Parliamentarism vs. presidentialism with Tiago Santos

Rules of the Game – discussing democratic institutions

There are broadly speaking two forms of government: Parliamentarism and presidentialism. The main difference is that in a parliamentary system the government is subordinated to the parliament and accountable to that parliament. While a president in a presidential system is elected by the people for a fixed term and does not depend on parliament, but is accountable to the people. Examples of parliamentary systems are the United Kingdom, Germany, or South Africa. Examples for presidential systems are the USA, Brazil, Chile or Nigeria.

My guest in this episode, Tiago Santos, has written a book on this topic titled “Why Not Parliamentarism?”. Together we discuss what are the important differences between the two systems, what are possible advantages and disadvantages, and about his opinion on whether the electoral law, for instance proportional representation, matters for the well-functioning of the government system.

We strongly agreed on the point that the discussion of this subject matter should be way more public and prominent across the globe, and that this question is particularly absent in current development economics' research.

Tiago Santos has been a Brazilian career diplomat since 2007 and has worked at the World Bank until quite recently. He has a law degree from Pontifícia Universidade Católica in Rio de Janeiro, a professional degree from Instituto Rio Branco (Brazil’s national diplomatic academy), and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. None of the opinions here or in the book reflect the views of any institution he has been associated with.

Find the show notes with links to all material discussed here: https://rulesofthegame.blog/parliamentarism-versus-presidentialism/

Follow Tiago Santos on Twitter https://twitter.com/tribsantos.

Please enjoy this wide ranging conversation with Tiago Santos.