Semi-presidential republic
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A semi-presidential republic, or dual executive republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has an executive president independent of the legislature; and from the presidential system in that the cabinet, although named by the president, is responsible to the legislature, which may force the cabinet to resign through a motion of no confidence.[1][2][3][4]
While the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and Finland (from 1919 to 2000) exemplified early semi-presidential systems, the term "semi-presidential" was first introduced in 1959 in an article by journalist Hubert Beuve-Méry,[5] and popularized by a 1978 work written by political scientist Maurice Duverger,[6] both of whom intended to describe the French Fifth Republic (established in 1958).[1][2][3][4]
Definition
Maurice Duverger's original definition of semi-presidentialism stated that the president had to be elected, possess significant power, and serve for a fixed term.[7] Modern definitions merely declare that the head of state has to be elected, and that a separate prime minister that is dependent on parliamentary confidence has to lead the legislative.[7]
Subtypes
There are two distinct subtypes of semi-presidentialism: premier-presidentialism and president-parliamentarism.
Under the premier-presidential system, the prime minister and cabinet are exclusively accountable to parliament. The president may choose the prime minister and cabinet, but only the parliament may approve them and remove them from office with a vote of no confidence. This system is much closer to pure parliamentarism. This subtype is used in: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde,[8] East Timor,[8][9] France, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Niger, Georgia (2013–2018), Poland (de facto, however, according to the Constitution, Poland is a parliamentary republic),[10][11][12] Portugal, Romania, São Tomé and Príncipe,[8] Sri Lanka, Turkey (de facto between 2014–2018, until the constitutional amendment to switch the government to presidential from parliamentary), and Ukraine (since 2014; previously, between 2006 and 2010).[13][14]
Under the president-parliamentary system, the prime minister and cabinet are dually accountable to the president and to the parliament. The president chooses the prime minister and the cabinet, but must have the support of a parliamentary majority for his choice. In order to remove a prime minister, or the whole cabinet, from power, the president can either dismiss them, or the parliament can remove them through a vote of no confidence. This form of semi-presidentialism is much closer to pure presidentialism. It is used in: Guinea-Bissau,[8] Mozambique, Russia, and Taiwan. It was also used in Ukraine (first between 1996 and 2005; then from 2010 to 2014), Georgia (from 2004 to 2013), South Korea under the Fourth and Fifth republics, and in Germany during the Weimar Republic.[13][14]
Cohabitation
In a semi-presidential system, the president and the prime minister may sometimes be from different political parties. This is called "cohabitation", a term which originated in France after the situation first arose in the 1980s. Cohabitation can create either an effective system of checks and balances, or a period of bitter and tense stonewalling, depending on the attitudes of the two leaders, the ideologies of themselves/their parties, and the demands of their supporters.[15]
Division of powers
The distribution of power between the president and the prime minister can vary greatly between countries.
In
In most cases, cohabitation results from a system in which the two executives are not elected at the same time or for the same term. For example, in 1981, France elected both a
However, in 2000, amendments to the
Advantages and disadvantages
The incorporation of elements from both presidential and parliamentary republics can bring certain advantageous elements; however, it also creates disadvantages, often related to the confusion produced by mixed authority patterns.[18][19]
Advantages
- Parliament has the ability to remove an unpopular prime minister, therefore maintaining stability throughout the president's fixed term.
- In most semi-presidential systems, important segments of bureaucracy are taken away from the president, creating additional checks and balances where the running of the day-to-day government and its issues are separate from the head of state, and as such, its issues tend to be looked at on their own merits, with their ebbs and flows and not necessarily tied to who the head of state is.
- Having a separate head of government who needs to command the confidence of the parliament is seen as being more in tune to the political and economic development of the country. Because the head of government is elected from the parliament, there is little potential for political gridlock to occur, since the parliament has the power to remove the head of government if needed.
Disadvantages
- The system provides cover for the president, as unpopular policies could be blamed on the prime minister, who runs the day-to-day operations of the government.
- It creates a sense of confusion towards accountability, as there is no relatively clear sense of who is responsible for policy successes and failures.
- It creates both confusion and inefficiency in the votes of confidencemakes the prime minister respond to the parliament.
Republics with a semi-presidential system of government
Italics indicate states with limited recognition.
Premier-presidential systems
The president has the authority to choose the prime minister and the cabinet, but only the parliament may remove them from office through a vote of no confidence. However, even though the president does not have the power to directly dismiss the prime minister or the cabinet, they can dissolve parliament.
- Burkina Faso (de jure; currently suspended following 2022 coup)
- Cape Verde
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- East Timor
- France[a]
- Haiti
- Lithuania
- Madagascar
- Mongolia
- Niger (de jure; currently suspended following 2023 coup)
President-parliamentary systems
The president chooses the prime minister without a
- Austria (de jure; de facto a parliamentary republic)[d]
- Azerbaijan
- Republic of the Congo
- East Timor
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kazakhstan
- Mauritania
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Palestine
- Peru
- Russia
- Taiwan (Nominally a parliamentary republic; the semi-presidential system is based on temporary additional articles)[e]
- Tunisia
Former semi-presidential republics
- Armenia (2008–2018)[28]
- Croatia (1990–2000)
- Cuba (1940–1976)
- Finland (1919–2000)
- Georgia (1991–1995, 2004–2005, 2011–2019)[f]
- Germany (1919–1933)[29]
- Greece (1973–1974)[30]
- Kenya (2007–2013)[g]
- Kyrgyzstan (1993–2021)[31]
- Mali (1991–2023)
- Moldova (1990–2001)
- Pakistan (1985–1997, 2003–2010)
- Philippines (1978–1986)[32]
- Russian SFSR (1991)[33]
- Soviet Union (1990–1991)[34]
- South Korea (1972–1988)[35]
- Ukraine (1991–1995)[36]
See also
- List of countries by system of government
- Parliamentary system
- Presidential system
- Semi-parliamentary system
References
Notes
- ^ In France, the president chooses the prime minister (if they do not have a majority in the National Assembly, they have to choose the leader of the opposition) but can only dismiss them if they have a majority in the National Assembly. The National Assembly can remove the prime minister from office with a vote of no confidence. The president can also dissolve the National Assembly once a year.
- ^ Poland has been identified as a de facto semi-presidential republic as the President does exercise some form of governance and appoints the Prime Minister as the head of government. The decision is then subject to a parliamentary vote of confidence.[20][21][22][10]
- ^ Current Prime Minister Ana Brnabić has been cited by political scientist Krzysztof Zuba as an example of a head of government with extensive political dependence on a leader of the governing party.[23] Opposition leaders and some observers describe Brnabić as a mere puppet of President Aleksandar Vučić, whose presidency, according to the Constitution is largely ceremonial with no significant executive power.[24][23][25][26] Brnabić never denied this, and even said that Vučić should act as a "mentor" of the prime minister.[27]
- ^ The Republic of Austria is de jure semi-presidential according to the country's Constitution, however behaves more like a parliamentary republic in practice by constitutional convention, with the Chancellor being the country's leading political figure despite nominally being ranked third according to the Constitution.
- sunset clausein the additional articles will terminate them in the event of a hypothetical resumption of ROC rule in Mainland China.
- parliamentarysince 2019.
- ^ Parliamentary Republic with an executive presidency and a separate Prime Minister (i.e. Votes of no confidence entailed the removal of the President).
Citations
- ^ .
The concept of a semi-presidential form of government, as used here, is defined only by the content of the constitution. A political regime is considered as semi-presidential if the constitution which established it, combines three elements: (1) the president of the republic is elected by universal suffrage, (2) he possesses quite considerable powers; (3) he has opposite him, however, a prime minister and ministers who possess executive and governmental power and can stay in office only if the parliament does not show its opposition to them.
- ^ a b Veser, Ernst [in German] (1997). "Semi-Presidentialism-Duverger's concept: A New Political System Model" (PDF). Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences. 11 (1): 39–60. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ^ OCLC 909782158. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ S2CID 153349701.
The conventional analysis of government in democratic countries by political science and constitutional law starts from the traditional types of presidentialism and parliamentarism. There is, however, a general consensus that governments in the various countries work quite differently. This is why some authors have inserted distinctive features into their analytical approaches, at the same time maintaining the general dichotomy. Maurice Duverger, trying to explain the French Fifth Republic, found that this dichotomy was not adequate for this purpose. He therefore resorted to the concept of 'semi-presidential government': The characteristics of the concept are (Duverger 1974: 122, 1978: 28, 1980: 166):
1. the president of the republic is elected by universal suffrage,
2. he possesses quite considerable powers and
3. he has opposite him a prime minister who possesses executive and governmental powers and can stay in office only if parliament does not express its opposition to him. - ^ Le Monde, 8 January 1959.
- ISBN 9782226005809.
- ^ S2CID 145748468.
- ^ SSRN 1644026. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- OCLC 983148216. Retrieved 18 August 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b McMenamin, Iain. "Semi-Presidentialism and Democratisation in Poland" (PDF). School of Law and Government, Dublin City University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ "Poland 1997 (rev. 2009) Constitution". Constitute. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
- ^ "Poland". The World Factbook. CIA. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
- ^ Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. United States: University of California, San Diego. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2017.)
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help - ^ OCLC 6895745903. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
- ^ OCLC 4951242513. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
- Constitutional Council of Francewebsite (in French).
- ^ Le Petit Larousse 2013 p. 880
- ISBN 978-1111341930– via Google Books.
- .
- ^ Veser, Ernst [in German] (23 September 1997). "Semi-Presidentialism-Duverger's Concept — A New Political System Model" (PDF) (in English and Chinese). Department of Education, School of Education, University of Cologne. pp. 39–60. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
Duhamel has developed the approach further: He stresses that the French construction does not correspond to either parliamentary or the presidential form of government, and then develops the distinction of 'système politique' and 'régime constitutionnel'. While the former comprises the exercise of power that results from the dominant institutional practice, the latter is the totality of the rules for the dominant institutional practice of the power. In this way, France appears as 'presidentialist system' endowed with a 'semi-presidential regime' (1983: 587). By this standard he recognizes Duverger's pléiade as semi-presidential regimes, as well as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Lithuania (1993: 87).
- ^ Shugart, Matthew Søberg (September 2005). "Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive and Mixed Authority Patterns" (PDF). Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
- . Retrieved 21 August 2017.
Even if the president has no discretion in the forming of cabinets or the right to dissolve parliament, his or her constitutional authority can be regarded as 'quite considerable' in Duverger's sense if cabinet legislation approved in parliament can be blocked by the people's elected agent. Such powers are especially relevant if an extraordinary majority is required to override a veto, as in Mongolia, Poland, and Senegal. In these cases, while the government is fully accountable to parliament, it cannot legislate without taking the potentially different policy preferences of the president into account.
- ^ S2CID 211437470.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- ^ Gouveia, José Fialho (7 July 2017). "Serbia chooses first woman to lead government and please EU". Diário de Notícias (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ "Brnabić: Vučić da ima ulogu mentora nad premijerom" (in Serbian). Danas. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- presidential republic in 1991–2008, a semi-presidential republic in 2008–2018 and has been a parliamentary republicsince 2018.
- ^ Known as the Weimar Republic.
- Greek Junta, provided for a powerful directly-elected president and for a government dependent on Parliamentary confidence. Neither of these provisions were implemented, as the regime collapsed eight month's after the Constitution's promulgation.
- presidential republic in 1990–1993, a semi-presidential republic in 1993–2010 and a de facto semi-presidential republic; de jure a parliamentary republicin 2010–2021.
- ^ Known as the Fourth Philippine Republic.
- Soviet member-statein 1918–1991 and semi-presidential republic in 1991
- supremein 1918–1990 and a semi-presidential republic in 1990–1991.
- Yushin Constitutionof the Fourth Republic established a presidential power to dissolve theSixth Republic
- ^ An interim constitution passed in 1995 removed the President's ability to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada and the Rada's ability to dismiss the government by a vote of no confidence. Both of these provisions were restored upon the passage of a permanent constitution in 1996.
Sources
- Bahro, Horst; Bayerlein, Bernhard H.; Veser, Ernst (October 1998). "Duverger's concept: Semi–presidential government revisited". S2CID 153349701.
- Beuman, Lydia M. (2016). Political Institutions in East Timor: Semi-Presidentialism and Democratisation. Abingdon, Oxon: LCCN 2015036590– via Google Books.
- Canas, Vitalino (2004). "The Semi-Presidential System" (PDF). Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht. 64 (1): 95–124.
- ISBN 9782226005809.
- .
- ISBN 9780199585984
- Frye, Timothy (October 1997). "A Politics of Institutional Choice: Post-Communist Presidencies" (PDF). S2CID 18049875.
- Goetz, Klaus H. (2006). Heywood, Paul; Jones, Erik; Rhodes, Martin; Sedelmeier (eds.). Developments in European politics. Power at the Centre: The Organization of Democratic Systems. Basingstoke England New York: ISBN 9780230000414.
- ISBN 9780198780441.
- OCLC 715091099.
- Passarelli, Gianluca (December 2010). "The government in two semi-presidential systems: France and Portugal in a comparative perspective" (PDF). French Politics. 8 (4): 402–428. S2CID 55204235. Archived from the original(PDF) on Oct 2, 2018.
- ISBN 9780333555286.
- Roper, Steven D. (April 2002). "Are All Semipresidential Regimes the Same? A Comparison of Premier-Presidential Regimes". Comparative Politics. 34 (3): 253–272. JSTOR 4146953.
- ISBN 9780333675090.
- Shoesmith, Dennis (March–April 2003). "Timor-Leste: Divided Leadership in a Semi-Presidential System". OCLC 905451085. Archived from the originalon Oct 28, 2021.
- Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. United States: University of California, San Diego. Archived from the original(PDF) on 19 August 2008.
- OCLC 6895745903.
- ISBN 9780521429900.
- Veser, Ernst (1997). "Semi-Presidentialism-Duverger's concept: A New Political System Model" (PDF). Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences. 11 (1): 39–60.
External links
- Governing Systems and Executive-Legislative Relations. (Presidential, Parliamentary and Hybrid Systems), United Nations Development Programme (n.d.). Archived 10 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- J. Kristiadi (April 22, 2008). "Indonesia Outlook 2007: Toward strong, democratic governance". The Jakarta Post. PT Bina Media Tenggara. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008.
- The Semi-Presidential One, blog of Robert Elgie
- Presidential Power blog with posts written by several political scientists, including Robert Elgie.