Czechia
Czechia, also known as the Czech Republic, exhibits high-range performance in Representation, Rights and the Rule of Law categories of the Global State of Democracy Framework, but performs in the mid-range in Participation. It is amongst the world’s top 25 per cent of countries in all factors excluding Electoral Participation and Civic Engagement. Czechia has experienced significant advances over the past five years—particularly rebounding in the Rule of Law, as well as in Credible Elections, Effective Parliament, and the Freedom of the Press sub-factor. The Czech economy is high-income and predominantly service-based, although manufacturing—especially the automotive and engineering sectors—remains strong. Despite recent fluctuations and emerging grievances over rising energy prices and housing costs, Czechia maintains one of the region’s highest scores in Economic Equality.
Today’s Czechia, comprising three historic regions—Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia—is the result of a peaceful separation of the state of Czechoslovakia in the Velvet Divorce of 1992. Founded in 1918, the Czechoslovak Republic arose from national aspirations under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Experiencing a period of Nazi German occupation, and then falling under the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence between 1948 and 1989, Czechoslovakia divided shortly after its transition from communism, due to growing elite-driven demands for decentralization and discrepancies in economic development.
Czech political competition has undergone significant realignment from its post-communist structuring along the left-right divide. Populist and anti-establishment parties continue to gain ground, initially appealing through anti-corruption messages and now combining center-left economic policy with nativist or illiberal social stances. Their support, driven partly from older voters and those without higher education attainment, is fueled by low degrees of trust in government, exploitation of fatigue over Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, and anti-immigrant discourse. Disparities between prosperous and relinquished regions (regional peripheralization) are also considered a source of populist attitudes. Migration reflects how Czechia stands out from its Central European counterparts, with positive net migration and a foreign-born population now making up nearly 10 per cent of its total. Whilst ethnicity-based census data is voluntary, Czechia is home to minority groups that include Moravians, Silesians, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Vietnamese and Roma. Czechia is also regionally notable for its secularization; with over two-thirds of respondents declaring ‘no religious belief’ in the latest census.
Despite high performance in Gender Equality and constitutional protections, Czechia is challenged by gender-based violence—including a failure to ratify the Istanbul Convention—the gender pay gap, low women’s political representation, and societal tensions over abortion rights. Growing acceptance of LGBTQIA+ rights has not resulted in the legalization of same-sex marriage, but the extension of rights to same-sex partnerships instead. As a positive development, the legal requirement to transition gender has also been eased owing to judicial intervention.
Whether Czechia can sustain its five-year advances in various aspects of democratic performance, notably Effective Parliament, will be the main area to watch in the future. The Rule of Law—particularly Absence of Corruption—also merits special attention, as issues in public procurement persist and key anti-corruption legislation has been delayed. In light of consequential legislative elections, expected to influence the above and potentially antagonize Czechia’s currently steady performance in Rights, tertiary effects on the currently mid-performing factors of Electoral Participation and Civic Engagement ought to be watched.
Last updated: June 2025
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
October 2025
Opposition ANO receives most votes in parliamentary elections
On 3 and 4 October, Czechia held parliamentary elections for the 200 seats of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the country’s bicameral Parliament. The ANO (Yes) party led by Andrej Babiš received the highest vote share with 34.5 per cent of the vote, securing 80 seats, an increase of 8 compared to the 2021 elections. The incumbent SPOLU coalition, composed of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People’s Party (KDU-ČSL), and TOP 09, came second with a combined 23.4 per cent and a total of 52 seats, a decline from the 71 seats it held before the election. Motorists for Themselves, a newly established party, entered Parliament for the first time with 6.8 per cent (13 seats). The proportion of women in Parliament will rise to 33.5 per cent, up from 25.0 per cent in 2021—marking a record level of representation for both women and young people (12 MPs under 29). This parliamentary election saw a voter turnout of 68.9 per cent, up from 65.4 per cent in 2021.
Sources: IPU Parline, Czech Statistical Office (1), Czech Statistical Office (2), Radio Prague International, International IDEA (1), International IDEA (2), Expats CZ
Record share of women elected in parliamentary elections
The October parliamentary elections resulted in women receiving 33.5 per cent of parliamentary seats, up from 25.5 per cent in 2021, setting a new record for women's and youth representation (12 MPs under 29). For the first time, the share of women elected exceeded the proportion of women on candidate lists. According to civil society organizations, this milestone was primarily driven by preferential votes, which mainly benefited women and younger candidates. In total, 23 of the 67 elected women gained their seats in the 200-seat parliament through preferential voting.
Sources: International IDEA, Radio Prague International, Expats CZ, IPU Parline
June 2025
ECHR rules against sterilisation; gender change requirement drops from July
On 12 June 2025, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in T.H. v. Czech Republic that requiring individuals seeking a legal gender change to first undergo irreversible sterilisation surgery violates the right to private life (Article 9) and urged ‘quick, transparent, accessible procedures for changing the registered sex/gender marker of transgender people.’ This reinforced a parallel ruling, in which the Czech Constitutional Court had already annulled the sterilization precondition in 2024, giving Parliament until 1 July 2025 to pass a new law, but no law was passed. As a result of this, from 1 July sterilisation is no longer required, but the situation remains provisional and uncertain until legislation is passed. In the meantime, Health Ministry guidelines issued on 26 June confirm that surgery or hormone treatment is not required—only a diagnosis of transsexualism by a certified sexologist and informed consent.
Sources: European Court of Human Rights, ILGA-Europe, Jurist, Prague morning, Expats CZ
May 2024
Constitutional Court rules against surgery requirement for gender transition
On 7 May, the Czech Constitutional Court struck down a law that had required sterilization or a sex reassignment surgery for legal gender transitions. It is now possible to legally change one's gender without undergoing a medical procedure. The Court ruled that these requirements violated fundamental rights, including bodily integrity, personal autonomy, human dignity, and transgender individuals' rights to self-determination, contravening the European Convention on Human Rights. The case was brought before the Court by a transgender person affected by the law. The court annulled several provisions of the Civil Code but delayed the ruling's enforceability, giving Parliament until mid-2025 to enact appropriate legislative changes. Parliament may set other requirements, such as obtaining expert opinions and allowing a certain period of time before officially recognizing gender transition.
Sources: Constitutional Court of Czech Republic, Aktuálně, Jurist, Reuters
April 2024
Senate approves law granting improved rights to same-sex couples
The Senate (upper house of parliament) approved an amendment to the Civil Code to extend rights similar to those of marriage to same-sex partnerships, effective 1 January 2025. When it considered the bill in February, the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) decided not to approve same-sex marriage, but agreed only to recognize same-sex 'partnerships' with extended rights, including inheritance rights, widows' and widowers' pensions, joint property and tenancy, and child adoptions in cases where one partner is a biological parent. President Petr Pavel signed the law on 29 April.
Sources: Parliamentary Press 241 (psp.cz), bne Intellinews, Balkan Insight, Euractiv
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