Why not Presidentialism? The System of Government as an Explanation of Bicameralism

Abstract

This article seeks to identify the powers of the upper houses in countries that have at least minimum level of democracy, as well as respective factors that help explain them. My main suggestion is that the system of government is the primary variable capable of explaining the political force of those legislative houses and not the federative regime. Upper houses tend to be stronger in presidential systems and weaker in parliamentarian ones. The data also suggests that, in the former, the upper houses tend to have a more effective participation in what I am designating as “matters of the State”, such as: defense, foreign policy, internal security, fiscal policies, the legitimate use of force, the maintenance of order and the activities of the Justice System.