The dimensionality of presidential powers: a preface to a typology

In his seminal definition of semi-presidential regimes, Duverger (1980) emphasized three aspects: a) the direct election of the president, b) the power position of the president, and c) the power position of the government. Later, Elgie (1999) criticized this definition based on the argument that it included an element of subjectivity concerning power relations. Elgie proposed instead a definition that excluded the power dimension and focused solely on a fixed-term elected president and a government responsible to parliament. Although this definition has guided data collection work and empirical studies, it has been criticized by researchers to exclude power relations as an essential aspect of semi-presidential regimes (e.g., Anckar 2022). As a result, scholars have tended to use the two subtypes of semi-presidentialism introduced by Shugart and Carey (1992); premier-presidential and president-parliamentary regimes, to separate semi-presidential regimes along different levels of presidential powers as a tool for empirical studies. Even so, scholars still debate on the best ways to capture presidential powers and the empirical findings on effects of presidential powers have yet to fully reflect on presidential powers at the conceptual level (Elgie, 2018; Fortin, ). The dimensionality of presidential power within the context of semi-presidential regimes has, therefore, yet to be explored in more detail. This paper aims to develop a framework for the dimensionality of presidential power that could guide comparative analyses of presidential and semi-presidential regimes. This paper discusses the dimensions of presidential powers from an institutional perspective. It identifies how presidential powers variers along institutional dimensions that form the power relations between the president, prime minister, and parliament. Based on discussions about these dimensions, the papers propose a typology of presidential powers, which captures and illuminates the complexity among semi-presidential and presidential regimes.