Checking Executive Power: Presidential Impeachment in Comparative Perspective

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Baumgartner, Kada, and thier contributors examine presidential impeachment in such varied settings as the United States, Russia, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, the Philippines, and Madagascar. In all of these countries there has been a serious impeachment attempt within the past decade or so. The results of each impeachment attempt vary, from unnsuccessful attempts to those which were successful; in the latter case, some resulted in presidents remaining in office, others in removal of the president, and, in one case, the forced resignation of a president. The common framework of each analysis includes a discussion of the historical and constitional bases of the presidency, the institutional balance of power, provisions for impeachment, and the structure of party politics in each country; in addition, the role that public opinion plays in the process is discussed. While broad, the framework permits comparison between the cases and some general conclusions about all phases of the impeachment process and executive accountability can be drawn. One of the most important conclusions is that contrary to popular wisdom, impeachment is most definitively not a strictly legal process, but rather one that is highly political from start to finish. As the volume makes clear, it is most useful to view impeachment by way of examining the intersection of executive-legislative relations, partisan political conflict, and public opinion.

Reviews

[T]hese essays are by no means a ringing endorsement for impeachment. Instead, they offer immensely useful insights into the limitations of impeachment as a check on presidential misconduct....undoubtedly helps sharpen our understanding of the utility of the different constitutional mechanisms around the world for handling presidential impeachment.-Political Science Quarterly
The chief contributions of this collection of essays on presidential impeachment are threefold. First, its comparative perspective on presidential perspective brings insight into the promises and problems of presidential systems as an increasingly popular but difficult form of democratic governance. Second, its examination of impeachment from a decidedly political science perspective offers an important alternative to the legalistic perspective that dominates the literature on impeachment. Third, the volume brings to light limitations in the impeachment process as a means of deterring and punishing corruption in the executive branch....Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and graduate students of comparative politics or presidential studies.-Choice
"These essays are by no means a ringing endorsement for impeachment. Instead, they offer immensely useful insights into the limitations of impeachment as a check on presidential misconduct....undoubtedly helps sharpen our understanding of the utility of the different constitutional mechanisms around the world for handling presidential impeachment."-Political Science Quarterly
"[T]hese essays are by no means a ringing endorsement for impeachment. Instead, they offer immensely useful insights into the limitations of impeachment as a check on presidential misconduct....undoubtedly helps sharpen our understanding of the utility of the different constitutional mechanisms around the world for handling presidential impeachment."-Political Science Quarterly
"The chief contributions of this collection of essays on presidential impeachment are threefold. First, its comparative perspective on presidential perspective brings insight into the promises and problems of presidential systems as an increasingly popular but difficult form of democratic governance. Second, its examination of impeachment from a decidedly political science perspective offers an important alternative to the legalistic perspective that dominates the literature on impeachment. Third, the volume brings to light limitations in the impeachment process as a means of deterring and punishing corruption in the executive branch....Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and graduate students of comparative politics or presidential studies."-Choice

Author Bio

JODY C. BAUMGARTNER is an independent scholar and researcher who has taught at Miami University and the American University in Armenia. Among his earlier publicaitons is Modern Presidential Electioneering: An Organizational and Comparative Approach (Praeger, 2000). NAOKO KADA is with the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego. Her research interests focus on executive-legislative relations, political corruption, the political role of the judiciary, and the civil society.