A comparison of the policy effectiveness of parliamentary and presidential systems in reducing budget deficits

Abstract

Political institutions, affect the policymaking capabilities o f the government. These capabilities influence the governments’ ability to make strategic policy choices that will help them in reaching their policy objectives. One o f the most important choice o f political institutions is the system o f government, that is, whether it is parliamentary or presidential. This thesis discusses how the choice of system o f government affects the ability o f reaching the policy objective of reducing budget deficit. It examines the decisionmaking attributes of the two systems and the impact o f these attributes on specific capabilities required to reduce budget deficits, namely, “ability to set and maintain priorities among many conflicting demands”, “ability to impose losses on powerful groups”, and “ability to allocate resources effectively”.