Presidential Activism and Veto Power in Central and Eastern Europe

Philipp Köker is Senior Research Fellow in Politics and IR at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. He specialises in the comparative study of presidents and political parties in modern democracies. He won the ECPR Jean Blondel PhD Prize 2016 for the best thesis in politics.

• 1. Introduction.- Part I: Patterns of Presidential Activism.- 2. Determinants of Presidential Activism.- 3. The Use of Presidential Vetoes in Central and Eastern Europe- Part II: Presidential Activism in Practice.- 4. Understanding presidential activism: Veto Use in Estonia and Poland.- 5. Understanding Presidential Activism: Veto Use in Hungary and Slovakia.- 6. Presidents in government formation and censure- Part III: Understanding Presidential Activism.- 7. Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Findings on Presidential Activism.- 8. Conclusion: Studying Presidential Activism in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond.