Original scientific paper
Chess to the Parliament: The Role of the Parliament in Central and East European Transitions
Friedbert W. Rüb
; Centre for European Law and Politics (ZERP), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Abstract
The majority of central and eastern European countries, such as Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia and Serbia, adopted mixed governmental systems, better known as semi-presidential, in their transitions to democracy. The author analyzes the attributes of semi-presidential systems from the basis of Western European experience, first and foremost those of the German Weimar and the French Fifth Republic. Semi-presidential systems are unstable because they allow too many diverging political games, may create a dangerous political climate in situations of cohabitation, they tend to increase presidential powers over those which are granted by the Constitution, and in times of political crises don't allow for compromise of political powers. The author concludes that semi-presidential systems are not suitable for consolidating democracy.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
111130
URI
Publication date:
1.12.1993.
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