PRESIDENTIALISM

What is Presidentialism?
A presidential system is a system of government
where a head of government is also head of state.
The executive is elected and often titled
"president" and is not responsible to the
legislature and cannot, in normal circumstances,
dismiss it.
The legislature may have the right, in extreme
cases, to dismiss the executive, through
impeachment.

Generally...
The executive can veto legislative acts and, in turn, a
supermajority of lawmakers may override the veto.
The terms of office of the chief executive is fixed.
The executive branch is unipersonal. Members of the
cabinet serve at the pleasure of the president and must
carry out the policies of the executive and legislative
branches.

The president can often pardon or commute sentences

of convicted criminals.

Characteristics of Presidents
President is chosen directly by the people or indirectly
by the winning party to be the head of the executive
branch.

By contrast, national presidents are figurehead heads of

state, like constitutional monarchs, of parliamentary
governments and are not active executive heads of
government

Pros and Cons

Linz (1990), The Perils of Presidentialism

Basic argument: Presidentialism (vs. parliamentarism)

is less likely to sustain stable democratic regimes
Four main points:

Competing claims to [electoral] legitimacy of the President

and the legislative assembly
Rigidity of the fixed term leading to an exaggerated sense
of urgency in policy implementation (Linz 1990, 66)
Winner-takes-all logic that is inimical to democratic
stability
Style of presidential politics as in the complications of
being both heads of state and government

Pros and Cons

Review by Mainwaring and Shugart (1997),
Presidentialism and Democracy: A Critical Appraisal
Agreed with most of Linzs arguments (1, 2, and 4)

Disagreed with Winner-takes-all logic

Rules depend on electoral or party system
Presidential systems offer stronger checks on
executive power

Pros and Cons

Review by Mainwaring and Shugart (1997),
Presidentialism and Democracy: A Critical Appraisal
Advantages of Presidential systems:
Government Accountability
Representative Delegates
How can presidential systems be improved?
Limited Presidential powers (over legislature)
Disciplined parties
Small n of parties/absence of divisions among
parties

Pros and Cons

Shugart (1999), Presidentialism, Parliamentarism, and
the Provision of Collective Goods in Less-developed
Countries
Advantages of Presidential systems:
Shift from democratic consolidation to good
governance
In a country where there is great inequality or
unevenness of development, a particular type of
presidency is advantageous: a presidency with
strong reactive and proactive powers to curb a
fragmented legislature

Pros and Cons

Haggard and McCubbins (2001), Presidents Parliaments,
and Policy
Good governance: focus on political outcomes.
Presidential systems do exhibit the weaknesses
described by Linz, but are still more preferable for
decisive, credible, and programmatic policies, given
strong legislative backing.