Abstract
Are the leaders of independent agencies independent in practice? Are the independence requirements set out in legislation a guarantee of de facto independence? This paper reveals the relationship between de iure independence and de facto independence of independent agencies through two dimensions: political afnity and political vulnerability of their leaders. Our analysis reveals how the de iure independence of an agency afects the probability that agency heads will have connections to political parties and whether their mandates will end prematurely in a period of political transition, i.e., when a new government takes ofce.
It also determines whether the biographical profle of agency heads (PhD degree, bureaucratic background, and political afliation) can infuence their security of tenure when governments change, and hence their independence. This is supported by an empirical evaluation of independent authorities in the Czech Republic between 1993 and 2021.