An Intellectual History of the Concepts of Premier-Presidentialism and President-Parliamentarism

Abstract

Shugart and Carey introduced the twin concepts of premier-presidentialism and president-parliamentarism in their 1992 volume, Presidents and Assemblies. Based on a meta-analysis of journal articles and book publications, this article distinguishes between an early and a contemporary history of the two concepts. The period of early history runs from 1992 to around 2009. This was the time when the two concepts were entering the academic consciousness and when there was also some typological and classificatory ambiguity. The period of contemporary history begins in 2010. This era is marked by conceptual and classificatory clarity and by an increasing reference to the two concepts in academic work. In the article, we show how the concepts have been applied over time, noting a number of changes across the two periods under consideration. We conclude by pointing out some challenges to the future application of the two concepts.