President and Congress in Paraguay: legislative success in foreign and domestic policy

ABSTRACT

The president's ability to legislate is a central element in studies of presidential regimes. A debate persists about the existence of ‘two presidencies’, that is, whether presidential legislative proposals are more successful in Congress when the subject is foreign policy compared to domestic politics. The article makes an empirical contribution in confirming the thesis of the two presidents in a case whose legislative powers of the president are the lowest in the region: Paraguay. Statistical analysis also reveals the importance of political and economic variables in the propensity to approve matters in the Paraguayan legislature, such as presidential popularity, unemployment and the effective number of parties. While the National Congress constrains the legislative production of the Paraguayan president in domestic issues, the president's foreign policy receives high support from legislators. The different characteristics of foreign policy stimulate congressional delegation of the matter to the president.

KEYWORDS:

• Presidentialism
• legislative success
• foreign policy
• domestic policy
• Paraguay

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Available at http://www.executiveapproval.org/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pedro Feliú Ribeiro

Pedro Feliú Ribeiro (IRI-USP, Brazil) is an assistant professor in the International Relations Institute of the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil. Researcher of the Center of Studies of International Negotiations (CAENI-USP). PhD in Political Science from the University of São Paulo, his research agenda covers foreign policy analysis in Latin America and legislative studies.

Camilo Lopez Burian

Camilo López Burian (ICP-FCS-UdelaR, Uruguay) is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the Republic (ICP-FCS-UdelaR). Researcher of Uruguay's National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII). PhD in Political Science from the University of the Republic, his writings cover a host of topics from foreign policy analysis and international relations.

Rodrigo Pedrosa Lyra

Rodrigo Pedrosa Lyra (KLC, UK) is a PhD Candidate at King's College London and University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Fellow at King's Brazil Institute. Researcher at the Center for the Study of International Negotiations (CAENI-USP). Professional experience at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brazil, working in the area of international trade, with an emphasis on trade defense, safeguards and bilateral trade relations.