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Constitutional Act on the Czechoslovak Federation

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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
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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
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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
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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 "
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concerning government structure. The Czechoslovak state was declared to be a federation of "two equal fraternal nations," the
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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
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The promulgation of the Constitutional Law of the Federation amended fifty-eight articles of the
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Slovak National Council's Declaration of Independence of the Slovak Nation
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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:ĂšstavnĂ˝ zákon o ÄŤesko-slovenskej federácii 106:Learn how and when to remove this message 117: 136:ĂšstavnĂ­ zákon o ÄŤeskoslovenskĂ© 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: â€“  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:.

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Czech
Slovak
constitutional law
Czechoslovakia
federation
Czecho-Slovakia era
World War II
Prague
Slovakia
Prague Spring
Communist Party
Alexander Dubcek
1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia
Czech Socialist Republic
Slovak Socialist Republic
Dual citizenship
unicameral
bicameral legislature

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