Presidential Powers as the Result of Crises- Comparing Post-Communist and Post-Colonial Presidencies Between Old and New Networks

This paper places the development of new presidential regimes in light of crisis. Since the seminal contribution of Linz (1994; 1996), numerous studies have contributed to our understanding of the potential perils of presidential regimes, but so far, few studies have captured the reasons for the formation of presidential regimes. Studies of diffusion have traced how both diffusion in common networks and the effects of external shocks in the common networks of a country influence the formation of political regimes and the particular distribution of power in such regimes. From the 1990’s onward, both the post-communist region and many post-colonial countries changed their political regimes into regimes including a popularly elected president. Few studies have compared the role of chocks and diffusion within these two groups of countries. This study answers this gap by undertaking a comprehensive study using new data on presidential powers and diffusion between country networks to compare the development patterns of presidential regimes in both post-communist and post-colonial countries during crises. Controlling for country-fixed effects as well as a selected set of control variables, the study offers new knowledge on commonalities and differences between the two sets of countries. In that, the paper contributes to new empirical knowledge as well as to much-needed theoretical development.