Introduction
One of the most important changes that have occurred in the political systems of the Western world has been the increasing use of presidential republics. A presidential republic is a type of democracy where the chief executive is elected by the voters and is not responsible to the legislature. The basic characteristic of presidential republics is their dual responsibility. On one hand, the legislature has a responsibility to represent and govern. On the other hand, the president, as the head of the executive, is elected by a separate electorate and is responsible to represent the will and be responsive to them in the exercise of political power. Modern political systems arise from this basic idea, which differentiates between presidential republics and parliamentary systems.
There are some key hallmarks of the presidential republic: dualism, separation of powers, and federalism. The first characteristic is connected to the political responsibility of the elected public official, so the president has to be elected directly. The second and third characteristics are connected to the structure of the political area and the substantial matters. The executive, legislative, and judicial powers are divided, and these organs have to enable checks and balances. Federalism means that the political area has to be divided by exterior and interior modes, so this organ has to mediate the legal issues. Dualism, the separation of powers, and federalism are essential elements for the legal regulation of presidential power. The president has limited and divided power. But, they are also responsible. It is connected to the features of presidential republics. Another essential element is the elective system of the executive. The fact of the elective presidency means democratic, representative public power. The president is chosen by the direct and free elections of the public. The essence of the elective system of the executive is the public power of the head of state and government. The president represents the public power in the presidential republic. In the case of the presidential republic, the president is chosen by the people.
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Development of the Presidential Republic System
The historical developments that have evolved into a presidential republic system have their origins in the ancient world, beginning as early as the 6th century. Over time, the industrial revolution marked the onset of contemporary presidential republics as industrialization crystallized into a structured political economy. The intellectual realizations of the Enlightenment indicated merit, liberal democracy, liberty, and republicanism, but it was not until revolutionary movements gave birth to the United States and the modern French republic that a presidential republic state model was crystallized. However, this development was not without regional influence, as both the US and France adapted the presidential system according to their own governance traditions on each side of the Atlantic. The expansion of imperial economic and political influence during this period also witnessed the proliferation of the presidential system in Latin America, although as a result of imperial influence, internal power dynamics, and required economic and political modernization strategies, they failed and often sought to further centralize rather than diffuse power.
The 20th-century wave of decolonization, the collapse of European empires, and the bipolar political global order during the Cold War saw the proliferation of what Huntington termed as 'political decay' or the collapse in authority and meaning of democracy and state administration. New presidential republics accelerated to form new states but inherently came to centralize power to stave off national division under warfare or secessionist movements under the guise of ideological dictatorship and nationalism in a bid to prevent national disintegration. The collapse of the Soviet Union gave way to a new global world order, and with mostly autarkic presidential republics freshly formed post-colonial in Latin America emerged. The global spread of presidential republics was further energized by the implosion of multi-ethnic and ethno-territorial communism in the Balkans during the ambiguity and uncertainty of war. Further democratic transpositions into a presidential republic system transpired. Such a global spread of presidential republics has resulted in stagnation in certain regions but also more colorful and dynamic political transitions in others. Importantly, these historical developments have given rise to contemporary characteristics and shortcomings that are evident in these presidential republics.
Key Features and Structures
Presidential republics, as one of the models for democratic governance, are distinguished by certain specific mechanisms and procedures. The most salient of those is the separation of powers, based on the principles specified by a political thinker. They are exactly what allows the checks and balances to actuate between the various state organs, preventing one from absorbing the remaining ones. The model of presidential republics is marked by an institutional design where the roles overlap in a simultaneous set of demarcated divisions, with the political responsibility delegated to the agents appointed according to standardized times and rules.
Presidential republics characterize themselves as institutions of governance, where the head of the executive is completely independent from the legislature. An important part of the structure of a presidential republic is the method of popular election of the head of state, the supreme commander of the military forces, the chief of the government, the prime representative, the symbol of national unity, the foreign policy strategist, or their deep integration. The president of a presidential republic in a separation of powers between the head of the executive and the legislature can be a unification and a source of conflict. The political system is called an 'original presidential system,' where the president can be elected together with Congress. The strength of the presidents from the point of popular legitimacy depends on the electoral turnout. The system is characterized by a two-round presidential election system since 1787 in terms of section 3 and section 1 of article 2 of the Constitution. The presidential system is a model that was widely adopted across the world, and we can recognize significant differences between them. Presidentialism has a series of advantages but has also been criticized with respect to potential drawbacks.
The USA as a Presidential Republic
On September 17, 1787, 55 delegates at the Philadelphia state house approved the U.S. Constitution, creating the very first presidential republic in the world. The Constitution is widely regarded as the framework of the government that balances representation with the direct democracy of the people, a government that ensures domestic peace and the rule of law, and a government with three branches, all co-equal but with different responsibilities. The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces and chief executive officer of the United States, possesses a great deal of shaping and directing policy-making, and is also responsible for nominating judges to federal courts. The political principles serve as a founding charter of national government and form a landmark document of the Western world. Not surprisingly, the country’s political system has also influenced the political practice and political design of others, both nearby and far away. If one wants to investigate the internal workings of presidential republics and to understand public policy and governance in a systematic, generalizable way, the place to begin is with an intense comparative political case study of the United States.
The U.S. government is a federal system which means that the division of power is not only separate but also shared between a general state government and regional government. The two have their own sovereign powers and the U.S. Congress and the government of a state can have powers over the same area of governance. In practice, the government of the separate states has autonomy to make public policies within each state, with general limits on how basic rights of individuals cannot be affected. However, the reality of state versus federal regulation of governmental activity is nearly as complex as the country’s political architecture itself. At the time of the nation’s founding, the Constitution articulated the principle of federal supremacy over the states in areas of shared jurisdiction, although that interpretation has waxed and waned depending on which party was in office or who sat on the Supreme Court. The U.S. federal government constantly struggles to articulate its control, govern the states, and, in many cases, co-describe and finance the programs that states administer. The intention to grant the president, as one of the three branches of national government, political power beyond the reach of Congress in these cases has yet to be fully realized.
Therefore, as the presidency has grown, roughly so have the president’s duties. As one of the most significant institutions regarding the governing of a country, the presidency holds a special place in presidential republics. When the government is mixed or divided, as with republics, the office is often politically representative of the citizenry in ways that are unique in monarchies, such as placing priorities on the safety and security of the nation through war and foreign policy. But given the increasing responsibility of the office and the rapid socioeconomic development through which countries with strong executives are adapting, they also have unparalleled power and capacity regarding policy enforcement that could bring good civil security to residents. These two roles and political experiences with and evaluations of the U.S. President are common in political discussions around the world.
Presidential Republics Worldwide
Presidential systems are not a historical, social, and cultural universal; they exist in the actualities of people, predominantly in the modern state of the last two centuries. History has varied the numerous differences between presidential systems patterned after the United States to independent neighboring countries. If we compare Latin America, certainly ideological influence has been more consistent than in other regions. Different factors apart from the local influences explain the divergence of presidential systems between countries, including global dynamics that change over time and different major emerging powers that are economically more relevant today. So what is our contribution to this study of presidential systems in a comparative perspective?
In short, presidential systems are different. They have not only varied policy-making processes due to different electoral organizations, but also have their own institutional framework and governance style. This study aims to provide a comparative analysis of the presidential republics in six case studies (three countries in Latin America and one in Africa and Asia). What makes presidential democracies such as those in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru similar and different inside and in comparison to each other? The presidential form of government was expected to bring political stability, and these countries witnessed re-established democracies with competitive elections. In the beginning of the twenty-first century, are these countries facing similar challenges, and if so, why? Interest in presidential systems has been portrayed through discussions about how they cause accountability problems, policy instability, and weak coordination that potentially lead to weak governance. But what is the evidence for this? It is also easy to fall into the trap of ignoring specific local factors that affect the performance of presidents. Cases do matter, but they need to be put into their bigger context.
In this paper, we aim to summarize several case studies of presidential regimes, which are located in Latin America. Our aim is to demonstrate that when empirical generalization occurs at the cross-national level, case-study approaches can be really useful.
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