Alex distinguishes the formal powers of an office from the conventions that affect how an established political system uses them. His examples are the American presidency and the British premiership. He raises the concern that a new state copying constitutional text after dictatorship may lack the informal restraints associated with the older system. Eastern Europe after the Cold War provides the comparison in this argument. He frames checks and balances as a response to the possibility that an officeholder could misuse powers, rather than assuming that every successor would exercise restraint.
Notable Point · 2:42:53-2:45:41
Constitutional powers and the conventions that restrain them
A constitutional comparison asks what happens when a new state adopts strong formal offices without the older system's informal conventions.