ABSTRACT
The 'coming of age' of Latin American presidentialism did not take place until the end of the twentieth century - almost two centuries after the idea of presidentialism was first raised by Bolívar in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Latin American presidential government was initiated in particular by Iturbide in Mexico and by Bolívar in South America, especially in the northern part of that region. The key point is that, as a result of the French invasion of Spain and the fact that the Spanish king was taken prisoner by the occupying forces in 1808, the region was faced with having to decide what its political structure would be. In a sense, Latin America was to bear the brunt, so to speak, of 'testing' presidentialism as 'the' form of government for 'new' countries, in the sense that their existing institutions could not rely on any previous national legitimacy.
