A Comparative Study on the Semi-Presidential Government System: The Cases of the Russian Federation and Post-Communist Poland

Abstract

According to the widely accepted view, the existence of a government accountable to the parliament and a head of state elected by the people and endowed with powerful powers is sufficient to define the system as semi-presidential. However, although there are many unique definitions and qualifications in itself, it is not possible to talk about the existence of a uniform semi-presidential system. The reason for this is that countries interpret the government system within the framework of their own political culture and administrative tradition. Therefore, government systems are not typical models and can take different forms within the states' own administrative traditions. In this direction, in this study, the semi-presidential model of the Russian Federation and the semi-presidential model of post-communist Poland will be examined comparatively. Making a comparative study on the semi-presidential government systems of Poland and Russia will not be a comparison only in terms of revealing the differences, as it is thought. This study aims to make a contribution to the studies of the government system by comparing the states of Poland and Russia, which use the semi-presidential government system in a unique way. In addition, the main purpose of this study is to reveal that each country interprets the system of government it uses within the framework of its tradition of governance and political cultures.