. On the other hand, MPs

from geographically peripheral regions such as Karlovarský, Liberecký and even Moravskoslezský more

often hold multiple mandates. There is also a negative correlation between the number of terms

served in the Chamber of Deputies and the number of elected mandates held at the same time.

However, the correlation is very weak, consequently, multiple mandates do not significantly affect

chances for re-election.

Overall, multiple mandates are a rather common phenomenon in the Czech Republic. Multiple

mandates can have both positive and negative impact on the political system. On one hand, it allows

for better representation of local and regional interests in the Parliament and facilitates the vertical

flow of information in the political system. On the other hand, it is detrimental to elite recruitment,

because the more politicians hold multiple mandates, the fewer opportunities there are for new

candidates to succeed. It is also questionable whether it is possible to adequately perform more than

one such important function at once. It is possible that in the future we will see more internal party

rules prohibiting accumulation of mandates or perhaps even legislative regulation. Since voters do not

seem to mind voting for candidates already holding another mandate, formal regulation seems to be

the only way to limit multiple mandates.

Sources

Act No. 90/1995 Coll., the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies.

Act No.128/2000 Coll., on Municipalities.

Act No. 234/2014 Coll., on Civil Service.

The Chamber of Deputies - Parliament of The Czech Republic; http://www.psp.cz.

Constitutional Act No. 1/1993 Coll., Constitution of the Czech Republic.

Hájek, Lukáš. 2015. Dataset of Parliamentary Activity of Deputies in IV. Legislative Period of Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Masaryk University, FSS Dept. Of Political Sciences, Brno. IDNES.cz, 4.6.2015. Vláda navrhla omezit Zemanovy pravomoci. Přibalila i klouzavý mandát; http://zpravy.idnes.cz/vlada-k-omezenim-prezidenta-zemana-pribalila-i-klouzavy-mandat-pv0-/domaci.aspx?c=A150603_061850_domaci_kop. The Senate - Parliament of Czech Republic; http://www.senat.cz.

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