The Relativization of Argentine "Hyperpresidentialism" Regarding the Comparative Study of the Emergency Decree and the Decree-Law

Abstract

It is a common opinion in academia (especially in Latin America) that, compared to presidential systems of government (hegemonic in that region), which are often accused of falling into “hyperpresidentialism”, parliamentary regimes (the majority in Western Europe) guarantee per se greater control of the government by Parliament. However, it is often forgotten that the very requirement of all parliamentary regimes for the government to have democratic legitimacy, mediated by parliament, has fused the executive and the parliamentary majority that supports it into one and the same will. For this reason, the greater and more effective parliamentary control of the executive branch depends in each country, regardless of its form of government (parliamentary, presidential or semi-presidential), on the specific instruments with which it provides the parliamentary minority to carry out this crucial task, as well as on the institutional and political praxis that has been consolidated in that country. This is the case when one of the main symptoms traditionally associated with “hyperpresidentialism”:  the governmental interference in legislative work through decrees that should be exceptional