How Coalitions Reshape Presidential Offices in Argentina and Brazil

🔍 Research Focus

This paper examines the evolution of the institutional presidency — the cluster of agencies that directly support the chief executive — in Argentina and Brazil since redemocratization in the 1980s. The central question is what explains changes in the size of the institutional presidency and the types of agencies that compose it.

📚 Comparative Evidence and Approach

A comparative historical analysis of presidencies in both countries is used to trace institutional change over time. Argentina is treated as a typical case of coalitional presidentialism and Brazil as a typical case of single-party presidentialism, allowing a contrast of how different party and cabinet structures shape presidential organization.

🧭 Key Theoretical Argument

• Growth of the institutional presidency is linked to broader developments in the political system and to the specific political challenges faced by presidents.
• Presidents adapt the format and mandates of subordinate agencies to better manage relations with their political environment.
• The type of government (coalition versus single-party) imposes distinct challenges and therefore has consequences for the structure of the presidency.
• This argument highlights a factor—government type—that has been underemphasized in presidency studies that are primarily based on the U.S. case.

📈 Main Findings

• The comparative cases of Argentina and Brazil demonstrate that the type of government systematically affects both the number and the functional composition of presidential agencies.
• Presidents facing different cabinet structures reorganize or expand agencies to respond to coalition-building, intra-party dynamics, and external political pressures.

⚖️ Why It Matters

These findings show that institutional design of the presidency is not purely administrative but dynamically responsive to domestic political constraints. Incorporating government type into studies of executive institutions broadens understanding of how presidents build capacity and manage political relationships across different presidential systems.