ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book conceptualizes hyperpresidentialism as a system in which a president “concentrates significant power at the expense of institutions of horizontal accountability such as congress and the judiciary.” It provides a literature review and elaborates on how the author's book fits into this body of works. The book includes a brief discussion of the modern political history of Argentina and Chile in order to provide some background to readers who may not be that familiar with these two countries. It examines two cases in particular, namely Argentina and Chile. The book deals with a conceptual analysis of the author's dependent variable, the degree of presidential power, and provide a comprehensive definition of hyperpresidentialism. It addresses the common belief throughout the literature that presidential power and hyperpresidentialism are directly correlated with how much constitutional power presidents are given.
