Summary of chapter 5

1
Summary of chapter 5

• Classifying cabinets
• Theories of coalition formation
• Advances
• Relationship between type and number of parties
• Interesting?
• Small number of parties gt Majorities more
  frequent

2
Executive-Legislative Relations

• Majoritarian Executive Dominance
• Consensual Legislative Dominance
• Parliamentary vs. Presidential Govt
• Reliance on legislatures confidence vs. fixed
  term
• Selection by legislature vs. popular election
• Collegial executive vs. one-person executive

3
Parliamentary vs. Presidential Government

• Many combination are possible
• Empirically there are only pure presidential
  or parliamentary systems
• Switzerland is the only exceptions.
• Semi-presidentialism
• Vary in strength of presidents
• France, Austria, Iceland, Portugal, Finland
• Lijphart depends on presidents support
• Dissolution power

4
Israel (Is Lijphart right?)

• Before 1996 Parliamentary
• Now
• Prime Minister is directly elected
• Parliament elected at same time
• Parliament can dismiss Prime Minister
• Prime Minister can dissolve Parliament
• Either requires a new election?
• Similarity to a presidential system

5
Parliamentary vs. Presidential Government

• Separation of Powers
• In presidential systems it implies that the same
  person can not serve in both legislative and
  executive branch
• In parliamentary systems, generally, cabinet
  members are legislators
• Netherlands, Norway and Luxembourg the exception

6
Parliamentary vs. Presidential Government

• Presidents dont have the right to dissolve the
  legislature
• Exceptions France, Israel
• In parliamentary system dissolution rights may or
  may not exist
• Norway Fixed term
• Restricted dissolution rights
• Unlimited UK

7
Parliamentary vs. Presidential Government

• Head of state/government
• Presidential systems President is both head of
  state and government
• Parliamentary systems Monarch/President head of
  state, PM head of Government
• Botswana PM is both
• South Africa under Nelson Mandela

8
South Africa

• T.he President is elected for five year term by
  the parliament
• The Cabinet consists of the President, as head of
  the Cabinet, a Deputy President and Ministers.
  The President appoints the Deputy President and
  Ministers, assigns their powers and functions,
  and may dismiss them.
• The President
• must select the Deputy President and Ministers
  from among the members of the National Assembly
• may select no more than two Ministers from
  outside the Assembly.
• The Deputy President must assist the President in
  the execution of the functions of government.

9
Separation Balance of Power

• Not a simple relationship between
  presidentialism/parliamentarism and balance of
  power
• Presidents, as well as PMs, can be either strong
  or weak (Belgium vs. UK, US vs France)

10
Presidential Power

• Reactive Proactive Powers
• Veto Power
• Decree Power
• Strength Cohesion of Presidential Parties
• Popular election
• Claim to legitimacy

11
Presidential Power

• Dependence on Partisan Power
• May lead to instability of power
• Constitutional Powers
• Generally stable
• Vetoes and Decrees still work fairly well
• Popularity
• ????.

12
How do we measure balance of power?

• Cabinet durability as an indicator for
  parliamentary government
• Q May inhibit cabinets ability to pass a
  coherent policy program, but does it shift power
  to the legislature?
• The fourth French Republic? Italy?
• Cabinet stability vs. Regime stability
• How to measure cabinet durability?

13
How do we measure balance of power?

• When does a cabinet end? When does a new one
  begin?
• Important factors
• Partisan composition
• Elections
• Change in PM
• Change in type of cabinet (winning, minority,
  oversized?)
• Lijphart Combines measures.

14
How do we measure balance of power?

• Lijphart Nothing more stable than the U.K. ???
• Lijphart U.S.? Switzerland?
• Term limits?

15
Cabinet Type and Cabinet Durability

• Durability Minimal winning party gt Minimal
  winning coalition gt Minority party gt Oversized gt
  Minority coalition
• Caretaker cabinets
• Short duration of oversized cabinets. Why?

16
Executive Dominance and Majoritarian Governments

• Figure 7.2
• Shows a fairly strong relationship
• However, executive dominance is really
  durability and majoritarian cabinet is really
  percentage of minimal winning, one party
  governments
• gt Seems like somewhat an uninteresting finding

17
Summary

• Attempt to measure balance of power
• What is power? Ability to pass
  legislation/influence policy even if legislator
  opposes
• What is the outcome?
• Better measures? Veto power, Decree power,
  Agenda setting, etc

President
Legislature