Historical development of the Finnish system of government – A semi-presidential system necessary in the oppressive post-Civil War atmosphere – Reinforcement of the Presidency during World War II and the Cold War – 1982-1995: A reform process of partial revisions – ‘The Constitution of the year 2000’: a considerable step towards a genuine parliamentary form of government – The challenges of European integration for the dual executive.

Polish constitutional tradition concerning system of government mainly parliamentarian – Round Table before the Fall of the Wall in 1989 as explanation for the role attributed to the President – development towards a variety of ‘rationalised parliamentarianism’ with a relatively strong role for prime-minister in the 1997 Constitution – system of government not really semi-presidential in nature

Influences of the Movimento das Forças Armadas, of earlier Portuguese and of foreign constitutions on Portuguese Constitution of 1976 — A semi-presidential system with originally four political powers: president, parliament, government and Revolutionary Council — Progressive ascendancy of the presidency in practice between 1976–1982 — Constitutional amendment of 1982: Revolutionary Council abrogated, parliamentary powers strengthened, presidential powers reduced — Presidential role in practice not declining, though depending on the political party power constellation — Influence of president as political moderator and institutional regulator at the lowest when political colours of president and parliamentary majority match — President not conducting, directly or indirectly, the country’s general policy.

The editorial board of the European Constitutional Law Review has solicited a number of contributions on presidential elements in government systems in Europe. At the origin of the project are some recent sweeping interventions of heads of state in the political arena. These are notably the (suspensive) veto of the domestic Act implementing the European Arrest Warrant Decision by Czech president Vaclav Klaus and the dissolution, against the will of both the government and the parliamentary majority, of the Assembleia da República by Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio in 2004. They excited our curiosity about the latent ingenuities of systems that we think to understand but of which we know so little.