Political Institutions in East Timor

<p>In 2002, East Timor became an independent state following a long conflict with Indonesia, and went on to adopt a semi-presidential form of government. In a semi-presidential system there is a directly elected fixed-term president, prime minister and government who are collectively responsible for the legislature. Over 50 countries in the world have adopted such a system.</p><p>This book examines the politics of semi-presidentialism in East Timor from 2002-2012 and post-2012 political developments. It analyses the impact of semi-presidentialism on the performance of East Timor’s democracy, and looks at whether semi‐presidentialism encourages power sharing between competing forces, or whether it provoke a power struggle that threatens democratic stability. Using East Timor as a case study, the author explains whether the adoption of semi-presidentialism helps or hinders the process of democratisation in new democracies. </p><p>It is of interest to researchers in the fields of Political Science, Conflict Resolution and Asian Studies, in particular Southeast Asian Politics.</p> <p>1. Semi-presidentialism and democracy, 2. East Timor’s semi-presidential system, 3. The road to independence and the adoption of a semi-presidential system, 4. Cohabitation, 5. Divided government, 6. Unified majority government, 7. Conclusion, 8. Postscript</p>