Presidentialism and democracy in Latin America
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
ix, 493 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
9780521572668, 9780521576147, 0521572665, 0521576148
34933878
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.