Presidential Systems

Presidential government?

A democratic system in which the legislature and the executive exist independently and are elected independently of each other

Key characteristics of pure presidentialism?

1. Survival of the gov in office does not depend on the elected assembly

2. The president is chosen in popular election

Head of gov and head of state in presidential systems and parliamentary systems?

1. Presidential system: The president is both the head of state and head of gov

2. Parliamentary system: The 2 roles are separated

Fixed-term presidential office: 3 key features

1. Hard to remove: Only via impeachment

2. Problems: Death in office, inability —> Succession issues

3. vs Parliamentarism: Fixed term = stability or rigidity?

Presidential vs Parliamentary removal?

Presidential: Fixed term, impeachment only.

Parliamentary: Vote of no confidence (easier)​

Agency theory: 4 core elements

1. Principal delegates to Agent

2. Misaligned interests → agency loss

3. Agent's info advantage

4. Remedies: Selection (ex ante) + Control (ex post)

Delegation in presidentialism vs parliamentarism?

Presidentialism: Multiple chains + checks/balances + ex post control focus

Parliamentarism: Parliamentarism: Single chain + few checks + ex ante selection focus

Definition of accountability

Citizens reward/sanction officials for choices/behavior

What is accountability linked to?

Delegation

What are the mechanisms for accountability

Retrospective voting

What are the challenges of accountability?

Transparency + clear party brands

Executive-legislative relations in Presidentialism

Legislature + high independence (agenda/committees) + less party control + diffused power

Executive-legislative relations in Parliamentarism

Parliament + low independence (govt control) + strong party control + fused power

Presidential powers: 2 types

Non-legislative: Cabinet formation/dismissal, assembly dissolution

Legislative: Veto, decree, legislation intro, budgetary

US example of presidential powers

US president: Strong non-leg (cabinet control, no dissolution) + weak leg (package veto, 2/3 override)

Presidentialism as democracy threat?

Mechanisms: Dual legitimacy + winner-takes-all + popular mandate → opposition intolerance

Empirical: No clear support