Czechs say NO to referenda on foreign affairs

Our Vít Havelka explores the results of the Czech Academy of Sciences' study on Czech attitudes towards direct democracy.

• The Sociological Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences recently published a study about Czech attitudes towards direct democracy. A striking 82% majority of those surveyed think that important questions regarding foreign affairs should be decided by their elected representatives rather than in general referenda.

Czech lawmakers, however, never approved any implementing regulation based on this article, which, in turn, effectively blocked any attempts to stage referenda.

As the findings of the study have shown, the Czech public is not interested in having the right to decide about important domestic and foreign issues. On the contrary, most people expect their elected representatives to make these fundamental decisions based on their expertise.

Plebiscites about constitutional amendments or major international issues do not make any sense; Czechs simply do not want them.

You can find the whole blog on EurActiv's website.

Vít Havelka
Senior Research Fellow

Expertise: EU institutional relations with member states, europeisation, transformation role of EU