Elgie, RobertORCID: 0000-0001-5334-4796 and McMenamin, IainORCID: 0000-0002-1704-390X
(2008)
Semi-presidentialism and democratic performance.
Japanese Journal of Political Science, 9
(3).
pp. 323-340.
ISSN 1474-0060
There is a long-standing and widespread consensus that semi-presidentialism is bad for democratic performance. This article examines whether there is empirical evidence to support the arguments against semi-presidentialism. Examining countries that incompletely consolidated and yet not autocratic, we identify the relationship between democratic performance and the three main arguments against semi-presidentialism – the strength of the presidency, cohabitation and divided minority government. We find that there is a strong and negative association between presidential power and democratic performance, but that cohabitation and divided minority government do not have the negative consequences that the literature predicts.