Book Description
This book examines how constitutional courts can support weak democratic states in the wake of societal division and authoritarian regimes.
Author : Samuel Issacharoff
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 311 pages
File Size : 13,46 MB
Release : 2015-06-17
Category : Law
ISBN : 1107038707
This book examines how constitutional courts can support weak democratic states in the wake of societal division and authoritarian regimes.
Author : William G. Howell
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 23,42 MB
Release : 2020-07-14
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 022672882X
To counter the threat America faces, two political scientists offer “clear constitutional solutions that break sharply with the conventional wisdom” (Steven Levitsky, New York Times–bestselling coauthor of How Democracies Die). Has American democracy’s long, ambitious run come to an end? Possibly yes. As William G. Howell and Terry M. Moe argue in this trenchant new analysis of modern politics, the United States faces a historic crisis that threatens our system of self-government—and if democracy is to be saved, the causes of the crisis must be understood and defused. The most visible cause is Donald Trump, who has used his presidency to attack the nation’s institutions and violate its democratic norms. Yet Trump is but a symptom of causes that run much deeper: social forces like globalization, automation, and immigration that for decades have generated economic harms and cultural anxieties that our government has been wholly ineffective at addressing. Millions of Americans have grown angry and disaffected, and populist appeals have found a receptive audience. These were the drivers of Trump’s dangerous presidency, and they’re still there for other populists to weaponize. What can be done? The disruptive forces of modernity cannot be stopped. The solution lies, instead, in having a government that can deal with them—which calls for aggressive new policies, but also for institutional reforms that enhance its capacity for effective action. The path to progress is filled with political obstacles, including an increasingly populist, anti-government Republican Party. It is hard to be optimistic. But if the challenge is to be met, we need reforms of the presidency itself—reforms that harness the promise of presidential power for effective government, but firmly protect against that power being put to anti-democratic ends.
Author : Kurt von Mettenheim
Publisher : JHU Press
Page : 340 pages
File Size : 44,21 MB
Release : 1997
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780801853142
While many comparative analysts see parliamentary government as essential for stable democracy, this volume argues that the American presidential system that separates and diffuses power can provide new perspectives for those building democratic institutions in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the new republics of the former Soviet Union. The authors recognize risks of rigidity, gridlock, and excessive centralization in presidential institutions. But they also emphasize the unexpected levels of legislative productivity during periods of divided government, the dramatic reversal of declining popularity by Presidents Reagan and Clinton, and the importance of direct appeals by presidents to the nation. After examining the American presidential system, the authors focus on the de-facto separation of powers in European parliaments and presidentialism in France, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Both trends in European parliamentary systems and the dramatic changes within French presidential institutions suggest that scholars should temper broad generalizations about presidential or parliamentary government.
Author : Brian F. Crisp
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 16,83 MB
Release : 2020-03-19
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1108478018
A comparative analysis of why democratic institutions often produce dissonance between citizens' preferences and public policy in separation-of-powers regimes.
Author : Matthew Soberg Shugart
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 334 pages
File Size : 15,55 MB
Release : 1992-08-28
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780521429900
In recent years renewed attention has been directed to the importance of the role of institutional design in democratic politics. Particular interest has concerned constitutional design and the relative merits of parliamentary versus presidential systems. In this book, the authors systematically assess the strengths and weaknesses of various forms of presidential systems, drawing on recent developments in the theoretical literature about institutional design and electoral rules. They develop a typology of democratic regimes structured around the separation of powers principle, including two hybrid forms, the premier-presidential and president-parliamentary systems, and they evaluate a number of alternative ways of balancing powers between the branches within these basic frameworks. They also demonstrate that electoral rules are critically important in determining how political authority is exercised.
Author : Pippa Norris
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 30,31 MB
Release : 2008-08-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780521694803
Proposals for power-sharing constitutions remain controversial, as highlighted by current debates in Iraq, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Sudan. This book updates and refines the theory of consociationalism, taking account of the flood of contemporary innovations in power-sharing institutions that have occurred worldwide. The book classifies and compares four types of political institutions: the electoral system, parliamentary or presidential executives, unitary or federal states, and the structure and independence of the mass media. The study tests the potential advantages and disadvantages of each of these institutions for democratic governance. Cross-national time-series data concerning trends in democracy are analyzed for all countries worldwide since the early 1970s. Chapters are enriched by comparing detailed case studies. The mixed-method research design illuminates the underlying causal mechanisms by examining historical developments and processes of institutional change within particular nations and regions. The conclusion draws together the results and the practical lessons for policymakers.
Author : Robert C. Lieberman
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 427 pages
File Size : 29,8 MB
Release : 2021-11-25
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1009002929
Politics in the United States has become increasingly polarized in recent decades. Both political elites and everyday citizens are divided into rival and mutually antagonistic partisan camps, with each camp questioning the political legitimacy and democratic commitments of the other side. Does this polarization pose threats to democracy itself? What can make some democratic institutions resilient in the face of such challenges? Democratic Resilience brings together a distinguished group of specialists to examine how polarization affects the performance of institutional checks and balances as well as the political behavior of voters, civil society actors, and political elites. The volume bridges the conventional divide between institutional and behavioral approaches to the study of American politics and incorporates historical and comparative insights to explain the nature of contemporary challenges to democracy. It also breaks new ground to identify the institutional and societal sources of democratic resilience.
Author : James W. Ceaser
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 392 pages
File Size : 49,72 MB
Release : 1979-06-21
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780691021881
Examining the development of the process of presidential selection from the founding of the republic to the present day, James Ceaser contends that many of the major purposes of the selection system as it was formerly understood have been ignored by current reformers and modern scholars. In an attempt to reverse this trend, Professor Ceaser discusses the theories of selection offered by leading American statesmen from the Founders and Thomas Jefferson to Martin Van Buren and Woodrow Wilson. From these theories he identifies a set of criteria for a sound selection system that he then uses to analyze and evaluate the recent changes in the selection process. Five normative functions of a presidential selection system comprise the author's criteria: it should minimize the harmful effects of ambitious contenders for the office, promote responsible executive leadership and power, help secure an able president, ensure a legitimate accession, and provide for an appropriate amount of choice and change. Professor Ceaser finds that the present system is characterized by weak parties and candidate-centered campaigns that lead to the problems of "image" politics and demagogic leadership appeals. He therefore argues for a more republican selection system in which political parties would be strengthened to serve as a restraining force on popular authority, public opinion, and individual aspirations for executive power.
Author : Jose Antonio Cheibub
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 11,70 MB
Release : 2007
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780521542449
This book questions the reasons why presidential democracies more likely to break down than parliamentary ones.
Author : Freedom House
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 1265 pages
File Size : 30,29 MB
Release : 2019-01-31
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1538112035
Freedom in the World, the Freedom House flagship survey whose findings have been published annually since 1972, is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. The survey ratings and narrative reports on 195 countries and fifteen territories are used by policymakers, the media, international corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders to monitor trends in democracy and track improvements and setbacks in freedom worldwide. The Freedom in the World political rights and civil liberties ratings are determined through a multi-layered process of research and evaluation by a team of regional analysts and eminent scholars. The analysts used a broad range of sources of information, including foreign and domestic news reports, academic studies, nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, individual professional contacts, and visits to the region, in conducting their research. The methodology of the survey is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and these standards are applied to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development.