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Constitutions and Institutions

Constitutions and Institutions. How do they operate? What difference do they make in liberal democracies?. Some questions:. What difference do constitutions make? Are constitutions scraps of paper, as Bismarck argued? OR

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Constitutions and Institutions

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  1. Constitutions and Institutions How do they operate? What difference do they make in liberal democracies?

  2. Some questions: • What difference do constitutions make? • Are constitutions scraps of paper, as Bismarck argued? OR • Do constitutions spell out relationships between different institutions, e.g. • Between parliament and the executive? • Between central and provincial governments?

  3. A quick refresher: varieties of political systems

  4. Unitary vs. federal systems: • Unitary system -- sovereignty concentrated in a central government: • Power may be devolved to regional governments, created by the central government • But devolved powers can be withdrawn (e.g. Northern Ireland) • Federal system: sovereignty shared by a central government and provincial governments -- neither is capable of abolishing the other

  5. Presidential v. Parliamentary v. semi-presidential systems • Presidential system: political executive is separate from the legislature • Parliamentary system: the political executive must serve with the support (or at a minimum, the forbearance) of a majority of the lower house of parliament • Semi-presidential system: combines features of both: • Directly elected president • Premier, typically appointed by the president, must serve with the confidence of the parliament

  6. Forms of liberal democracies (and semi-democracies)

  7. Four cases:

  8. An argument: Constitutions matter, and matter a great deal, when political leaders follow them: • Courts increasingly enforce constitutions • But we need to look not only at the constitution on paper, but the way in which it is brought off paper and how it evolves • Valid not only for liberal democracies, but also semi-democracies and some authoritarian political systems

  9. Reasons for this: (a preliminary take) Institutions (and the shape they take) matter: • Institutions shape the ways in which political forces are expressed and channelled, in particular • some of the demands which end up on the political agenda • the ease with which conflicts can be resolved • Example: variation ways in which regional and cultural differences are expressed and dealt with in federal and unity systems

  10. Variations in power of political executives UK: • Unwritten constitution • Parliamentary system: • Prime Minister and Cabinet serve with the confidence of parliament • Because the single member plurality electoral system usually manufactures majorities, the government usually has the support of a parliamentary majority

  11. Some questions: • How powerful are the political executives in different forms of liberal democracies? • What role do assemblies play? Are legislative assemblies capable of controlling political executives? • If so how? • What differences do parties and party systems make? • What difference does federalism make?

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