Presidents, Parliaments, and Policy

• 1. Introduction: political institutions and the determinants of public policy Stephan Haggard and Mathew D. McCubbins; Part I. Theory: 2. The institutional determinants of economic policy outcomes Gary W. Cox and Mathew D. McCubbins; 3. Institutions and public policy in presidential systems Matthew S. Shugart and Stephan Haggard; Part II. Budgetary Policy Cases: 4. Budget procedure and fiscal restraint in post-transition Chile Lisa Baldez and John M. Carey; 5. Political institutions and public policy in Argentina: an overview of the formation and execution of the National Budget Mark P. Jones; 6. Democracy and deficits in Taiwan: the politics of fiscal policy, 1986–96 Tun-jen Cheng and Stephan Haggard; Part III. Regulatory Policy Cases: 7. Political institutions and economic development: the case of electric utility regulation in Argentina and Chile William B. Heller and Mathew D. McCubbins; 8. Power politics: elections and electricity regulation in Taiwan Stephan Haggard and Gregory W. Noble; 9. Privatization in transition economies: politics as usual? Philip Keefer and Mary Shirley; 10. Conclusion: policymaking in presidential systems Stephan Haggard, Mathew D. McCubbins and Matthew Shugart.

'Presidents, Parliaments, and Policy constitutes a major contribution to the rich field of comparative political economy and the contribution of institutional design and constitutional engineering to effective democratic governance. It is an essential reading for all those policy makers and researchers seeking to understand how institutions and incentives shape economic policy in presidential systems.' Democratization