Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America

This 2001 book addresses the current debate regarding the liabilities and merits of presidential government.

Scott Mainwaring (Edited by), Matthew Soberg Shugart (Edited by)

9780521572668, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 May 1997

506 pages, 14 b/w illus. 30 tables
23.7 x 16.1 x 3.9 cm, 0.87 kg

'… The editors define the research question at hand in their introduction, the country cases take them up explicity with a common vocabulary, and the impressive conclusion capitalizes on the conceptual framework and case studies to advance significantly scholarly understanding of presidentialism.' Latin American Research Review

This 1997 book addresses the current debate regarding the liabilities and merits of presidential government. Does presidentialism make it less likely that democratic governments will be able to manage political conflict? With the unprecedented wave of transitions to democracy since the 1970s, this question has been hotly contested in political and intellectual circles all over the globe. The contributors to this volume examine variations among different presidential systems and skeptically view claims that presidentialism has added significantly to the problems of democratic governance and stability.

Contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction Scott Mainwaring and Matthew Soberg Shugart
1. Presidentialism and democracy in Latin America: rethinking the terms of the debate Matthew Soberg Shugart and Scott Mainwaring
2. Multipartism, robust federalism, and presidentialism in Brazil Scott Mainwaring
3. The unrealized potential of presidential dominance in Colombia Ronald P. Archer and Matthew Soberg Shugart
4. Presidential behavior in a system with strong parties: Venezuela, 1958–95 Brian F. Crisp
5. Strong candidates for a limited office: presidentialism and political parties in Costa Rica John M. Carey
6. Political sources of presidencialismo in Mexico Jeffrey Weldon
7. Evaluating Argentina's presidential democracy: 1983–95 Mark P. Jones
8. In defense of presidentialism: the case of Chile, 1932–70 Julio Faundez
9. Executive-legislative relations in post-Pinochet Chile: a preliminary assessment Peter M. Siavelis
10. Hybrid presidentialism and democratization: the case of Bolivia Eduardo A. Gamarra
11. Conclusion: presidentialism and the party system Scott Mainwaring and Matthew Soberg Shugart
Appendix: outlines of constitutional powers in Latin America John M. Carey, Octávio Amorim Neto and Matthew Soberg Shugart
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP]