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INSTITUTIONS OF DEMOCRACY

INSTITUTIONS OF DEMOCRACY. Presidentialism, Parties, and Legislatures, Courts. WEEKLY READING. Smith, Democracy , chs. 5-6 Modern Latin America, ch. 6, 11 (Andes, Brazil). OUTLINE. Democratic challenges: survival and consolidation Presidentialism or parliamentarism? Proposals for reform

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INSTITUTIONS OF DEMOCRACY

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  1. INSTITUTIONS OF DEMOCRACY Presidentialism, Parties, and Legislatures, Courts

  2. WEEKLY READING • Smith, Democracy, chs. 5-6 • Modern Latin America, ch. 6, 11 (Andes, Brazil)

  3. OUTLINE • Democratic challenges: survival and consolidation • Presidentialism or parliamentarism? • Proposals for reform • The legislative arena • The plight of political parties • The judicial branch • Sources of disenchantment

  4. DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGES • Survival and consolidation of democracy • Avoidance of the past (and military coups) • Questions: Would institutional changes help? Did prior crises result from institutional problems? And could they be repaired?

  5. THE “NEW INSTITUTIONALISM” • Individuals seek to maximize gain • Institutions (rules) shape incentives • And can therefore determine behavior • Ergo, institutional design can affect the collective behavior of political actors

  6. PRESIDENTIALISM OR PARLIAMENTARISM? • Presidentialism: • Head of government (president) is directly elected • Fixed term in office • Cannot be removed by legislature (except through impeachment) • Selects cabinet ministers • Head of government is also head of state • Separation of legislative-executive powers

  7. Parliamentarism: • Voters elect MPs • MPs select head of government (PM) • MPs approve cabinet appointments • PM (and cabinet officers) dependent on continuing confidence of parliament • Head of government (PM) is not head of state • Fusion of legislative-executive powers

  8. PRO-PARLIAMENTARY ARGUMENTS • Avoid “temporal rigidity,” so crises of government would not become crises of regime • Avoid polarization from zero-sum game • Avoid paralyzing deadlock • Thus superior durability of parliamentary regimes

  9. PRO-PRESIDENTIALIST ARGUMENTS • Clarity of fixed time horizon • Checks and balances • Democratic election of head of government • Not the cause of immobilism (PR the cause) • Empirical findings result from “selection bias”

  10. PROPOSALS FOR REFORM • Brazil • Argentina • Chile • Why not? • Insistence on election of chief executive • Advent of polling, reduction of uncertainty • Low esteem for congress, parties • Politics of nostalgia

  11. ENGINEERING PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEMS • Electing presidents: • Plurality vs. MRO • MRO a “magic bullet” • Reelection or not? • Power domains: • Constitutional or partisan? • Bureaucracy, judiciary, military • Decree authority

  12. THE LEGISLATIVE ARENA • Electoral Systems: • SMDs and two-party politics • PR and multi-party politics • Effects of district magnitude • Closed-list vs. open-list ballots • The problem of term limits • Institutional Performance: • Essentially “reactive” legislatures • Removing presidents?

  13. LEVELS OF POPULAR TRUST(1996-2007) • Church ~ 70% • Armed Forces ~ 50% • Media (TV+print) ~ 40% • Congress ~ 30% • Parties ~ 20%

  14. THE PLIGHT OF POLITICAL PARTIES • Diversity of party systems • Levels of popular confidence

  15. Counting Political Parties: N = 1 / (Σ pi2) Where pi is the proportion of votes earned by the i-th party (or, alternatively, the proportion of seats in the legislature)

  16. THE JUDICIAL BRANCH • Authoritarian Regimes • Control of courts • Emphasis on legalities • Rule by law ǂ rule of law • Advent of Democracy • Deference to executive authority • Weak checks and balances • Extrajudicial killings (meta bala) • A Continuing Challenge • Mexico: 1994 reforms, drug trafficking threats • Venezuela: packing of courts • Strong in Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica; 12/18 countries in bottom one-third of all (World Bank on “rule of law”)

  17. THE POLITICS OF DISENCHANTMENT • Weakness of representative institutions + judiciary branch (i.e., rule of law) • Constraints on modern-day democracy • Inadequate policy performance • Tendency toward “delegative” or “illiberal” democracy • Thus 55% would support authoritarian government if it could improve economic situation (2004)

  18. AND THE RISE OF THE LEFT • Hugo Chávez, Venezuela (1998) • Lula, Brazil (2002) • Evo Morales, Bolivia (2005)… • Reliance on democratic elections • Vote as popular protest • Possibilities of winning • Challenge of governing

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