Constitutional Law of Federation

Subsequent developments

It soon became apparent, however, that many aspects of the 1968 federalization were politically and administratively impractical. Political power remained firmly centralized in the Communist Party (proposals to federalize the party were dropped after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia), and the administration of two economic systems, two police systems, and the like proved unworkable. As a result, July 1971 amendments to the 1968 Constitutional Law of Federation unified the administration of these and other government functions, ended the practice of dual citizenship, and, most importantly, authorized the federal government to interfere with and invalidate measures of the national governments (similarly to president's rule in India and federal intervention in Argentina). Although most of the structures of the 1968 reform remained intact, observers of the Czechoslovak system of government in the 1970s agreed that federalism remained little more than a facade after the enactment of the 1971 constitutional amendments. In May 1975, the 1968 Constitutional Law of the Federation was further amended to allow Gustáv Husák to take over the presidency from the ailing Ludvík Svoboda.