Governance and Accountability

Abstract

Governance had some peculiar features under party democracy. The framers of the constitution intended to establish a strong presidential regime. In practice, however, the regime that emerged was a hybrid between presidentialism and parliamentarism, in which the political parties had a say in the making and unmaking of cabinets. Yet, although the autonomy of the president was significantly curtailed, there was, at the same time, a dramatic expansion of the regulatory powers of the executive in all areas of public policy, especially in matters concerning economic regulation. The expansion of the powers of the executive, however, was not done exclusively by the president. It was largely the outcome of concerted action by the president and the congress. Moreover, this process was carried out with little or no concern for the constitution or legal procedures, thus belying the general perception that legality was one of the main attributes of governance under party democracy.