The relationship between a head of government (head of the executive branch) and a nation's parliament or legislative assembly (the legislative branch) has long been the focus for comment and analysis - for example, has the prime minister in the United Kingdom come to a position of dominance at the expense of the power of parliament? Does the American president stand head and shoulders above Congress? Is a French president master of the system? Need the Russian president pay attention to the Duma? What of the position in other parliamentary and presidential systems?

In this book, Baldwin seeks to provide answers, and does so by drawing upon the knowledge and expertise of an international group of scholars whose essays advance our knowledge of the subject.

This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Legislative Studies.