Alternating Presidentialism: A Proposal

Abstract

Presidentialism and parliamentarism are single-engine mechanisms. In the first system the engine is the president, in the second the engine is parliament. And far more often than not the presidential engine falters in its downward parliamentary crossings, while the parliamentary engine disarrays, in its upward ascent, the governing function. Semi-presidentialism is, instead, a double-engine system. However, since its two engines operate simultaneously, what if they start pulling in opposite directions and work against one another? While the French system is able to handle divided government, still the risk of having two counter-pulling engines cannot be ruled out.