Drawing on contemporary Latin America, this book argues that concentrating power in the executive branch destabilizes presidents, legislatures, and courts.

Gretchen Helmke is Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester, New York. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

1. Introduction; 2. Inter-branch crises in Latin America; 3. Institutional crises as bargaining failures; 4. Why the mighty fall: explaining the onset of presidential crises in contemporary Latin America; 5. Constitutional coups as a commitment problem; 6. Caught in the cross-fire? Inter-branch crises and judicial instability; 7. Conclusion.