Semi-presidentialism in Central and Eastern Europe

This book examines the extent to which semi-presidentialism has affected the process of democratisation in Central and Eastern Europe since the early 1990s. The standard academic wisdom is that semi-presidentialism, where there is both a directly elected president and a prime minister who is responsible for the legislature, is a risky choice for nascent democracies because of the in-built potential for conflict between the president and the prime minister. This book demonstrates that semi-presidential regimes can operate in quite different ways, some with very strong presidents, some with strong prime ministers and ceremonial presidents, and some with a balance of presidential and prime ministerial powers. In particular, the book analyses the specific impact of the various forms of semi-presidentialism that can be found in Central and Eastern Europe. With chapters on Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine, the book explores whether some forms of semi-presidentialism are more conducive to democratization than others. It also looks at how semi-presidentialism may have helped democracy to survive and examines its impact on government performance in terms of stability and policy-making.

ISBN 0719075351   Pages 296 ISBN13 9780719075353 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Manchester University Press   Weight (grammes) 617 Imprint Manchester University Press   Published in Manchester Format Hardback   Series title Perspectives on Democratic Practice Publication date 01 Sep 2008   Height (mm) 234 Library of Congress JF255   Width (mm) 156 DEWEY 320.947   Spine width (mm) 30 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level Undergraduate

1		Semi-presidentialism : a common regime type, but one that should be avoided? by Robert Elgie and Sophia Moestrup		1
2		Belarus : a case of unsuccessful semi-presidentialism (1994-1996) by Andrei Arkadyev		14
3		Semi-presidentialism in Bulgaria : the cyclical rise of informal powers and individual political ambitions in a 'dual executive' by Svetlozar A. Andreev		32
4		Semi-presidentialism in Croatia by Mirjana Kasapovic		51
5		Semi-presidentialism in the Republic of Macedonia (former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia) by Francois Frison-Roche		85
7		The impact of party fragmentation on Moldovan semi-presidentialism by Steven D. Roper		108
8		Semi-presidentialism and democratisation in Poland by Iain McMenamin		120
9		Romania : political irresponsibility without constitutional safeguards by Tom Gallagher and Viorel Andrievici		138
10		Russia : the benefits and perils of presidential leadership by Petra Schleiter and Edward Morgan-Jones		159
11		Slovakia's presidency : consolidating democracy by curbing ambiguous powers by Darina Malova and Marek Rybar		180
12		Slovenia : weak formal position, strong informal influence? by Alenka Krasovec and Damjan Lajh		201
13		Ukraine : presidential power, veto strategies and democratisation by Sarah Birch		219
14		The impact of semi-presidentialism on the performance of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe by Robert Elgie and Sophia Moestrup		239
		Bibliography		258
		Index		276

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