Institute for Public Affairs (IVO) released the assessment of development of the quality of democracy in Slovakia in the second quarter of 2014.
Analysts of the Institute for Public Affairs in cooperation with external experts in the framework of the project IVO Barometer evaluated the quality of democracy in Slovakia in the 2nd quarter 2014 by the average mark 3.1 – what means a slight improvement in comparison with the first quarter 2014. However, the overall average rating for the year 2014 remains still on the value 3.2 points.
An improvement of overall assessment in the second quarter of 2014 is a results of the slight improvement in one particular area – namely Democratic institutions and the rule of law. In the three remaining areas, the negative and the positive trends were mutually balanced and particular marks remains the same as in the first quarter.
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IVO Barometer 2. quarter of 2014 - Newsletter [pdf in Slovak]
Public opinion: European elections and Ukrainian crisis [pdf in Slovak]
Photo
Press conference. From the left: Oľga Gyárfášová (sociologist, IVO), Grigorij Mesežnikov (political analyst, president IVO), Miroslav Kollár (media expert, director of IVO).
IVO BAROMETER
The principal objective of the IVO Barometer, an analytical project by the Institute for Public Affairs, is to provide a foundation of basic knowledge about the actual state of affairs and development trends in the field of quality of democracy, and to put together an operative team of experts and regularly publish their assessments.
The backbone of the project is the regular evaluation of the quality of democracy in Slovakia after it became a full-fledged member of the European Union. The project’s methodology is based on systematic monitoring and analysis of the main development trends in five key areas: democratic institutions and the rule of law; legislation; projection and implementation of human and minority rights; performance of independent and public service media; and civil society.
IVO Barometer in 2013 – 2014 is elaborated within a project Opening Slovakia.
The Rating
The evolution of overall rating according to IVO Barometer
in years 2008 - 2014 (quarterly assessments)
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Articles
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IVO reports small improvement in Slovakia’s quality of democracy
http://pasos.org/12960/
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http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/54592/10
IVO: Kiska raised quality of democracy
10 Jul 2014
Quality of democracy increased by 0.1 point to 3.1 second quarter of 2014 while in scale 1-5 the one means optimal quality of democracy. It is a result of first actions of new elected President Andrej Kiska.
“As it was expected, first steps of new President decreased concentration of power in hands of one political party and boosted mechanisms of power distribution, brakes and counter balance,” said statement of Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), a think tank.
Grigorij Mesežnikov of IVO positively evaluates Kiska’s activity in the judiciary including his decision that only Jana Baricová of six candidates for Constitutional Court judges approved by parliament was appointed by him. Mesežnikov appreciated that Kiska recalled on June 18 three members of the Judicial Council nominated by his predecessor Ivan Gašparovič, replacing the trio in the 18-member top judicial body overseeing the courts with his own nominees.
On the other hand, IVO criticised the some legislation changes especially the lack of public debate in case of Constitution amendment which, in addition to reforming the judiciary, defined marriage as a unique bond between a man and a woman.
“Speaking about Constitution amendment we would like to say that such legislative initiatives should be approached in different way than Smer and KDH did,” the IVO said.
(Compiled by Spectator staff from press reports)
