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THE VIEW OF THIS ARTICLE IS THAT THE SUPERIOR HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE OF PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACIES IS NO ACCIDENT. A CAREFUL COMPARISON OF PARLIAMENTARISM AS SUCH WITH PRESIDENTIALISM AS SUCH LEADS TO THE CONCLUSION THAT, ON BALANCE, THE FORMER IS MORE CONDUCTIVE TO STABLE DEMOCRACY THAN THE LATTER. THIS CONCLUSION APPLIES ESPECIALLY TO NATIONS WITH DEEP POLITICAL CLEAVAGES AND NUMEROUS POLITICAL PARTIES; FOR SUCH COUNTRIES, PARLIAMENTARISM GENERALLY OFFERS A BETTER HOPE OF PRESERVING DEMOCRACY. ALL THIS IS DISCUSSED ALONG WITH THE ISSUE OF STABILITY AND THE PROBLEM OF DUAL LEGITIMACY.

'Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America' edited by Scott Mainwaring and Matthew Soberg Shugart is reviewed.

The author first lists standard theoretical arguments used in debates about parliamentarism & presidentialism & points up the ways of their contextualizations & instrumentalizations in Eastern Europe as a transitional region of unconsolidated democracies. Addressed next are approaches & difficulties in the classification of empirical constitutional systems in Eastern Europe. The conclusion highlights several sources of real & potential institutional & political conflicts that are caused by certain constitutional designs in some countries. 1 Table, 35 References. Adapted from the source document.

In the first part of the text, the author lists standard theoretical arguments used in the debates about parliamentarism and presidentialism and points up the ways of their contextualisations and instrumentalisations in Eastern Europe as a transitional region of unconsolidated democracies. In the second part she deals with the approaches and difficulties in the classification of empirical constitutional systems in Eastern Europe. In the third part she highlights several sources of real and potential institutional and political conflicts which are caused by certain constitutional designs in some countries. (SOI : PM: S. 120)