What is semi-presidentialism?

What is semi-presidentialism?

Semi-presidentialism is where a constitution includes a popularly elected fixed-term president and a prime minister and cabinet who are collectively responsible to the legislature

The assumption

A very varied set of countries have semi-presidential constitutions. We should not use semi-presidentialism as an explanatory variable. We should distinguish between different sub-types of semi-presidentialism and explore the effects of each

Sub-types of semi-presidentalism

I like the distinction between premier-presidential  and president-parliamentary forms of semi-presidentialism. This distinction was first made by Matthew Shugart and John Carey in Presidents and Assemblies. Constitutional Design and Electoral Dynamics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1992)

1 thought on “What is semi-presidentialism?

  1. ADRIAN L.H.

    I’m a political science student at ITAM in Mexico and I was asked to answer how a constitutional shift from a presidential format to a premier-presidential design may affect the party & electoral system (among other things). Of course and I had no idea how to respond. I only mentioned new types of transacctional relations as defined by Shugart (2006. “Comparative executive-legislative relationships” in The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions eds, Rohdes, Binder, y Rockman. Oxford University Press), but I really have no clue.
    Do you have a paper? and idea?

    I really hope you can help me with this.

    Sincerly:
    Adrián Luzanilla (student in trouble).

    Reply

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