Books

Why Presidents Fail: Political Parties and Government Survival in Latin America

Democracy and political parties go hand in hand. Strong parties are fundamental for advancing, stabilizing, and improving democratic governance. But how exactly do political parties relate to, and contribute to, the survival of presidential administrations? Since 1979, over twenty Latin American chief executives had been forced out of office, without a democratic breakdown—a phenomenon known as “presidential failure.” Why Presidents Fail offers a nuanced assessment of how political parties influence how and when executives weather political crises and unrest. Christopher A. Martínez takes a close look at how different factors come into play to explain why some presidents complete their terms in office without incident, others barely make it to the end after stumbling upon crisis after crisis, and some are forced out or impeached before their term is finished. Drawing on a novel theoretical approach, an original database on presidential scandals and anti-government demonstrations, regression (survival analysis) models, country case studies, and interviews with more than one hundred country specialists and top-level politicians, Why Presidents Fail provides an innovative, comprehensive assessment of how political parties influence presidential survival and contributes fresh ideas to the debates on the stability of presidential governments.