Checking Presidential Power: Executive Decrees and the Legislative Process in New Democracies
Cambridge University Press, 1/17/2019
EAN 9781108427623, ISBN10: 1108427626
Hardcover, 252 pages, 23.5 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm
Language: English
A central concern about the robustness of democratic rule in new democracies is the concentration of power in the executive branch and the potential this creates for abuse. This concern is felt particularly with regard to the concentration of legislative power. Checking Presidential Power explains the levels of reliance on executive decrees in a comparative perspective. Building on the idea of institutional commitment, which affects the enforcement of decision-making rules, Palanza describes the degree to which countries rely on executive decree authority as more reliance may lead to unbalanced presidential systems and will ultimately affect democratic quality. Breaking new ground by both theorizing and empirically analyzing decree authority from a comparative perspective, this book examines policy making in separation of powers systems. It explains the choice between decrees and statutes, and why legislators are sometimes profoundly engaged in the legislative process and yet other times entirely withdrawn from it.
1. Introduction
a choice of paths behind each policy
2. Decrees versus statutes
choice of legislative paths in separation of powers systems
3. Institutions and institutional commitment
4. Reinstatement of congressional decision rights
Brazil
5. A corollary of low levels of institutional commitment
Argentina
6. The choice of legislative paths in comparative perspective
7. Conclusions
rules, institutional commitment, and checks on presidents.