Abstract: Most of the texts dedicated to second-order elections deal with analyses of European elections. Even less important elections, however, have the character of voting against the government. The goal of this study is to point out the role of regional elections in the Czech Republic, and to demonstrate that the concept of second-order elections depends on above all the current phase of the election cycle. The effect of second-orderness
can be truly considered only in the phase when the national governing party has reached its lowest popularity.

Keywords: Regional elections, second-order elections, Czech republic