The Hidden Charm of Semi-presidentialism in Slovakia: Dominance of Informal Rules Over Limited Formal Powers

This paper deals with Slovakia’s experience with both parliamentary and semi-presidential systems. Analysis of the presidents’ roles cannot be conducted based strictly on the constitutional and legislative frameworks. This paper examines the institutionalization of presidents as an interaction between formal and informal rules. We argue that the role of Slovakia’s president has already been institutionalized in a quite paradoxical way. A random decision taken in 1993 imposed informal rule that president would not have a party affiliation, therefore her role has been linked very much in line with political traditions of the (democratic) Czechoslovak presidency where the head of state acted more like a moral authority than an engaged political player. While no constitutional provision requires presidents to renounce their party political affiliation, doing so has become a part of Slovak political tradition. Moreover, while the direct presidential elections established by the constitutional amendment of 1999 paradoxically limited the formal powers of president, the elections of “political amateurs” such as Andrej Kiska (2014) and – to the lesser extent – Zuzana Čaputová (2019) have indicated that Slovakia’s presidents can enjoy important influence even in case they do not have backing from any political party and even they were in terms of value often in opposition to both the government and the public. This influence has been linked with the informal role of moral authority and the guardian of “decency” and solidarity. Even if these appeals are not always supported by majority of citizens, they are welcomed internationally and lead to improvement of international reputation. We focus on the role of presidential advisors in forming their political attitudes and we argue that the more presidents lack party backing the more the influence (and personal ambitions) of their advisors have been increasing. In sum, the presidential office in Slovakia has been shaped more by informal opportunities than formal constraints.