Impeachment

Abstract: While several East Asian countries have been part of the “third wave” of democratization over the past generation, it is no secret that many of them have also been experiencing significant growing pains. In just the last five years, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and most recently South Korea have all suffered serious—albeit not regime-threatening— political crises that featured at least the beginning of impeachment proceedings against an elected chief executive. Presidents Joseph Estrada of the Philippines and Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia (the one indirectly elected member of the group) actually lost their offices—in Estrada’s case through means that many deemed illegal. Presidents Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan and Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea survived the campaigns against them, the former because impeachment never went much beyond a preliminary motion in the legislature, and the latter because his country’s Constitutional Court decided that he should keep his job despite what the Court found were legal and constitutional derelictions. In each of these cases a president found himself facing a crisis of legitimacy, bereft of a legislative majority, and often without power to enact his agenda into law. The turmoil created by these crises has led to calls for constitutional reform in all four countries. In the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Estrada’s successor, has even agreed to open formal deliberations on whether the country should amend its constitution and adopt a parliamentary form of government. Is there a crisis in East Asian presidentialism comparable to the prob

Abstract: Documents the emergence of a pattern of political instability in Latin America. Traditional military coups have receded in the region, but elected presidents are still ousted from power as a result of recurrent crises. Aníbal Pérez-Liñán shows that presidential impeachment has become the main constitutional instrument employed by civilian elites to depose unpopular rulers. Based on detailed comparative research in five countries and extensive historical information, the book explains why crises without breakdown have become the dominant form of instability in recent years and why some presidents are removed from office while others survive in power. The analysis emphasizes the erosion of presidential approval resulting from corruption and unpopular policies, the formation of hostile coalitions in Congress, and the role of investigative journalism. This book challenges classic assumptions in studies of presidentialism and provides important insights for the fields of political communication, democratization, political behaviour, and institutional analysis.

Abstract: On Deaf Ears: The Limits of the Bully Pulpit. By George C. Edwards, III. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 320p. $35.00.The funeral of Ronald Reagan marked a celebration not only of the president's political accomplishments but also of the idea that the core of presidential leadership is mastery of the bully pulpit. Published shortly after Reagan was laid to rest, Bill Clinton's autobiography also reflects our modern preoccupation with rhetorical leadership. Clinton credits many of his political victories—most notably fending off an impeachment charge—to the power of rhetorical appeals. He also attributes many of his failures to an inability to communicate effectively. George Edwards thinks that Reagan, Clinton, and the conventional wisdom they exemplify are just plain wrong. In a thorough and forcefully articulated study, Edwards argues that public opinion is never altered by presidential speech. Efforts to advance a president's political agenda through rhetorical appeals over the heads of Congress to the people are futile wastes of time and energy.

Abstract: 1. Introduction: The whys and wherefores of analysing parliamentary discourse (by Bayley, Paul) 2. Insulting as (un)parliamentary practice in the British and Swedish parliaments: A rhetorical approach (by Ilie, Cornelia) 3. Negotiating conflict: Interruptions in British and Italian parliamentary debates (by Bevitori, Cinzia) 4. Consent and dissent in British and Italian parliamentary debates on the 1998 Gulf Crisis (by Vasta, Nicoletta) 5. Legitimising and informative discourse in the Kosovo debates in the British House of Commons and the Italian Chamber of Deputies (by Dibattista, Denise) 6. Threat and fear in parliamentary debates in Britain, Germany and Italy (by Bayley, Paul) 7. Ways of talking about work in parliamentary discourse in Britain and Spain (by Bayley, Paul) 8. 'Truth, Justice and the American way': The APPRAISAL SYSTEM of JUDGEMENT in the U.S. House debate on the impeachment of the President, 1998 (by Miller, Donna R.) 9. Parliamentary discourse when things go wrong: Mapping histories, contexts, conflicts (by Carbo, Teresa) 10. Text and Context of parliamentary debates (by Dijk, Teun A. van)