The Normative Bases of Semi-Presidentialism: Max Weber and the Mitigation of Caesarism

• Autor(a) principal: Lacerda,Alan Daniel Freire de
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Brazilian Political Science Review
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1981-38212020000100203
• topic: Max Weber; forms of government; semi-presidentialism; presidency

This article aims to locate the normative origins of the semi-presidential government in the theoretical contribution of German thinker Max Weber. I argue that Weberian reasoning about the Head of State, when freed from the German background in which it arose, may shed light on how semi-presidentialism can be justified in other national contexts nowadays. Methodologically, this work draws a link between Weber’s constitutional thought and part of the literature concerning forms of government, especially semi-presidentialism. I evaluate particularly whether it is possible to build a normative theory of the semi-presidential system from similar concerns raised by him, that is, goals of national strengthening, selection of political leaders, and a popularly elected presidency working as a check on congressional and bureaucratic particularism. My analysis suggests that Weber’s reasoning may be employed to defend a change to semi-presidentialism, provided the domestic powers of the popularly elected president be curtailed while her or his influence over foreign affairs is emphasized.