THE CLASSIFICATION OF DEMOCRATIC REGIME TYPES - CONCEPTUAL AMBIGUITY AND CONTESTABLE ASSUMPTIONS

This article examines the classification of regime types. It shows tha t most writers classify regime types with reference to both their disp ositional properties (whether there is a president and/or a prime mini ster, whether or not they are popularly elected and whether or not the y serve for a fixed term) and their relational properties (the actual patterns of executive politics in the political system). It is argued that this juxtaposition of dispositional and relational properties cre ates a conceptual ambiguity. As a result, it is concluded that classif ications of regime types should be made on the basis of either disposi tional or relational properties but not both together. It then shows t hat writers who classify regime types with reference to relational pro perties are likely to make highly contestable assumptions about how po wer is actually exercised. This is because the question of where execu tive power lies in a particular country is often subject to not just o ne incontestable interpretation but to a number of contestable and mut ually exclusive interpretations. This point is illustrated by examinin g the case of the Fifth French Republic. Therefore, it is concluded th at the classification of regime types should be made with reference to dispositional properties alone.