Since the fall of the Soviet Union, authoritarian presidents have dominated politics in many post-Soviet countries. However, while strong-man rule seems to prevail, e.g. in Central Asia, Russia, and Belarus, recent popular upheavals in Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, suggest that authoritarian presidentialism may not go unchallenged. Presidential power and constitutional prerogatives are essential components in this struggle between authoritarianism and democratisation.
This book deals with institutional conflict in two forms of semi-presidentialism (premier-presidential and...