Synopses & Reviews
This book explores the effect of semi-presidentialism on newly-democratising countries. In recent years semi-presidentialism -- the situation where a constitution makes provision for both a directly elected president and a prime minister who is responsible to the legislature -- has become the regime type of choice for many countries.
About the Author
ROBERT ELGIE is Paddy Moriarty Professor of Government and International Studies at Dublin City University, Ireland. He is the co-editor of the Palgrave journal
French Politics and the co-editor of the Routledge/ECPR
Studies in European Political Science series. He has published extensively on comparative politics, semi-presidentialism and French politics.
SOPHIA MOESTRUP is Senior Program Manager at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Washington, DC. She has served as country director in Niger for the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is co-editor with Robert Elgie of Semi-presidentialism Outside Europe (2007) and Semi-presidentialism in Central and Eastern Europe (2008.)
YU-SHAN WU is Distinguished Research Fellow and Director of the Institute of Political Science at Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and Professor of Political Science at National Taiwan University. He has authored six books and edited six others, and published more than 100 journal articles and book chapters, in comparative politics and international relations.
Table of Contents
Semi-Presidentialism and Democracy;
R.Elgie,
S.Moestrup &
Y-S.WuPART I: VARIETIES OF SEMI-PRESIDENTIALISM
Semi-Presidentialism and Democracy: Institutional Choice, Performance and Evolution; R.Elgie
The Study of Semi-Presidentialism: An Holistic Approach; Y-S.Wu
PART II: THE PERFORMANCE OF SEMI-PRESIDENTIALISM: GENERAL AND REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES
Overview of the Performance of Semi-Presidentialism; S.Moestrup
Parliamentary Cohesion and Government Formation in Semi-Presidential Democracies; J-W.Lin
Semi-Presidentialism in Western Europe; R.Elgie
Semi-Presidentialism under Post-Communism; O.Protsyk
Semi-Presidentialism and Democratic Development in East Asia; B.Reilly
Semi-Presidentialism in Africa; Patterns and Trends; S.Moestrup
PART III: THE PERFORMANCE OF SEMI-PRESIDENTIALISM: COUNTRY PERSPECTIVES The President as a Backseat Driver: Portugal's Evolving Semi-Presidentialism; C.Jalali
Taiwan: Democratic Consolidation under Presidential Supremacy; Y-S.Wu & J-H.Tsai
Semi-Presidentialism and Parliamentary Oligarchy in Post-Orange Ukraine; K.Matsuzato
Moldova's Transition from Semi-Presidentialism: Parliamentary Intentions, Presidential Outcome; W.Crowther
Semi-Presidentialism in the Weimar Republic: A Failed Attempt at Democracy; Y-C.Shen
Semi-Presidentialism and Democracy: What Have we Learnt?; R.Elgie