CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020
| Author | Hasani, Jeton |
|---|---|
| Title | Political Neutrality of Presidents in Parliamentary Systems: Between Context and Constitutional Design |
| Summary | Political neutrality is a crucial trait that a president should have in virtually all parliamentary systems. Yet, while some presidents are reasonably neutral, others disregard neutrality requirements altogether. Besides sharp differences in presidential neutrality between countries, we find variations within a country as well, where some presidents are visibly more neutral than others. This thesis aims to explore what explains these differences in the political neutrality of presidents across and within countries. More specifically, this thesis addresses the question of whether presidential political neutrality is a feature that can be influenced by constitutional design, or whether it depends too much on context. I argue that presidential neutrality depends on both constitution and context (where the latter can also be adjusted by the former). First, the political neutrality of presidents depends on the political opportunities that the president faces (where these political opportunities are, in turn, determined by the constellation and relative strength of the government), and, secondly, on the modalities of (indirectly) electing the president. Both factors are equally relevant, but they determine presidential neutrality in different aspects. While lack of political opportunities fosters a politically inactive president, adequate modalities of electing the president (that is, broad support from the government and the opposition) significantly increase the probability of having an impartial (impersonal and objective) president. An impartial president may nevertheless be an independent political agent and vice versa, which is why both the political opportunity framework and modalities of electing the president are relevant to ensure a politically neutral president. |
| Supervisor | Smilov, Daniel |
| Department | Legal Studies LLM |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2020/hasani_jeton.pdf |
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