The cohabitation experience in semi-presidential systems: Challenges and opportunities

According to the definitions on constitutional government, a semi-presidential system is composed of a president elected by the public and a council of ministers created by the parliamentary majority along with a prime minister which creates a dual executive. In the semi-presidential system of France, the framework of which was laid down by the Constitution of 1958 and the constitutional amendments in 1962, both organs of executive power are installed with people's will. The fact that these two offices may be controlled by members of different political parties makes conflict inevitable. In this study, the main features of semi-presidential system are explained and the system's evaluation from different perspectives is made. Cohabitation periods in France, which is considered as the best functioning example of the semi-presidential system in the world, are examined in the following sections. The impact of semi-presidential system on political stability is then evaluated. The study concludes that, rather than institutional design, preferences and attitudes of political leaders explain how the system has survived.