22:
119:
234:. The two bodies, given equal authority, were the Chamber of the People, which was identical to the old National Assembly, and the Chamber of the Nations, which contained an equal number of Czechs and Slovaks. Together with a provision (Article 42) that certain decisions required the majority consent of each half (Czech and Slovak) of the Chamber of the Nations and a provision (Article 41) that constitutional amendments,
247:
the administration of two economic systems, two police systems, and the like proved unworkable. As a result, July 1971 amendments to the 1968 Constitutional Law of
Federation unified the administration of these and other government functions, ended the practice of dual citizenship, and, most importantly, authorized the federal government to interfere with and invalidate measures of the national governments (similarly to
263:). Although most of the structures of the 1968 reform remained intact, observers of the Czechoslovak system of government in the 1970s agreed that federalism remained little more than a facade after the enactment of the 1971 constitutional amendments. In May 1975, the 1968 Constitutional Law of the Federation was further amended to allow
238:, the election of the president and declarations of war required a three-fifths supermajority not only in the Chamber of the People but also of each half (Czech and Slovak) of the Chamber of the Nations, this institutional reform was designed to end Slovak fear of Czech domination of the legislative branch of the government.
213:
was established (Article 5 (3): "Every
Czechoslovak citizen is at the same time a citizen of the Czech Socialist Republic or the Slovak Socialist Republic"). Many of the former functions of the central government were instead placed under the jurisdiction of the two national governments. The federal
246:
It soon became apparent, however, that many aspects of the 1968 federalization were politically and administratively impractical. Political power remained firmly centralized in the
Communist Party (proposals to federalize the party were dropped after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia), and
299:
approved in July 1992 was therefore unconstitutional – at least the planned outcomes were indisputably unconstitutional. That declaration and its conflict with the constitutional system of
Czechoslovakia persuaded most Czech and Slovak politicians that negotiations about the dissolution had become
214:
government retained exclusive jurisdiction over foreign affairs, national defense, federal reserves, and national resources. It held joint jurisdiction in several other matters, but the extent of the federalization reform was sweeping.
296:
39:
86:
194:, himself a Slovak, sought to grant more autonomy to the Slovaks. Indeed, the resulting reform was virtually the only product of the Prague Spring to survive.
58:
65:
72:
54:
291:. The Constitutional Act on the Czechoslovak Federation hadn't foreseen any dissolution and didn't discuss any rights of the nations for
325:
357:
166:
For nearly all of its existence as an independent nation, Czechoslovakia had been a unitary state, the lone exception being the "
387:
79:
201:
concerning government structure. The
Czechoslovak state was declared to be a federation of "two equal fraternal nations," the
198:
154:
adopted on 27 October 1968 and in force from 1969 to 1992. It converted the previously unitary
Czechoslovak state into a
280:
209:, each with a national administration paralleling and, at least in theory, equal in status to the federal government.
231:
187:
105:
372:
317:
377:
362:
43:
288:
167:
382:
222:
The most significant and lasting change under the 1968 constitutional law was the replacement of the
206:
284:
202:
392:
197:
The promulgation of the
Constitutional Law of the Federation amended fifty-eight articles of the
32:
367:
256:
210:
8:
248:
292:
264:
268:
191:
139:
151:
131:
351:
223:
183:
329:
227:
171:
297:
Slovak
National Council's Declaration of Independence of the Slovak Nation
287:
that came into force on
January 1, 1993, after the effectively negotiated
235:
147:
155:
318:"Constitutional Act No. 143/1968 Coll. on the Czechoslovak Federation"
260:
21:
179:
118:
175:
252:
55:"Constitutional Act on the Czechoslovak Federation"
46:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
279:The constitutional law was superseded by the new
174:. The concentration of governmental authority in
128:Constitutional Act on the Czechoslovak Federation
349:
267:to take over the presidency from the ailing
326:Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic
241:
144:Ústavný zákon o česko-slovenskej federácii
106:Learn how and when to remove this message
117:
136:Ústavnà zákon o československé federaci
350:
217:
182:throughout the 1960s. As part of the
44:adding citations to reliable sources
15:
285:Constitution of the Slovak Republic
199:1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia
122:Federal republics in Czechoslovakia
13:
281:Constitution of the Czech Republic
178:was a source of discontent within
14:
404:
328:. 27 October 1968. Archived from
274:
20:
358:Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
31:needs additional citations for
310:
1:
388:October 1968 events in Europe
303:
289:dissolution of Czechoslovakia
161:
7:
10:
409:
226:National Assembly with a
207:Slovak Socialist Republic
203:Czech Socialist Republic
242:Subsequent developments
373:1968 in Czechoslovakia
143:
135:
123:
378:Federalism by country
363:Law of Czechoslovakia
228:bicameral legislature
170:" immediately before
121:
257:federal intervention
40:improve this article
218:Federal legislature
168:Czecho-Slovakia era
293:self-determination
148:constitutional law
124:
116:
115:
108:
90:
400:
383:1968 in politics
342:
341:
339:
337:
314:
249:president's rule
232:Federal Assembly
211:Dual citizenship
192:Alexander Dubcek
111:
104:
100:
97:
91:
89:
48:
24:
16:
408:
407:
403:
402:
401:
399:
398:
397:
348:
347:
346:
345:
335:
333:
332:on 30 June 2013
316:
315:
311:
306:
277:
244:
220:
188:Communist Party
164:
112:
101:
95:
92:
49:
47:
37:
25:
12:
11:
5:
406:
396:
395:
393:1968 documents
390:
385:
380:
375:
370:
365:
360:
344:
343:
308:
307:
305:
302:
276:
275:Velvet divorce
273:
269:LudvĂk Svoboda
243:
240:
219:
216:
163:
160:
152:Czechoslovakia
114:
113:
28:
26:
19:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
405:
394:
391:
389:
386:
384:
381:
379:
376:
374:
371:
369:
366:
364:
361:
359:
356:
355:
353:
331:
327:
323:
319:
313:
309:
301:
300:unavoidable.
298:
294:
290:
286:
282:
272:
270:
266:
262:
258:
254:
250:
239:
237:
233:
230:known as the
229:
225:
215:
212:
208:
204:
200:
195:
193:
189:
185:
184:Prague Spring
181:
177:
173:
169:
159:
157:
153:
149:
145:
141:
137:
133:
129:
120:
110:
107:
99:
88:
85:
81:
78:
74:
71:
67:
64:
60:
57: –
56:
52:
51:Find sources:
45:
41:
35:
34:
29:This article
27:
23:
18:
17:
334:. Retrieved
330:the original
322:www.usoud.cz
321:
312:
278:
265:Gustáv Husák
245:
236:organic laws
221:
196:
172:World War II
165:
127:
125:
102:
93:
83:
76:
69:
62:
50:
38:Please help
33:verification
30:
368:1968 in law
352:Categories
304:References
224:unicameral
162:Federation
156:federation
66:newspapers
261:Argentina
186:reforms,
96:June 2008
336:20 April
283:and the
205:and the
180:Slovakia
146:) was a
190:leader
80:scholar
295:. The
176:Prague
140:Slovak
82:
75:
68:
61:
53:
253:India
132:Czech
87:JSTOR
73:books
338:2013
255:and
126:The
59:news
259:in
251:in
150:in
42:by
354::
324:.
320:.
271:.
158:.
142::
138:,
134::
340:.
130:(
109:)
103:(
98:)
94:(
84:·
77:·
70:·
63:·
36:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.