Las distintas caras del presidencialismo: Debate conceptual y evidencia empírica en dieciocho países de América Latina

Abstract

This article offers a new typology for examining presidentialism, in which the interaction between the political dimension (institutional and partisan presidential powers) and contextual dimension (the state of the economy and presidential approval) determine both the intensity of presidentialism and the type of political and social relationships derived from it. Looking at empirical evidence from eighteen Latin American countries, the article identifi es four ideal types of presidentialism: imperial, conditioned, minimal, and transitional. Venezuela and Ecuador are empirical cases of imperial presidentialism while Honduras and Paraguay are on the threshold between conditioned presidentialism, and minimal presidentialism.