Slovenia is an electoral democracy. The country has a bicameral Parliament: members of the 90-seat National Assembly, which chooses the prime minister, are elected to four-year terms, and the 40-seat National Council, a largely advisory body, represents professional groups and local interests. The president is directly elected for up to two five-year terms. Elections since independence have been considered free and fair. Slovenia’s main political parties are the center-left LDS and the center-right SDS, currently led by Prime Minister Janez Jansa, but they typically govern in coalition with smaller parties.

Corruption, while less extensive than in some other Central and Eastern European countries, remains a problem in Slovenia, usually taking the form of conflicts of interest and contracting links between government officials and private businesses. Slovenia was ranked 27 out of 180 countries surveyed in Transparency International’s 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The government respects the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and of the press, although insulting public officials is prohibited by law. A new broadcasting law approved in 2005 stipulated that 21 out of 29 members of the state-owned television and radio network’s program council had to be approved by Parliament. Critics said the measure was an attempt by the Jansa government to obtain more control over the network, which it claimed was biased against the center-right. A major complaint against the various media is that they do not represent a wide range of political or ethnic interests. There are also reports of self-censorship and increasing government pressure on both media outlets and advertisers. For instance, in 2007, two journalists at one of Slovenia’s most prestigious dailies, Delo, were allegedly dismissed because government officials were unhappy with their critical reporting of a range of government policies. In 2006, the European Federation of Journalists had declared itself “deeply concerned” with the involvement of politicians in Slovenia’s media. The largest stakeholder in one of Slovenia’s main newspapers, Delo, is the Lasko brewery, which is partly owned by the state. There were no reports of government attempts to restrict access to the internet during the year.

The constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and religion. Most Slovenians are Roman Catholics, although the number of practicing Catholics has dropped sharply in recent years. Societal discrimination against the small Muslim community remains a problem. In 2004, the Constitutional Court blocked a proposed referendum challenging zoning laws that would allow construction of a mosque in Ljubljana, ruling that fundamental human rights can override the democratically expressed will of the population. Several Ljubljana city council members who supported the mosque’s construction received death threats in 2006. By the end of 2007, a new site had been selected for the building after a previous location was contested by the Catholic Church. There were no reports of government restrictions on academic freedom during the year.

The government respects the right of individuals to assemble peacefully and form associations. Numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operate freely, and the government on the whole supports the role they play in the policymaking process. Workers enjoy the right to establish and join trade unions, to strike, and to bargain collectively. In November 2007, labor unions launched the largest demonstrations in the country’s postindependence history to protest what they called an unfair economic development strategy that favors employers over workers.

According to the EU, the Slovenian judiciary enjoys a high degree of independence. The constitution guarantees citizens due process, equality before the law, and a presumption of innocence. However, the system faces a growing backlog of cases, with some criminal cases taking two to five years to complete. In 2006, the European Court of Human Rights issued over 100 judgments against the Slovenian government for excessive delays in court proceedings. Prison conditions are in line with international standards, although overcrowding has been reported.

Incitement to racial hatred is a criminal offense. The constitution entitles the “autochthonous” Italian and Hungarian ethnic communities to one deputy each in the National Assembly, and Roma are automatically given seats on 20 municipal councils. However, Slovenia has had persistent problems in dealing with various minorities—Italians, Muslim residents and guest workers, and citizens of the former Yugoslavia.

Police harassment of Roma and residents from other former Yugoslav republics, the so-called new minorities, remains a problem. A 2004 referendum overwhelmingly rejected restoring a variety of rights to individuals who had been “erased” from official registries after independence. The results increased both domestic and international concern about the civil rights of non-Slovenes living in the country.

In February 2006, Parliament passed a law that human rights groups claim will reduce the ability of asylum seekers to obtain residence in Slovenia. While government officials said the new law was completely in line with EU standards, activists warned that it made police officials the ultimate arbiters of asylum requests. UN refugee officials expressed similar concerns.

According to the constitution, citizens enjoy all recognized personal rights and freedoms—including the freedom to travel and choose one’s place of residence, and the right to own private property—and these rights are generally respected in practice.

Women hold the same legal rights as men. On average, Slovenian women receive 90 percent of the pay of their male counterparts, which compares favorably with rates in Western European countries. At the same time, women remain underrepresented in political life. Currently, there are 11 women serving in the 90-seat National Assembly, three women in the 40-seat National Council, and one woman in the 17-member cabinet. In 2005, Parliament adopted a measure requiring that 40 percent of the electoral lists for the European parliamentary elections be reserved for women. Some 60 percent of Slovenia’s women are in the workforce, the largest proportion of any of the 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004.

Domestic violence remains a concern. There are no laws prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace. Slovenia is primarily a transit country, and secondarily a country of destination, for women and girls trafficked from Eastern Europe for the purpose of prostitution. In 2005, the National Assembly passed a witness-protection law designed to improve prosecution of forced-prostitution and trafficking cases.