Constitutional Debates in the Philippines: From Presidentialism to Parliamentarianism?

Asian Survey ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jüürgen Rüüland
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Presidential System ◽  
Weak Party

The ouster of President Joseph Estrada initiated a new constitutional debate in the Philippines. In view of the fixed term of office, which allows for removal of a malperforming president only by way of an impeachment, political analysts are demanding a shift from the existing presidential to a parliamentary system of government. This article argues that such a shift does not necessarily solve the problems blamed on the 1987 Constitution, such as the rigidities of the presidential term, executive-legislative gridlock, presidential concentration of power, political instability, a weak party system, populism, and patronage. It proposes incremental reforms by amending the 1987 Constitution where needed, without scrapping the presidential system of government.

scholarly journals Undemocratic Centralism and Neo-Corporatism: The New British Constitution

1969 ◽  
pp. 540
Author(s):  
Norman Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Rational Discourse ◽  
Presidential System

Professor Lewis argues that Britain's lack of a constitutionally entrenched bill of rights, combined with the failure of the English courts to sufficiently protect individual rights and interests, has served to create a void of adequate protections for those freedoms which seen as being fundamental to a parliamentary democracy. Furthermore, the author argues that the parliamentary system of government in Britain has devolved from a forum of rational discourse, into a party system, and more recently into a quasi-presidential system where ultimate power lies with the Prime Minister. The devolution of the parliamentary system, when combined with the lack of adequate protections of civil liberties, is seen as creating a system of "undemocratic centralism", examples of which are These factors, Professor Lewis argues, are indicative of Britain's need of a more adequate system of checks and balances, and a Charter of Rights similar to Canada's, each of which can be achieved by a new Constitutional "settlement''.

the presidential and the semi-presidential system

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peshraw Mohammed Ameen
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Realistic Model ◽  
The Political ◽  
Kurdistan Region ◽  
Political Responsibility ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Head Of State ◽  
Presidential System ◽  
The Government

In this research we dealt with the aspects of the presidential system and the semi-presidential system, and he problematic of the political system in the Kurdistan Region. Mainly The presidential system has stabilized in many important countries, and the semi-presidential concept is a new concept that can be considered a mixture of parliamentary and presidential principles. One of the features of a semi-presidential system is that the elected president is accountable to parliament. The main player is the president who is elected in direct or indirect general elections. And the United States is a model for the presidential system, and France is the most realistic model for implementing the semi-presidential system. The French political system, which lived a long period under the traditional parliamentary system, introduced new adjustments in the power structure by strengthening the powers of the executive authority vis-à-vis Parliament, and expanding the powers of the President of the Republic. In exchange for the government while remaining far from bearing political responsibility, and therefore it can be said that the French system has overcome the elements of the presidential system in terms of objectivity and retains the elements of the parliamentary system in terms of formality, so it deserves to be called the semi-presidential system. Then the political system in the Kurdistan Region is not a complete parliamentary system, and it is not a presidential system in light of the presence of a parliament with powers. Therefore, the semi-presidential system is the most appropriate political system for this region, where disputes are resolved over the authority of both the parliament and the regional president, and a political system is built stable. And that because The presence of a parliamentary majority, which supports a government based on a strategic and stable party coalition, which is one of the current problems in the Kurdistan region. This dilemma can be solved through the semi-presidential system. And in another hand The impartiality of the head of state in the relationship with the government and parliament. The head of state, with some relations with the government, can participate in legislative competencies with Parliament.

scholarly journals Regime Types or Party Systems: What Matters More For Political Instability In The Developing World?

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
M. Moniruzzaman
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Party System ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Regime Types ◽  
What Matters

<p>Political stability is desired by every state. But is it contingent upon regime types or party systems? Existing studies on political stability suggest that regimes such as authoritarianism, democracy, and dictatorship and their variants have variously influenced political stability. Some have proved to be friendly with political stability in certain countries, while counterproductive for some other. However, the existing literature has exclusively focused on regime types alone neglecting the factor of party systems. This article argues that not only regime types but party systems also influence political stability. Based on data from Asia, Africa and Latin America this article examines the following four assumptions. Firstly, absolute monarchy and absolute authoritarianism together with no or one party system generally maintain political stability. Secondly, constitutional monarchies together with multiparty system generally maintain political stability. Thirdly, presidentialism together with dominant party system generally maintains political stability. And finally, parliamentarianism together with multi-party system is generally negatively related with political stability.</p>

The Fall of Balmaceda and Public Finance in Chile: New Data for an Old Debate

1982 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Bowman ◽  
Michael Wallerstein
Keyword(s):  
Public Finance ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Discrete Event ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Presidential System ◽  
The Subject ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Over Time

The 1891 civil war that led to the downfall of President José Manuel Balmaceda is without doubt one of the most visible episodes of Chilean history. Already the subject of a voluminous bibliography by 1894 (Echeverría y Reyes, 1894), the “revolution's” importance to historians of Chile actually increased over time as a new generation of scholars came to view it not merely as a discrete event of limited intrinsic interest but as an important key to understanding Chile's subsequent political and economic development. In retrospect, the conflict came to be seen as a “crucial watershed” in Chilean history (Blakemore, 1974: 243), marking the replacement of a presidential system—1833-1891—notable in nineteenth-century Latin America for political stability, by a parliamentary system—1891-1924—notorious for political and monetary disorder.

Women in the Legislatures and Executives of the World: Knocking at the Highest Glass Ceiling

1999 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Regression ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
The World ◽  
Political Office ◽  
Women In Parliament

This article reports the results of a survey of women in legislatures and executives around the world as they were constituted in 1998 (N = 180). The chief hypotheses regarding the factors hindering or facilitating women's access to political representation were tested by multivariate regression models. The regression models juxtaposed a cocktail of institutional, political, cultural, and socioeconomic variables with the following dependent variables: (1) the percentage of MPs who are women and (2) the percentage of cabinet ministers who are women.A number, although not all, of the cited hypotheses were statistically confirmed and more finely quantified. The socioeconomic development of women in society has an effect on the number of women in parliament but not in the cabinet. A country's length of experience with multipartyism and women's enfranchisement correlates with both the legislative and the executive percentage. Certain electoral systems are more women friendly than others. The ideological nature of the party system affects the number of women elected and chosen for cabinet posts. And last, the state's dominant religion, taken as a proxy for culture, also statistically relates to the number of women who will make it to high political office. However, other long-held hypotheses were not proved. The degree of democracy is not a good indicator of the percentage of women who will make it into the legislature or the cabinet, nor is the dichotomy between a presidential or parliamentary system.

Party system erosion: Evidence from Peru

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 581-593
Author(s):  
Christopher L Carter
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Institutional Factors ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Regression Discontinuity Design ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Weak Party ◽  
Party Brands

Weakly institutionalized party systems are a defining feature of third-wave democracies. Yet, in some countries like Peru, party weakness is not a static equilibrium but rather part of a dynamic process of “party system erosion” in which weak parties become weaker over time as independents come to dominate subnational posts. As I argue, party system erosion is driven by a particular configuration of institutional factors—weak party brands, ease of ballot access, and limited partisan control over resource distribution. These institutional features increase the likelihood that experienced candidates will run as independents. When these candidates are elected, they obtain more intergovernmental discretionary transfers, which are used to improve performance and maintain clientelistic networks. This resource advantage of independent officials further weakens party brands and reduces experienced candidates’ incentives to run with parties in future elections. I test this theory using a data set of 80,000 subnational officials and a regression discontinuity design.

Social Structure and Party Support in the East Asian Democracies

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian McAllister
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Party System ◽  
East Asian ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Party Support ◽  
The Comparative Study ◽  
The Relationship

A stable and effective party system depends on consistent and enduring support from social groups. Using the Lipset-Rokkan paradigm as a point of departure, this article tests the relationship between social structure and party support in four East Asian democracies (Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan) and two Western democracies (Australia and New Zealand) using the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. Using Australia and New Zealand as a reference point, the results show that the four Lipset-Rokkan social cleavages are only loosely related to party support in the four East Asian nations, mainly through center-periphery and urban-rural divisions. The absence of an owner-worker cleavage is explained by the suppression of labor-based parties in these countries. More generally, the results suggest the importance of the socializing experiences associated with the democratic transitions in each of the four newer democracies.

Auf dem Weg zum »Präsidialsystem alla Turca?«

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahir Tokatlı
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Presidential System ◽  
Turkish Constitution ◽  
Constitutional Changes ◽  
Governmental System

In this book, the author examines the development of the Turkish constitution since 1921 in terms of its horizontal separation of powers, and concludes that Turkey’s recent constitutional changes do not imply a presidential system at all. Contrary to the widespread assumption in journalism and academia, the governmental system has persisted in conforming to a parliamentary system. Using a reconceptualisation of the typology of systems of government, this thesis is reinforced and at the same time provides a further contribution to the field of comparative politics by affirming the benefits of the basic dichotomous typology, by elaborating a distinctive subtypification and by rejecting semi-presidentialism as an autonomous type.

Separatist division boosts support for Sanchez

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Big Business ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Independence Movement ◽  
Electoral Performance

Significance However, Catalan separatist forces have been losing momentum over the past year, owing to fragmentation; the new initiative reflects wider divisions within separatist circles and is unlikely to reunify them. Impacts A more complex party system in Catalonia would make it harder for Sanchez to secure the Catalan votes he needs in the Spanish parliament. The prospect of greater political instability in Catalonia will concern big business. Deeper divisions in the independence movement may help re-elect Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau in next May's municipal elections. Diminished Catalan independence prospects may damage the electoral performance of the unionist Citizens party.

Continuity and Change in Philippine Electoral Politics: A Re-Evaluation

1976 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-234
Author(s):  
James A. Curry
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Martial Law ◽  
Machine Model ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Drop Outs

One of the more recent drop-outs from the world's electoral club was the Philippines, a nation with a remarkably stable two-party system stretching, in the years since independence, over some twenty-five years. With the imposition of martial law in September 1972, the curtain was drawn, at least temporarily, on the longest running democracy in Southeast Asia. The purpose of this study is neither to praise nor bury the pre-1972 Philippine electoral system, but rather to look more closely at some recurring patterns which emerged during this period—patterns which, it will be argued, conform to a “machine model” of politics.

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