DESIGNED TO FAIL: PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION AND PRESIDENTIALISM IN LATIN AMERICA
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Authors
Suyderhoud, Jacques A.
Subjects
coalitions
electoral systems
Latin America
inter-branch conflict
Chile
Venezuela
presidentialism
proportional representation
PR
plurality
third wave
democracy
electoral systems
Latin America
inter-branch conflict
Chile
Venezuela
presidentialism
proportional representation
PR
plurality
third wave
democracy
Advisors
Darnton, Christopher N.
Giusti Rodriguez, Mariana
Date of Issue
2020-06
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
Operating under the assumption that proportional representation (PR) systems strengthen rather than undermine democracies, scholars have largely ignored the question of how this particular system interacts with presidentialism to shape stability outcomes. This thesis challenges that understanding. It argues that presidentialism, in interaction with PR for legislative elections, reduces coalition-formation incentives and makes inter-branch conflict in Latin American democracies more likely. Through a cross-regional comparative analysis and case studies on the Chilean and Venezuelan democratic experiences, this thesis shows that presidential systems experience higher levels of conflict when not subject to the systematic coalition incentives regularly produced by parliamentary or plurality-presidential systems. It also indicates that institutional factors can shape governing coalitions, independent of traditional political divides. Without electoral incentives to coalesce policy visions before elections or institutional mechanisms to ensure the formation of a majority coalition after the election, PR-presidential systems often create a multiparty result that is especially prone to inter-branch conflict and political crisis.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
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NPS Report Number
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Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release. distribution is unlimited
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.