Chapter Overview

This chapter introduces presidential government and contrasts it with parliamentary government. Several differences between the two are highlighted, with particular attention paid to the difficulty of making comprehensive policy in a presidential system, the nature of recruitment in the two systems, and the combining of the head of state and the political executive in a presidential system. Since most points of comparison for the two systems place presidential government at a disadvantage, the chapter addresses the question of why all democracies aren't parliamentary systems. The presidential system is presented as usually being chosen as a way to overcome problems of instability. The chapter ends with substantive examples of presidential government in Mexico and France.

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