Presidentialism in the Southern Cone. A Framework for Analysis.

Presidentialism has been long defined as a regime type based on the principle of separation of power. I will start by adopting a restricted definition of presidentialism and advancing a typology of democratic regimes, just to thereafter apply it to the two largest South American countries: Argentina and Brazil. I will subsequently locate each of these countries in a rank order developed throughout the article, and conclude by drawing some broader implications of the proposed framework for both the theory and practice of presidential government.