This volume is the first comprehensive analysis of a new type of executive instability without regime instability in Latin America referred to as "presidential breakdown." It includes a theoretical introduction framing the debate within the institutional literature on democracy and democratization, and the implications of this new type of executive instability for presidential democracies. Two comparative chapters analyze the causes, procedures, and outcomes of presidential breakdowns in a regional perspective, and country studies provide in-depth analyses of all countries in Latin America that have experienced one or several presidential breakdowns: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. The book also includes an epilogue on the 2009 presidential crisis in Honduras.

Autorentext

MARIANA LLANOS is a researcher at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies, Institute for Latin American Studies in Germany.

LEIV MARSTEINTREDET is a Ph.D. Research Fellow in the Department of Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen, Norway.****

Inhalt
PART I: PRESIDENTIAL BREAKDOWNS IN LATIN AMERICA: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES Introduction: Causes and Outcomes of Presidential Breakdowns; M.Llanos & L.Marsteintredet Presidential Breakdowns and Democratic Breakdowns in Latin America: Similar causes, different outcomes; M.E.Alvarez & L.Marsteintredet Latin American Presidential Resignations and the Role of Congress; A.M.Mustapic PART II: PRESIDENTIAL BREAKDOWNS IN LATIN AMERICA: CASE-STUDIES Minority Governments and Interrupted Presidencies: The Modern Iron Law of Argentine Politics?; Mariana Llanos Failed Presidencies and the Presidential System of Government: The Case of Bolivia; M.A.Buitrago Presidential Breakdowns and the Slow-motion Deterioration of Ecuadorian Democracy; M.Bøe Peru 1990-2000: the Fujimori Legacy on Presidentialism; T.E.Holvik-Skinlo & E.Berntzen Presidential Failure in an Unlikely Case: the case of Carlos Andrés Pérez in Venezuela; A.Mähler The Serranazo: A tale of an Announced Presidential Breakdown; M.C.Bjune & S.S.Petersen The Negotiated Breakdown of the Balaguer Presidency; L.Marsteintredet