Constitutions and Institutions

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
Liberal democracies Canada Britain France Germany United States Semi-democracies Russia Ukraine ? Egypt Algeria Serbia Authoritarian systems China Iraq ?? Iran Saudi Arabia North Korea
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• But devolved powers can be withdrawn (e.g.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)
Parliamentary Semi- Presidential Presidential
Unitary UK France Uruguay
Federal Canada Germany Australia Russia US Mexico
7
Four cases
Britain Unitary parliamentary France Unitary Semi-presidential
Germany Federal Parliamentary United States Federal Presidential
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?