Presidential political systems and contemporary administrative reform: Israelʼs “semi-presidentialism” as a natural experiment

How suitable is the New Public Management (NPM), which developed in parliamentary systems, to presidential democracies? The answer is important to reform efforts in the U.S. federal government and in several Latin American nations. According to Fred Riggs, the requirements of successful public administration in “presidentialist” and parliamentary systems differ considerably. Israelʼs experience with reform presents a natural experiment that supports Riggs” theory of presidentialisi administration. Israel embarked on NPM-style reforms when it was a pure parliamentary democracy. Its reform program was revised in ways that fit Riggsʼ prescriptions for presidentialism after the country adopted major electoral and structural changes that made it “semi-presidentialist.” Although a single case study of limited duration, the Israeli experience suggests that there is a distinctive logic to presidentialist administration that is readily understood by government officials who perforce must assess the demands of constitutional structure on administrative arrangements.