The Double-Headed Eagle: Semi-Presidentialism and Democracy in France and Russia

It has become a commonplace observation in recent years that Russian democracy is in remission. Indeed there is a significant difference between the struggling democratic performance of Russia and that of a consolidated democracy such as France. The modern French and Russian states are both semi-presidential states, meaning that in each country executive power is shared between an elected president and an appointed prime minister who can (at least in theory) be voted out of office by the legislature. Despite this broad similarity, semi-presidential institutions are organized in significantly different ways in each country. This paper examines those differences in order to understand how they can help account for poor democratic performance in Russia and strong democratic performance in France. Four political institutions will be examined in each country: presidents, prime ministers, parliaments, and political parties. By comparing these institutions across two semi-presidential states, important differences can be unearthed and their implications for democratic performance analyzed. This paper concludes that, if anything, the Russian legislature is more independent than the French National Assembly, and more capable of influencing independent policies and laws. However, a weak vote of no-confidence means that the Russian legislature has little control over the selection of the prime minister and cabinet. This severely hobbles Russian political parties and creates a leadership class that is not dependent on party support for its position. These non-partisan leaders are therefore free to create the clientelistic 'parties of power' that have become characteristic of the Russian system. By contrast, the strong vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly obliges French national leaders to cultivate and reward political parties in order to build a supportive majority in the legislature. As a result, French parties are able to act as links between the state and society, while Russian society remains alienated from its leaders