ABSTRACT
The strengthening of executive power at the expense of the legislature seems to be part of de-democratization, especially in states that have gone through a political transformation, democratic consolidation, and Europeanization. This chapter specifies these trends by comparing the cases of Turkey, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland in order to demonstrate that this phenomenon occurs in more than a single region. The current deterioration of the standards of liberal democracy has strengthened the dominance of the executive power, a process that has gradually been developing since the 1990s. The changes in executive-legislative relationships between 1990 and 2010 created a fertile breeding ground for a more noticeable strengthening of executive power after this period. This phenomenon means various changes in the governance systems and political regimes of the analyzed states—dependent on structural factors and a political culture opposed to democratization. A comparative cross-regional analysis is made with the use of democracy indices and surveys concerning citizens’ values.
