Increasingly since the Third Wave of democratization, directly elected presidents come to office lacking a legislative majority. Under these conditions, minority presidents must act like prime ministers, piecing together multiparty coalitions in order to secure the passage of their legislative agenda. How do presidents work with divided legislatures? How do they form and maintain interparty alliances in support of their policy objectives? Do these strategies promote, or undermine, processes of democratic consolidation? This project addresses these questions in nine countries across three regions: Africa (Benin, Kenya, Malawi), Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Ecuador), and the former Soviet Union (Armenia, Russia, Ukraine). The research advances the concept of the “presidential toolbox”, a common set of tools that presidents can use to manage their coalitions, which are deployed in distinctive combinations with varying consequences for governance and democratic sustainability.

For additional information, please download the research report: The Coalitional Presidentialism Project.

Timothy J. Power is associate professor of politics and a fellow of St Antony’s College at the University of Oxford, where he is a former director of the Latin American Centre. An associate fellow of Chatham House, he recently served as president of the Brazilian Studies Association and as treasurer of the Latin American Studies Association. His research has been published in Comparative Political Studies,  Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Party Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Electoral Studies, and other journals.

Lunch will be provided at the seminar after the Q&A session.