Presidents, Parliaments, and Policy
Presidents, Parliaments, and Policy

Author: Stephan Haggard

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2001-01-15

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9780521774857

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Advocates of parliamentary rule have been highly critical of presidentialism for dividing powers and providing the opportunity for gridlock between branches. Fixed executive terms can saddle publics with ineffectual leaders who are not easily removed. Yet the great theorists of presidential rule, beginning with the Federalists, saw very different qualities in the same institutions: a desirable combination of strong leadership with checks on executive discretion. These diverse assessments arise because we have surprisingly little comparative work on how presidential democracies function. The introductory essays in this volume lay the theoretical groundwork for such comparative analysis. Drawing on detailed cases of economic policymaking in Asia, Latin America, and Central Europe, this book shows the diversity of presidential systems and isolates the effects of presidentialism from other factors that influence public policy, such as party systems. In doing so, it casts doubt on the critics of presidential rule and underscores the continuing vitality of this particular form of democratic rule.

Presidents and Assemblies
Presidents and Assemblies

Author: Matthew Soberg Shugart

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1992-08-28

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 9780521429900

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In recent years renewed attention has been directed to the importance of the role of institutional design in democratic politics. Particular interest has concerned constitutional design and the relative merits of parliamentary versus presidential systems. In this book, the authors systematically assess the strengths and weaknesses of various forms of presidential systems, drawing on recent developments in the theoretical literature about institutional design and electoral rules. They develop a typology of democratic regimes structured around the separation of powers principle, including two hybrid forms, the premier-presidential and president-parliamentary systems, and they evaluate a number of alternative ways of balancing powers between the branches within these basic frameworks. They also demonstrate that electoral rules are critically important in determining how political authority is exercised.

The Oxford Handbook of Public Choice
The Oxford Handbook of Public Choice

Author: Roger D. Congleton

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 1017

ISBN-13: 0190469773

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The Oxford Handbook of Public Choice provides a comprehensive overview of the research in economics, political science, law, and sociology that has generated considerable insight into the politics of democratic and authoritarian systems as well as the influence of different institutional frameworks on incentives and outcomes. The result is an improved understanding of public policy, public finance, industrial organization, and macroeconomics as the combination of political and economic analysis shed light on how various interests compete both within a given rules of the games and, at times, to change the rules. These volumes include analytical surveys, syntheses, and general overviews of the many subfields of public choice focusing on interesting, important, and at times contentious issues. Throughout the focus is on enhancing understanding how political and economic systems act and interact, and how they might be improved. Both volumes combine methodological analysis with substantive overviews of key topics. This second volume examines constitutional political economy and also various applications, including public policy, international relations, and the study of history, as well as methodological and measurement issues. Throughout both volumes important analytical concepts and tools are discussed, including their application to substantive topics. Readers will gain increased understanding of rational choice and its implications for collective action; various explanations of voting, including economic and expressive; the role of taxation and finance in government dynamics; how trust and persuasion influence political outcomes; and how revolution, coups, and authoritarianism can be explained by the same set of analytical tools as enhance understanding of the various forms of democracy.

Driving Democracy
Driving Democracy

Author: Pippa Norris

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2008-08-01

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780521694803

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Proposals for power-sharing constitutions remain controversial, as highlighted by current debates in Iraq, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Sudan. This book updates and refines the theory of consociationalism, taking account of the flood of contemporary innovations in power-sharing institutions that have occurred worldwide. The book classifies and compares four types of political institutions: the electoral system, parliamentary or presidential executives, unitary or federal states, and the structure and independence of the mass media. The study tests the potential advantages and disadvantages of each of these institutions for democratic governance. Cross-national time-series data concerning trends in democracy are analyzed for all countries worldwide since the early 1970s. Chapters are enriched by comparing detailed case studies. The mixed-method research design illuminates the underlying causal mechanisms by examining historical developments and processes of institutional change within particular nations and regions. The conclusion draws together the results and the practical lessons for policymakers.

Legislatures in the Policy Process
Legislatures in the Policy Process

Author: David M. Olson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1991-05-16

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9780521381031

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Thi book will be of interest to specialists and students of politics and economic policy making.

Congress
Congress

Author: Matthew D. McCubbins

Publisher: CUP Archive

Published: 1987-08-28

Total Pages: 580

ISBN-13: 9780521337502

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First published in 1987, Congress: Structure and Policy is a review of congressional research from an institutional perspective. The selections blend theoretical material found in the fields of discussion theory, political economy, social choice and game theory, with classics on such standard topics as elections and campaigning, controlling the bureaucracy and oversight, norms of behaviour, committees and committee assignments reform, budgeting, presidential influence, and the party and its leadership. Together, these readings present an institutional theory of Congress. They are integrated in order to address both the short-run issue of how congressional institutions shape policy and the long-run question of why congressional organization has evolved the way it has. In their introductions to the chapters, the editors, Professors McCubbins and Sullivan, not only address the themes of the individual readings but place the chapters in the larger context of the political economy.

Semi-presidentialism, Parliamentarism and Presidents
Semi-presidentialism, Parliamentarism and Presidents

Author: Miloš Brunclík

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-07-11

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1351680021

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The book analyzes the presidencies of three neighboring Central European countries – Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – in the context of their interactions with cabinets (and prime ministers), parliaments and the constitutional courts, all which have proved crucial actors in the region’s political and constitutional battles. Using both institutional and behavioral perspectives along with an innovative definition of semi-presidentialism, the book argues that presidential powers – rather than the mode of the election of the president – are crucial to the functioning of the regimes and their classification into distinctive regime types. Focusing on intra-executive conflicts and the interaction of the president with other constitutional players it argues that, regardless of the mode of the election of the president, regimes have traditionally been very similar not only in their institutional settings, but also in the way they function. Finally, it shows that Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia should be classified as parliamentary regimes. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of Central and East Europe studies/politics, post-Communist studies, presidential studies and more broadly to political elites and institutions, comparative politics and legislative studies.

Comparative Constitutional Law
Comparative Constitutional Law

Author: Tom Ginsburg

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2011-01-01

Total Pages: 681

ISBN-13: 0857931210

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This landmark volume of specially commissioned, original contributions by top international scholars organizes the issues and controversies of the rich and rapidly maturing field of comparative constitutional law. Divided into sections on constitutional design and redesign, identity, structure, individual rights and state duties, courts and constitutional interpretation, this comprehensive volume covers over 100 countries as well as a range of approaches to the boundaries of constitutional law. While some chapters reference the text of legal instruments expressly labeled constitutional, others focus on the idea of entrenchment or take a more functional approach. Challenging the current boundaries of the field, the contributors offer diverse perspectives - cultural, historical and institutional - as well as suggestions for future research. A unique and enlightening volume, Comparative Constitutional Law is an essential resource for students and scholars of the subject.

Presidents above Parties?
Presidents above Parties?

Author: Vít Hloušek

Publisher: Masarykova univerzita

Published: 2014-01-01

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 8021078022

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Postavení prezidenta v jiných než prezidentských politických systémech patří k méně analyzovaným aspektům politiky. V zemích střední a východní Evropy může přitom existovat určitá diskrepance mezi formálním a reálným postavením hlav států. Předkládaná, anglicky psaná kniha mapuje, zda se zde po roce 1989 objevily tendence k většímu zapojení či osobnímu angažmá prezidentů v každodenní politice, co bylo jejich příčinou, jak se projevovaly a zda je můžeme vysvětlit spíše osobností prezidenta, nebo strukturou politických příležitostí, která nabídla prezidentovi větší prostor pro osobní politickou realizaci.