Suchergebnisse

"This book explores the effect of semi-presidentialism on newly-democratising countries. In recent years semi-presidentialism -- the situation where a constitution makes provision for both a directly elected president and a prime minister who is responsible to the legislature -- has become the regime type of choice for many countries"--

"This book explores the effect of semi-presidentialism on newly-democratising countries. In recent years semi-presidentialism -- the situation where a constitution makes provision for both a directly elected president and a prime minister who is responsible to the legislature -- has become the regime type of choice for many countries"--

In countries as diverse as Brazil, Ecuador, France, Russia, South Africa, and the United States, presidents have come to dominate the politics and political cultures of their nations. Michael Mezey offers a comprehensive cross-national study of the presidency, tracing the historical and intellectual roots of executive power and exploring in detail the contemporary forces that have driven a turn toward "presidentialism."

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.

There is a long-standing and widespread consensus that semi-presidentialism is bad for democratic performance. This article examines whether there is empirical evidence to support the arguments against semi-presidentialism. Examining countries that incompletely consolidated and yet not autocratic, we identify the relationship between democratic performance and the three main arguments against semi-presidentialism – the strength of the presidency, cohabitation and divided minority government. We find that there is a strong and negative association between presidential power and democratic performance, but that cohabitation and divided minority government do not have the negative consequences that the literature predicts.