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Presidential vs. Parliamentary Democracy

Presidential vs. Parliamentary Democracy. Overview. Dimensions for evaluating democratic institutions. Normative Positive Defining presidential, parliamentary, and mixed democracies How do they work? Implications of executive-legislative relations for policies and stability of democracy.

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Presidential vs. Parliamentary Democracy

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  1. Presidential vs. Parliamentary Democracy

  2. Overview • Dimensions for evaluating democratic institutions. • Normative • Positive • Defining presidential, parliamentary, and mixed democracies • How do they work? • Implications of executive-legislative relations for policies and stability of democracy.

  3. Dimensions for analyzing democratic institutions • Protection of liberty • Protection of minorities • Decisiveness, especially under stress • Credibility of commitments • Stability • Quality of democracy • Representativeness • Accountability • Rent-seeking and corruption

  4. Dimensions for analyzing democratic institutions (cont.) • Public versus private goods • Broad versus targeted programs and expenditures • The extent of redistribution • Budget deficits • Size of government as a share of GDP

  5. What are the features that distinguish parliamentary and presidential regimes?

  6. What are the features that distinguish parliamentary and presidential regimes? • Crucial questions: • How is the executive selected? • Is the executive dependent on legislative confidence?

  7. What about France?

  8. French Prime Minister French president

  9. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Protection of liberty, prevention of tyranny.

  10. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Protection of liberty, prevention of tyranny. • Some issues: • Madison and Hamilton: Ambition should counteract ambition • But tyranny in parliamentary democracies? • Too much power in hands of president? Russia? Too easy to fall into authoritarianism?

  11. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Decisiveness, especially under stress.

  12. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Decisiveness, especially under stress. • Some issues: • Madison and Hamilton again: Good to have one individual rather than collegial executive • Can’t a PM be decisive? • What about presidents without legislative backing?

  13. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Credibility of commitments, policy stability

  14. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Credibility of commitments, policy stability • Some issues: • Uncertainty about coalitions • Decree authority • Gridlock

  15. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Stability of democracy. • What did you learn in the readings?

  16. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Stability of democracy. • What did you learn in the readings? • Why do presidential democracies fail? • Gridlock, divided government • Why do presidential systems end up with divided government?

  17. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Stability of democracy. • What did you learn in the readings? • Why do presidential democracies fail? • Gridlock, divided government • Why do presidential systems end up with divided government? • Geography • Balancing

  18. Why are presidential systems so fragmented? • The disciplining role of the no-confidence procedure • What incentives do individual members of the legislature face?

  19. Presidentialism and gridlock • Is there a problem with presidential democracy, or perhaps a problem with multi-party presidential democracy?

  20. How do presidents get things done? • In the United States? • In a multi-party presidential system like Brazil?

  21. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Rent-seeking and corruption?

  22. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Rent-seeking and corruption? • Some issues: • Parliamentarism: Politicians can collude, less oversight because of lacking division of power • But what about the problem of decree authority under presidentialism?

  23. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Pork versus national collective goods

  24. Dimensions for evaluating institutions • The “quality” of democracy • What did Bagehot say? • Accountability • Responsiveness

  25. Endogenous institutions • What kinds of countries choose presidentialism?

  26. Endogenous institutions • What kinds of countries choose presidentialism? • Moments when demands for strong leadership are overwhelming. • Constitutions written by “strongmen” (De Gaul, Yeltsin). • History of military involvement in politics. • Large and diverse countries?

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