Abstract

GARCIA, Jean-René. Presidentialism or ambivalent executive power?: On the pertinence of the legal notion to study Latin America´s political systems. Cuest. Const. [online]. 2014, n.31, pp.57-79. ISSN 1405-9193.

In spite of the vague outline of the notion, the term "presidentialism" allows to regroup various occurrences related to the affirmation of the presidential power within the same process. But by doing it, this notion discriminates the presidential system's specificities that, by converting the head of the State into the head of the Executive branch, mingles the question of the power of enforcement (subordinated by definition) and the power of the State (sovereign and supreme by definition). Through the study of the latest constitutional reforms made in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela, this paper will analyze the pertinence of the use of the notion of ambivalent executive power in the study of Latin America's constitutional systems

Keywords : presidentialism; ambivalent executive power; political systems; Bolivia; Ecuador; Venezuela; constitutional reform.