Czechia (The Czech Republic) is a parliamentary democracy, established after the splitting of Czechoslovakia into the Czech and Slovak Republics in 1993. The Parliament, the highest legislative body, consists of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. It votes on laws proposed predominantly by the executive and on international treaties in all policy areas.
In 2001, the state transferred a number of powers to the regions, an intermediate level between the national government and the municipalities. The regions are structured in accordance with the concept of subsidiarity. They are in charge of implementing national legislation and have far-reaching self-governance authority. Based on their better knowledge of local conditions and independent decision-making in financial matters, the regions provide a number of services within the overall framework on socio-economic and environmental aspects of development.