Regime Types and Power Equations in Political Systems: A Study of Presidentialization of Power in Democracies

Abstract

The shift or movement of power towards the executive arm of government, concentrated in the person that is at the helms of affairs is gaining wide acceptability day by day. The point of interest is that, in spite of the fact that this phenomenon appears to be promoted by the constitutional arrangement of the presidential system of government; it is obtainable in every regime type. The paper argues that presidentialization of regimes can be understood as the changes or development of (i) increasing leadership power resources and autonomy within the party, (ii) the political executive and (ii) increasingly leadership-centred electoral processes. It points out that these changes or development affect (1) essential areas or part of democratic government that speedup the presidentialization of regimes and has reveals itself in the area, namely (i) the executive arm of government (ii) the political party and (iii) the electoral process, it concludes that the internalization of politics, the growth of the state, the eorion of cleavage, the changing structure of mass communication, amongst other  factors account for the presidentialization of regimes in political system.