The Evolution of the Study of Executive-Legislative Relations in Latin America: Or How Theory Slowly Catches Up with Reality

Abstract

Abstract. The last twenty years have witnessed an explosion in the number of books and articles that focus on executive-legislative relations in Latin America. Since the publication of the seminal Linz article on the "perils of presidentialism" (1990), we have learnt a lot about the interaction between the executive and the legislative branch of government. This review article attempts to make sense of the evolution of the study of executivelegislative relations, by focusing on the inconsistencies between the mainstream theoretical approaches and the reality of executive-legislative relations in the region. Three major changes in the study of executive-legislative relations (unpacking of the "black box" of presidentialism, study of presidential coalitions, and analysis of impeachment processes) are discussed.

Institutions, governmental performance and the rise of political newcomers

“…Since the early 1990s, several scholars of political institutions and Latin American politics tested most of these claims. The current consensus is that these perils of presidentialism were greatly exaggerated in these early studies (Carreras ). However, the critics of presidentialism also claimed that the rise of political newcomers is a peril associated with presidential systems.…”