WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY

The Czech Government and Strategic Case Studies

7. 9. 2010 / Jan Čulík

Unlike in Western democracies, the Czech government is not able to make strategic case studies. If the British government decided to come up with something like the 30 Czk fee for health assistance, as was introduced by the center right government of Mirek Topolánek a couple of years ago, that would never be done without a previous and thorough research from experts, who would come up with a computer calculation model that could show how many poorer or senior citizens would then no longer be able to afford visiting a doctor and how many of them could, as a consequence, die from not receiving health care. Only after such serious study, and based on it, the British government would make a decision.

A Czech version of this article is in CLICK HERE

The Czech government, though -- just as in communist days -- makes ideological decisions. Our governments make decisions based on their own will, without research. They simply "know" already what we all need.

So we will never know, how many senior citizens have died since the introduction of the doctor visit's fee. An evident significative amount of elderly people have stopped visiting the doctor since then. Has anyone tried to find out what was the impact of the mandatory fee on the population, at least after its introduction? Why, will ask many "know-all" doctors, glad that those "hypocondriacs are gone, leaving more space free in the waiting halls of their clinics or hospitals.

The same lack of research happens in other areas of our state administration. They simply don't make decisions using experts or model analyses, as is done in the West. Nothing like that exists in the Czech Republic. The government ministries don't have any specialists who could do that job. They only have state officials and civil servants. No expert analytical teams to prepare specific case studies for each ministry. So the ministers make political decisions, based on lobby groups` pressures.

We don't even have serious analyses of how the government decisions influence the economy or the social situation of the population. Besides, those who work for the government won't risk their jobs by offering serious studies that go against the ideology of the moment. They wouldn't want to be dismissed for not supporting the government line.

The media only solves some corruption scandals that emerge or are delivered to their hands by the opposition or people with hidden interests, but all just to sell more newspapers or be watched by more viewers. But no one is asking why our governments don't use expet analysis and research to make serious decisions.

Vytisknout

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