Three waves of semi-presidential studies. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Elgie, Robert
• Is Part Of: Democratization. Volume 23:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 49
• Page End: 70
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: semi-presidentialism -- comparative politics -- political science; Democracy -- Periodicals; Economic history -- 1990- -- Periodicals; Democratization -- Periodicals; 321.8
• DOI: 10.1080/13510347.2014.960853
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1351-0347

Abstract

Abstract : This article reviews the scholarship on semi-presidentialism since the early 1990s. We identify three waves of semi-presidential studies. The first wave focused on the concept of semi-presidentialism, how it should be defined, and what countries should be classified as semi-presidential. The second wave examined the effect of semi-presidential institutions on newly democratized countries. Does semi-presidentialism help or hinder the process of democratic consolidation? The third wave examines the effect of semi-presidential institutions on both recent and consolidated democracies. Third-wave studies have been characterized by three questions: to what extent does the direct election of the president make a difference to outcomes; to what extent does variation in presidential power make a difference; and what other factors interact with presidential power to help to bring about differential outcomes? The article argues that the concept of semi-presidentialism remains taxonomically valid, but that the empirical scholarship on countries with semi-presidential institutions needs to respond to broader developments within the discipline if it is to remain relevant.