Semi-Presidentialism in Africa

Moestrup, Sophia

doi:10.1057/9780230306424_8

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…To explore these concerns, we re-estimated Model 5 on the basis of a number of different measures of PRESPOW. First, we created a second new measure by pooling ten existing ones (Costa Lobo and Amorim Neto 2009; Armingeon and Carreja 2005; Cranenburgh 2008; Elgie and Moestrup 2008; Frye 2002; Hicken and Stoll 2008; Johannsen 2003; Moestrup 2011; Shugart and Carey 1992; Siaroff 2003) (see supplemental materials at http://prq.sagepub.com). The advantage of pooling existing measures in this way is that the idiosyncrasies of individual measures are likely to wash out.…”

Section: Results and Robustness Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proximity, Candidates, and Presidential Power

Elgie

Bucur

Dolez

et al. 2014

Political Research Quarterly

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This article examines the impact of direct presidential elections on legislative party systems. We argue that presidential power shapes the effective number of presidential candidates in a way that will have a reductive effect on the legislative party system, but this reduction will be observed only within an intermediary range of presidential power. We also argue that this proposition should be tested solely on the population of countries with direct presidential elections. We find that the effect of presidential coattails is less important than has typically been suggested, that by contrast presidential power has an influence on the legislative party system, but also that we need to think carefully about how to capture variation in presidential power when trying to estimate its effect. This latter point applies to the debate about the determinants of the legislative party system but also to debates about the effect of presidential power more generally.

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Section: Results and Robustness Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proximity, Candidates, and Presidential Power

Elgie

Bucur

Dolez

et al. 2014

Political Research Quarterly

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“…Sub-Saharan Africa is thus challenging for institutional analysis and many scholars have placed greater weight on the impact of informal rules of the game rather than on formal institutions (Van Cranenburgh, 2008). While we should not underestimate the importance of informal processes, this overriding focus overlooks the significant degree of institutionalization and democratization that has occurred in Africa since the 1990s (Crawford and Lynch, 2012;Moestrup, 2011;Sigman and Lindberg, 2017). Recent findings suggest that constitutions play a significant role in regime maintenance and peaceful transitions even in some of the most authoritarian contexts in Africa.…”

Section: Research Design: Premier-presidentialism and Contextual Dist...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Presidential Activism in Sub-Saharan Africa: Explaining Variation Among Semi-Presidential Countries

Moestrup,

Sedelius

2023

Political Studies Review

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This article seeks to explain variations in presidential activism in semi-presidential countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa is one of the continents where semi-presidentialism is most prevalent, but the dynamics of intra-executive relations are severely understudied. The four case studies discussed here—the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Cabo Verde, and São Tomé e Príncipe—belong to the premier-presidential subtype. In this exploratory study, we aim to examine how institutional dimensions of premier-presidentialism interact with contextual factors to explain variations in presidential activism among Sub-Saharan African countries. In addition to fundamental contextual differences among the two pairs of countries, francophone and lusophone, there are specific institutional factors associated with the design and operation of premier-presidentialism that contribute to greater presidential activism in the two francophone cases. Taken together, these contextual and institutional factors skew effective executive power heavily toward the president in our francophone countries. We also find that the degree of political institutionalization matters for the impact of presidential activism on intra-executive conflict and government policymaking capacity. The article increases our understanding of the operation of semi-presidentialism in this understudied region, underscoring the importance of both contextual and constitutional factors for explaining variations in presidential activism in Africa.

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“…Table 1 also presents data that approximate patrimonial strength. Presidential power can be measured formally by examining constitutions (Moestrup, 2011). However, in the African context presidential power involves numerous informal practices, which is why I prefer the Polity IV scale of executive constraint.…”

Section: The Puzzle Of Electoral Authoritarianism In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Electoral authoritarianism and weak states in Africa: The role of parties versus presidents in Tanzania and Cameroon

Morse

2017

International Political Science Review

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State capacity is arguably an essential factor that stabilizes electoral authoritarian rule. Yet, in the context of sub-Saharan Africa many measures of state capacity are generally weak. What therefore explains the persistence of electoral authoritarianism in Africa? This study provides a comparison of Tanzania and Cameroon to highlight two divergent reactions to the problem of power consolidation in Africa. In Cameroon, a centralized presidency and comparatively large coercive apparatus underpinned a strong patrimonial state. By contrast, in Tanzania the ruling party became an institution that integrated elites and appeared to subsume the state. These regime configurations stabilized electoral authoritarianism in unique ways, and led to different dependence on the state during elections. The study sheds new light on contemporary Africa, and the diverse sources of authoritarian resilience in the face of multiparty elections.

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Semi-Presidentialism in Africa

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Proximity, Candidates, and Presidential Power

Proximity, Candidates, and Presidential Power

Presidential Activism in Sub-Saharan Africa: Explaining Variation Among Semi-Presidential Countries

Electoral authoritarianism and weak states in Africa: The role of parties versus presidents in Tanzania and Cameroon

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