The Role of Interim Governments

Abstract

Yossi Shain, who teaches political science at Tel Aviv University, is currently an International Fulbright Scholar at Yale University. He is the author of The Frontier of Loyalty: Political Exiles in the Age of the Nation-State (1989), and the editor of Governments-in-Exile in Contemporary World Politics (1991). Juan J. Linz, Sterling Professor of Political and Social Science at Yale, is widely known for his writings on democratic transitions and breakdowns. This essay is drawn from a much longer and more amply documented paper presented by the authors at the 1991 convention of the American Political Science Association. In the last decade, transitions from authoritarian and posttotalitarian rule to democracy have become a leading topic among students of democracy. Scholars and activists alike have reflected on the decline of dictatorships, the various paths that democratic regime change can take, and the ways in which new democracies can be consolidated. Although many case studies and theoretical works deal with democratic transitions, relatively little attention has thus far been paid to the role of interim or provisional governments in the attainment of democratic rule. t This shortcoming needs to be remedied, for the character and actions of interim administrations can have profound consequences for the course and outcome of the transition process, the character of the new regime, and its future stability. Interim governments may affect 1) the constitutional framework and the nature of the future political system; 2) the degree of political openness in the future democracy, its respect for human rights, and its willingness to eradicate the vestiges of the old regime; 3) the nature of the economy (capitalist or socialist); 4) the role of certain key institutions, especially the armed forces, in the new society; and 5) the country's future international posture and alliances. Yet all interim administrations lack a democratic mandate until free and contested elections are held and a popularly chosen government assumes power.