THE CZECH PARTY SYSTEM AFTER THE 2021 ELECTION – DEVELOPMENT CONTINUITY AND THE NOVELTY OF BLOC COALITIONS

Abstract

The aim of the article is to make a typological determination of the Czech party ystem after the 2021 parliamentary elections. The change in election format, and the increase in the number of relevant actors in the previous elections in 2017 and the subsequent formation of two electoral coalitions for the 2021 elections confront analysts with the question of how to deal with these phenomena in the context of long-term trends in the Czech party system. Based on Leonardo Morlino’s typology, we conclude that the Czech party system in the reviewed period exhibits characteristics of its neo-polarized pluralism type and, according to Steven Volinetz’s typology, which works with the involvement of electoral coalitions alone, of the bipolar extended multipartism type.