Second parliamentary chambers as safeguards against democratic backsliding? Case study of Czech and Polish senates

The Czech Republic and Poland represent countries with bicameral parliaments, where the existence of second chambers has often been questioned because both countries represent unitary political systems. While the demand for territorial representation is often quoted as the key reason for establishing second chambers, there are other principles of second chamber representation and / or roles they are playing. One of them is the expansion of the checks-and-balances system beyond the traditional executive – legislative – judicial triangle. The existence of two chambers also brings the check-and-balance principle inside the legislative branch itself. Second chambers are thus understood as certain guarantors of constitutionality and democracy. The article focuses on the role the second chambers in the Czech Republic and Poland have played in the process of preventing democratic backsliding, a recent phenomenon visible in CEE. The problem will be analyzed in the context of the compositional (in)congruence, the constitutional position and powers of both second chambers. It will also analyze whether the current Czech and Polish institutional frameworks allow for second chambers to act as guarantors of constitutionality and democracy.