Parliamentarism: From Burke to Weber

Beyond Presidentialism and Parliamentarism

From Max Weber to Public Sociology

Growing up in a political as well as an intellectual environment, Max Weber not only sought to comprehend the world but also to change it. Arguably, he took Karl Marx’s 11th. Thesis on Feuerbach that “philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it,” far more seriously than its author. Marx, after all, did not reflect, in any systematic fashion...

Edmund Burke : Politician What Burke Teaches Us About Defining Representation

Edmund Burke was a politician, not a traditional, canonical political theorist. His long, statesman’s career included a single term as an elected representative of Bristol. Burke developed the oft-cited “Burkean” (or trustee) model of representation from his own experiences as a legislator. Burke failed to secure re-election to the Bristol seat, and his difficulties there serve as a caution to ...

Hare turns king's evidence, Burke to hang.

Systems of Government: Parliamentarism and Presidentialism

Parliamentary and Presidential Democracies: Which One is Best? With the exception of the United States, where a system of separation of executive and legislative powers exists, all countries that are considered to be stable democracies adopt a constitution that is, at least partially, parliamentary. A parliamentary constitution is characterized by the fusion of executive and legislative powers,...