The Relationship Between Church and State in Slovakia

During our stay here in Slovakia we have witnessed a number of public holiday celebrations, including All Saints Day (Sviatok vsetkych svatych) on November 1, and Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day (Den boja za slobodu a demokraciu) on November 17. We are now entering the Christmas season. We will soon be observing the celebration of Christmas Eve (Stedry den) on December 24, Christmas Day (Prvy sviatok vianocny) on December 25, and St. Stephen’s Day or the second day of Christmas (Druhy sviatok vianocny) on December 26. Before we leave in January we will witness the observation of the Day of the Establishment of the Slovak Republic (Den vzniku Slovenskej republiky) on January 1, and the Epiphany (The Three Maji) and Christmas Day of Orthodox Christians (Zjavenie Pana or Traja krali a vianocny sviatok pravoslavnych krestanov) on January 6. Nine of the 15 Slovak public holidays are Church holidays (Public holidays in Slovakia, 2006).

The practice in Slovakia of designating religious holidays as public holidays is quite different from what occurs in the United States. The first amendment of the United States Constitution states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances” (The U.S. Constitution Online, 2007a). This amendment has been interpreted in various U.S. Supreme Court Decisions over the years to mean that there must be a “wall of separation” between Church and State. As a result, only one of the eleven public holidays (Christmas Day on December 25) celebrated in the United States is also a Church holiday (Public holidays of the United States, 2007).

The Slovak Constitution also provides for freedom of religion. Article 1 of the Slovak Constitution provides that the Slovak Republic is not linked to any ideology or religion and Article 24 guarantees the freedom of thought, conscience, and religious creed and belief (Gogineni, 2000; U.S. State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2007).

While there is freedom of religion and no official state religion in Slovakia, Catholicism is the dominant religion in the country. According to the results of the 2001 Slovak census about 70 percent of the census population indicated that they were Roman Catholic (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007). In 2001, the Slovak Government signed an international treaty with the Vatican that established the legal framework for relationships between the Slovak Government, the Catholic Church in Slovakia, and the Vatican. The government signed similar agreements with 11 other registered religious groups in 2002 (U.S. State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2004).

Religious organizations in Slovakia are not required to register with the state. However, if a religious organization is registered (religious groups must have 20,000 permanent resident supporters in order to register with the government), it is eligible to receive various forms of financial assistance from the government. This assistance includes subsidies to provide salaries for clergy members and office expenses and subsidies to religious schools. The Church Department of the Slovak Ministry of Culture oversees relations between Church and State (World Council of Churches, 2007). The Slovak Statistical Office conducts surveys and maintains data on various aspects of church and religious affairs (Slov Stat Online, 2007). A 2004 law passed by the Slovak Parliament requires participation in religious or ethical education for students in elementary and secondary schools between the ages of 6 and 18 years (Pisárová, 2004). The law also allows government‑funded religious schools to remove material inconsistent with Catholic beliefs from the curricula (U.S. State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2005).

Differences in the State-Church relationship between Slovakia and the United States are a reflection of the different historical backgrounds of the two countries. Slovakia’s Catholic heritage dates back to the 9th century when the Christian missionaries Cyril and Methodius brought Christianity to the region. Slovakia evolved into a predominantly Catholic region while under Hungarian rule from the 11th century until the early 20th century. The Church continued to play an important role in Slovak society after the Czechs and Slovaks became the independent Czechoslovak Republic at the end of World War I in 1918, and survived the period of Communist rule from 1948-1989 (Allen, 1999; Slovakia.Org., 2007; The Catholic Encyclopedia, 2007; World Council of Churches, 2007). Today about 70 percent of the Slovak population indicate that they are Roman Catholic (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007). A World Values survey conducted by Religious Tolorence.Org and reported by Nationmaster.com indicates that 47 percent of adult Slovaks claimed that they attend Church services one or more times per week (NationMater.com, 2007).

In contrast to Slovakia, there is a clear separation of Church and State in the U.S. The establishment of this separation originated with the early American settlers who fled from Europe because of religious persecution in their home countries (Separation of church and state in the United States, 2007). This desire for a clear separation of Church and State is perhaps best expressed by Thomas Jefferson in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of 1802 in which he wrote “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state”( The U.S. Constitution Online, 2007b).

References

Allen, John. (1999, October 1). After Cold War Cold Peace: The Communist Rule in Eastern Europe Did Not Eradicate The Influence Of The Church, But Polls Indicate That More Eastern Europeans Are Becoming Disenchanted With The Church. Free National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved December 11, 2007 from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-56249663.html.

Central Intelligence Agency. (2007). The World Factbook: Slovakia. Retrieved December 10, 2007 from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/lo.html.

Gogineni, Babu. (2000, May). Discrimination Against Humanists. The Humanist. Retrieved December 10, 2007 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1374/is_3_60/ai_62111873.

Library of Congress Exhibit Website. Religion and the Founding of the American Republic. (2007). Retrieved December 12, 2007 from http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel06-2.html.


NationMater.com (2007). Church Attendence by Country. Retrieved December 11, 2007 from http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/rel_chu_att-religion-church-attendance.

Pisárová, Martina. (2004, February 2). Religious Education Treaty Passes Amidst Protests. The Slovak Spectator. Retrieved December 11, 2007 from http://www.spectator.sk/articles/view/14942.

Public holidays in Slovakia. (2006, September 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 12, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Public_holidays_in_Slovakia&oldid=73828766.

Public holidays of the United States. (2007, November 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11:33, December 12, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Public_holidays_of_the_United_States&oldid=174752494.

Separation of church and state in the United States. (2007, December 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 12, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States&oldid=176324878.

Slovakia.Org. (2007). Six Part Historical Overview of Slovakia. Retrieved December 10, 2007 from http://www.slovakia.org/history.htm.

Slov Stat Online (2007). Demography and Social Statistics. Retrieved December 10, 2007 from http://www.statistics.sk/pls/elisw/MetaInfo.explorer?cmd=go&s=1002&sso=2&so=32.

The Catholic Encyclopedia. (2007). Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Retrieved December 10, 2007 from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04592a.htm.

The U.S. Constitution Online. (2007a, January 30). Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Retrieved December 10, 2007 from http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am1.

The U.S. Constitution Online. (2007b, January 30). Jefferson's Wall of Separation Letter. Retrieved December 10, 2007 from http://www.usconstitution.net/jeffwall.html.

How Free Is Slovakia Today?

Where the state begins, individual liberty ceases, and vice versa.” - Mikhail Bakunin

I am fortunate to have the opportunity to hold some very interesting discussions with my colleagues here. Since the Department of Economics and Management at Slovak Agricultural University is a new environment for me, the discussions remind me of the free flowing discussions that I had with my fellow graduate students many years ago. One of the younger faculty members was a student in a class that I taught here back in 1996. He went on to earn the doctorate degree and is now on the faculty here. In a recent discussion that I had with this young man about the changes that have occurred in Slovakia since 1996, his most memorable response was “now we are free, everything else can be managed.”

On November 17 each year the Slovaks celebrate as a public holiday the “Day of Freedom and Democracy” (“Velvet Revolution Day”) to commemorate the non-violent revolution that resulted in the overthrow of the Communist government in Czechoslovakia. Obviously, Slovakia is a much freer place today than it was prior to 1989. And, by all appearances it is much freer than it was when I was here back in 1996.

But how much freer is Slovakia today? I decided to do a little research to try to find out. It is widely believed that Slovakia’s path toward economic and political freedom got a major boost in 1998 with the election of the coalition government led by Mikulas Dzurinda. This coalition government served from 1998 to 2006. According to The Economist article A tale of two Slavic States, Mr. Dzurinda was the longest serving head of government in any of the former Eastern European Communist countries. The Finance Minister during the Dzurinda period was the economist Ivan Miklos. During this period, a number of reforms were implemented that increased the degree of economic and political freedom in Slovakia. Some of the more significant pro market economic reforms that were implemented during the Dzurinda period included the following:

• A major privatization of state owned enterprises



• Simplification of the tax system by substituting a 19 percent flat individual and corporate income tax for a very complex income tax system. At the same time most income tax exemptions and many types of taxes that were not raising much revenue but had high administrative costs, such as the inheritance tax and real estate transfer tax, were eliminated.


• Privatization of the pension system that allowed workers to place 9 percent of their wages in private pension plans rather than into the pay as you go government system.


• A set of new labor laws that provided for a more flexible and competitive labor market.


• Reform of the welfare system to provide greater incentives to participate in the work force.
  
  Largely because of these reforms, the Heritage Foundation in its 2007 Index of Economic Freedom ranks Slovakia as the 40th freest economy in the World. Slovakia is tied with the U.S. on the measures of trade freedom and financial freedom. It ranks higher than the U.S in terms of fiscal freedom. It has made the least progress in the areas of instituting and protecting private property rights and in being free from corruption. In fact, it is thought by some that the Dzurinda coalition government’s lack of progress in eliminating corruption was one of the major contributors to its defeat in the election of 2006.
  
  According to Freedom House, Slovaks enjoy a high degree of political freedom. On a scale of 1 to 7, with a score of 1 being the highest, Freedom House gives Slovakia a score 1 on the degree to which its citizens enjoy political rights and civil liberties. Since 1998 it has been classified as “Free” by Freedom House. On both the civil liberties and political rights indexes Slovakia has the same ranking as the United States. Both have scores of 1 in both areas monitored by Freedom House and both are deemed to be free.
  
  Finally, Reporters Without Borders for Press Freedom ranks Slovakia third (tied with Estonia) in its World Press Freedom Index of 2007. The organization ranks the United States as 48th most free.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Is Slovakia Experiencing A Baby Boom?

As I walk the pedestrian zone and river walk around Nitra and the campus of Slovak Agricultural University, I am struck by what appears to be the large number of babies and young children here in Nitra. These children are usually accompanied by their parents but sometimes by their grandparents. The infants are pushed in beautifully decorated strollers and the older children are allowed to wander about fairly freely.

Somehow what I observed didn’t seem to square with my preconception that populations were on the decline in Europe. So I decided to do a little research to learn more about the population outlook for the Slovak Republic. A quick review of the data contained in the World Factbook revealed that for the year 2006 the Slovak birth rate of 10.65 births per 1000 population exceeded the death rate of 9.48 per 1000 population.

According to an article by BBC reporter Nick Thorp entitled “Birth rate crisis hits Central Europe,” the Slovak Republic is the only Central European country in which births outnumbered deaths in recent years. According to Thorp, policies and events of the 1970s are primarily responsible for the current baby boom. Thorp notes that then Czech leader Gustav Husak implemented policies that resulted in low cost housing (flats) and very generous maternity leave benefits. These policies, combined with the extreme boredom associated with life in the statist society of the time, resulted in very high reproduction rates.

The generation of young women who were born during the 1970’s are now having to deal with the reality of the “biological time clock.” Many are opting to take this last opportunity to have children. Hence, we have the explanation for the many babies and young children we see around Nitra.

Certainly, this does not mean that Slovakia is assured to be on a path of sustained long-term population growth. However, data from the World Factbook (various issues) indicate that fertility rates in Slovakia have been increasing slightly since 2001. In addition, Slovakia, like some other European countries, is looking for ways to change public policies to assure continued population growth. According to various articles in The Slovak Spectator, recent public policy discussions have generated a wide range of alternative policy proposals designed to encourage young Slovaks to have and rear
more babies. For example, one party recently adopted a stork named Kristian as its mascot. Another proposed to increase the one time government bounty for each child born from SK5, 000 to SK20, 000.

I’m not certain if the proponents of these different proposals for increasing birth rates in Slovakia are familiar with the work of Nobel Laureate economist Gary Becker. However, if Becker were to look at the situation, he would, I believe, quite quickly point out that as Slovak women have become better educated and as their employment opportunities have improved because of recent economic reforms, the opportunity cost of having children has risen significantly. Thus, rising levels of pecuniary and non-pecuniary subsidization of childbearing and rearing may be required to override the rising opportunity cost of having babies.

While I haven’t had occasion to discuss the matter with older Slovaks, I feel fairly certain that they are pleased with the current baby boom and probably hope that these higher fertility rates continue long into the future. Like their American counterparts, these older Slovaks undoubtedly would want a large and productive workforce to insure that tax revenues continue to be available to support them during their retirement years. Although the Dzurinda government (1998-2006) provided for privatization of the pension system for future retirees (Slovaks have the option of putting 9% of their gross pay into private pension funds rather than the state run pay as you go system), current retirees are dependent on the pay as you system similar to the social security system in the U.S.

Some Signs of Economic Growth: Cars, Cars Everywhere

It is said that Andrew Carnegie, the nineteenth century Scottish industrialist and founder of Carnegie Steel Company, tallied the number of factory chimneys in Pittsburgh that were belching smoke as a leading indicator of the level of economic activity. If we were to use the number of cars traveling on the streets of Nitra today compared to 1996 as an indicator of Slovak economic growth, it would appear that there has indeed been significant economic growth in the Slovak Republic since 1996.

Back in 1996 there were fewer cars on the streets of Nitra. And those were mostly the Communist era Skodas, Trabants, and Ladas. Today the cars on the streets of Nitra are mostly late model cars similar to the smaller cars found in Western Europe. Of course, there are fewer luxury cars here than in the West.

Despite an excellent bus system in Nitra (population of 100,000), the traffic here seems a bit heavier than in Dover. And, the Slovaks are apparently not yet finished with their love affair with the car. More than 150,000 people attended the annual car show here in Nitra this past weekend.

Since I didn’t want to generalize too much from my limited personal observation, I attempted to find some data on the growth in automobile ownership in Slovakia since 1996. I was able to find from various data sources, including the Eurostat Yearbook and The World Bank that private car ownership in Slovakia increased from about 197 per 1000 population in 1996 to over 237 per 1000 population in 2003. In larger cities such as Nitra private car ownership today is estimated to be well over 300 per 1000 population. Of course, this is still significantly below the 750 autos per 1000 population in the United States, but it is certainly a noticeable increase since 1996.

Indeed, Slovakia has been experiencing rapid economic growth since 2000. According to data reported in The Economist and Slov Stat Online, real GDP increased at an average annual rate of 5.15 percent between 2001 and 2005. It increased by 6 percent in 2005 and by 8.3 percent in 2006. This year the country's real GDP is expected to increase by over 9 percent. This economic growth is primarily attributable to the market reforms initiated by the government of Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda. Dzurinda served as Prime Minister from 1998 to 2006.

Of course, all is not rosy. Despite the rapid economic growth that has occurred here, some have been left behind. There is a problem of structural unemployment and it is heavily concentrated within specific groups and regions of the country.

In future posts I hope to discuss some of the specific reforms instituted during the years of the Dzurinda government that provided the foundation for the rapid economic growth Slovakia is now experiencing.

Traveling to and settling in at Nitra, Slovakia

The Trip

We have been here in Slovakia now for about 2 weeks. It has been a very busy time for us. We decided to take a breather to provide a bit of information about our trip here and the settling in process.

We departed from Philadelphia International Airport on September 11,2007 at 4:50 p.m. EST. Yes, it was 9/11. We traveled from Philadelphia to Frankfurt on USAirways. From Frankfort we took a short commuter flight to Vienna on Berlin Air. The trip from Philadelphia to Vienna was about 3,800 nautical miles. Including a three-hour layover in Frankfort, the trip to Vienna took about 12 hours. We arrived in Vienna at 11:00 a.m. CEST. The entire trip to Vienna was largely uneventful. We did not experience any of the horrors that are sometimes reported on TV news shows about international air travel. While waiting to board our flight at Philadelphia, there was an announcement over the public address system that there would be a moment of silence to honor the victims of 9/11, but most people seemed to ignore it.

A driver from Slovak Agricultural University met us at the Vienna Airport. We quickly loaded our belongings into the university’s late model Skoda passenger car and traveled about 170 kilometers northeast to Nitra. We were struck by how much the Skoda had changed since our time here in 1996. Except for the nameplate, it would be difficult to distinguish the Skoda from any comparable model American, Japanese, German, or Korean car. (Incidentally, a rough English translation of the Slovak word skoda is “what a pity.” Slovaks today joke that the communist era Skoda was indeed just that.) For most of the way from Vienna to Nitra we traveled on a well-maintained 4 lane divided highway through the beautiful Danubian lowland countryside. We arrived in Nitra at about 1:00 p.m. CEST.

Settling In

Before departing for Nitra we made arrangements to live in an efficiency apartment in the Anton Bernalok complex on the university campus. We were met at the complex by an individual from the international office who assisted us with completing the paperwork for checking in. All in all the process was pretty painless. By US standards our living quarters are small and spartan, but the building is modern and reasonably well-maintained. The university houses international faculty and graduate students and the individuals who participate in the many conferences it hosts in this complex. We decided to live here rather than in a flat in the city because our stay here is only for about four months and because it is only a 10 minute walk to the building in which the Department of Economics and Management is housed.



The day after we arrived we were met by a faculty member from the Department of Economics and Management who acquainted us with the department and university. Within a couple of days, I met the departmental faculty, was provided with office space and high-speed internet access, and given my specific teaching assignment. All of the people in the department with whom I met were very hospitable and supportive.




Trip to Bratislava



After settling in and before classes began we spent three days in Bratislava, the historic capital and largest city of Slovakia. During this time we were given additional training in the Slovak language, heard lectures on Slovak history and culture, and were given tips on how to negotiate our way through Slovak society.

Some people here in Nitra speak English and German as well as Slovak. So with a little understanding of Slovak and some understanding of English and German we are able to manage quite well. While in Bratislava we had the opportunity go on a guided tour of the city, attend the opening of an art exhibit at the American Embassy and attend a Richard Strauss opera at the historic Slovak National Theatre.



We will continue to keep you informed as our adventure unfolds.

Slovakia Here We Come

As some of you know may know, I was awarded a Fulbright Grant to the Slovak Republic for the 2007-2008 School Year. During this time I will be working with the faculty of the Economics and Management Department at Slovak Agricultural University (SAU) in Nitra. My wife Kathy and I will be departing in early September 2007 and returning in mid January 2008. My plan is to teach economics classes and to work with faculty at SAU to develop several short case studies for use in classes by Slovak students.

I taught at the Slovak Agricultural University in 1996 shortly after the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 and the "velvet divorce" in 1993. The "velvet divorce" refers to the peaceful separation of Czechoslovakia into the Czech and Slovak Republics. We are very interested in seeing first hand the changes that have taken place since our earlier stay.

Kathy and I have invested a great deal of time and effort preparing for this mission and we are very excited about beginning our assignment. We will keep you informed of our progress on this site.

The Slovak Republic: A Few Basic Facts

The Slovak Republic is located in Central Europe. It is bordered on the North by Poland, the Northwest by Czech Republic, on the South by Hungary, on the West by Austria and on the East by the Ukraine. It is a small country, about twice the size of New Hampshire, with a population of about 5.5 million. Further background information about the Slovak Republic can be obtained from the CIA World Factbook. Slovakia.org's History of Slovakia and Radio Prague's History Online Virtual Exhibit "How It All Began" provide brief but excellent presentations of the historical background of the present day Slovak and Czech Republics.