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‘Presidentialism’ in the Ex-Soviet Union

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2012

J. BLONDEL
J. BLONDEL*
Affiliation:
Professorial Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence and Visiting Professor at the Universities of Siena and Essex [email protected]
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Abstract

When the Soviet Union fell in 1990, three of its 15 components, the Baltic States, joined the European Union, and a fourth, Moldova, may well join in the future. The other 11 quickly became presidential republics, following the lead given by Boris Yeltsin, the president of the largest among them, Russia. By 1994, all 11 were headed by a president elected by universal suffrage. These ex-Soviet countries contribute significantly to the number of presidential republics in the world. Presidential republics form a clear majority, being predominant in Latin America and Africa, alongside the ex-Soviet Union. They are rare in Europe, the main cases being France, Romania, and, though seemingly temporarily, some Balkan states; in Asia, outside the ex-Soviet Union, they are a small minority.

Like many presidential republics elsewhere, those in the ex-Soviet Union are mostly authoritarian, but with variations: this is primarily so in Central Asia, as well as in Azerbaijan and Belarus. These presidencies have been very stable, with some of their leaders, especially in Central Asia, being repeatedly re-elected, often without opposition. There has been a regular turnover in Armenia (but less so in Georgia) and in Ukraine (but not in Belarus). The Russian case is peculiar, as is well known: Putin became prime minister because he could no longer be constitutionally re-elected as president, at least without a break. The power of these presidents has varied over time: outside Central Asia (except Kyrgyzstan) and Azerbaijan, where they have been uniformly strong, their strength has declined in Georgia, increased in Russia and Belarus, and had ups and downs in Armenia and Ukraine.

Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 1 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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References

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Budge, I. and McKay, D. (eds.) (1994), Developing Democracy, London: Sage, pp. 150–64.Google Scholar
Burns, J. McG. (1978), Leadership, New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Colton, T. J. and Tucker, R. C. (eds.) (1995), Patterns in Post-Soviet Leadership, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Dahl, R. A. (1971), Polyarchy, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Elgie, R. (ed.) (1999), Semi-Presidentialism in Europe, Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elgie, R. and Moestrup, S. (2000), Semi-Presidentialism in Central and Eastern Europe, Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Elgie, R. and Moestrup, S. (2007), Semi-Presidentialism outside Europe, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, A., Jay, J., and Madison, J. (1848), The Federalist, London: Dent.Google Scholar
Linz, J. (1990), ‘The Perils of Presidentialism’, Journal of Democracy, 1: 51–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linz, J. and Stepan, A. (1978), The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Lipset, S. M. (1963), The First New Nation, New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Lipset, S. M. (1983), Political Man, London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Poguntke, T. and Webb, P. (2005), The Presidentialisation of Politics, Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shugart, M. S. and Carey, J. M. (1992), Presidents and Assemblies, Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Constant, A. (2002), L'Azerbaijan, Paris: Karthaa.Google Scholar
Atkin, M. (2002), ‘Tajikistan: A President and His Rivals’, in Cummings, S. (ed.), Power and Change in Central Asia, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 97–114.Google Scholar
Cummings, S. N. (2002) ‘Kazakhstan’, in Cummings, S. N. (ed.), Power and Change in Central Asia, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 59–73.Google Scholar
Dedeyan, C. (ed.) (2007), Histoire du people armenien, Toulouse: Privat.Google Scholar
Dudarev, K. P. (2001), ‘Turkmenistan’, in Vassiliev, A. (ed.) Central Asia, London: Saqi Books.Google Scholar
Easter, G. M. (1997), ‘Preference for Presidentailism’, World Politics (49): 184–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Europa Publications (ed.) (2009), Europa World Yearbook, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fish, M. S. (2005), Democracy Derailed in Russia, Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flanz, G. (ed.) (1996), Constitutions of the World, Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Freedom House (2009), Freedom in the World, Washington, DC: Freedom HouseGoogle Scholar
Haepfer, C. W. (2003), ‘Electoral Politics of Belarus Compared’, in Korosteleva, E. A., Lawson, C. W., and Marsh, R. J. (eds.), Contemporary Belarus, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 85–99.Google Scholar
Herzig, E. and Kurkichiyan, M. (eds.) (2005), The Armenians, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Huskey, E. (2002), ‘An Economy of Authoritarianism’, in Cummings, S. N. (ed.), Power and Change in Central Asia, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ishiyama, J. (2002), ‘Neo-Patrimonialism and the Prospects for Democratisation in the Central Asian Republics’, in Cummings, S. (ed.), Power and Change in Central Asia, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 42–58.Google Scholar
Ishkanian, A. (2008), Civil Society Building in Post-Soviet Armenia, London: Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korostoleva, E. A. (2003), ‘Party System Development in Post-Communist Belarus’, in Korostoleva, E. A., Lawson, C. W., and Marsh, R. J. (eds.), Contemporary Belarus, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 68–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petrov, N. I. (2001), ‘Uzbekistan’, in Vassiliev, A. (ed.) Central Asia, London: Saqi Books.Google Scholar
Petrov, N. I. and Gafaly, M. S. (2001), ‘Kazakhstan: The Course towards Political Stability’, in Vassiliev, A. (ed.), Central Asia, London: Saqi Books, p. 40.Google Scholar
Rotman, D. G. and Danilov, A. N. (2003), ‘President and Opposition’, in Korosteleva, E. A., Lawson, C. W., and Marsh, R. J. (eds.), Contemporary Belarus, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 100–111.Google Scholar
Rubin, B. R. (2010), ‘Russian Hegemony and State Breakdown in the Periphety: Causes and Consequences of the Civil War in Tajikistan’, in Dave, B. (ed.), Politics of Modern Central Asia, Vol. II, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 109–44.Google Scholar
Ruffin, M. and Waugh, D. (eds.) (1999), Civil Society in Central Asia, University of Washington Press.Google Scholar
Shevtsova, L. (2007), Russia, Lost in Transition, Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Google Scholar
van de Lauw, C. (2000), Azerbaijan, Richmond: Curzon.Google Scholar
Way, L. (2009), ‘State Power and Autocratic Stability: Armenia and Georgia’, in Wooden, A. E. and Stefes, C. H. (eds.), The Politics of Transition in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 103–23.Google Scholar