Eddie J.

GIRDNER
CHAPTER TWELVE

PRESIDENTIAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEMS

1
The 3 Branches of Government

Legislative Executive Judiciary

Makes Implements Interprets

Laws Laws Laws

2
 The Separation of Powers
 Refers to «the granting of powers to each of the three
branches or organs of any government, the executive, the
legislative, and the judicial organs by a [written or
unwritten] constitution.»
 It divides the functions of government so that power is
not concentrated in the same hands and each branch of
government has the power to independently «check and
balance» the powers of the others.
 It is a device that can be used to avoid «tyranny» whether
by an oppressive dictator, or by the masses.
 In practice it does not necessarily guarantee freedoms and
democracy, and powers are not always clearly separated.
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 Presidential and Parliamentary Systems (1)
 The 2 basic systems of government in liberal democracies,
presidential and parliamentary systems, can be distinguished,
perhaps most importantly, according to the relationship that
exists between the different branches of government.
 In presidential systems there is separation of power
between executive & legislative branches which are elected
separately. If one party controls the presidency & another the
legislature it can cause «immobilism» or «gridlock» problems.
 In parliamentary systems there is fusion of power between
executive and legislative branches. The chief executive or
prime minister (& typically ministers) is a member of the
legislature, normally leading the party with most seats. S/he
normally get the laws s/he wants passed with greater ease as
s/he has backing of a majority of legislators. 4
Presidential and Parliamentary Systems (2)
 Further differences between presidential and
parliamentary systems include the feature that in
presidential systems the head of government is
normally also head of state symbolizing the unity of
the country and representing the state abroad. This
makes the presidency an especially powerful position.
 In parliamentary systems, however, the head of state
is a position held by a person different to the head of
government. The head of state may be elected
(directly by the people or else by legislatures) or may
be a monarch.
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Presidential and Parliamentary Systems (3)
 The term of office for the chief executive (president)
in a presidential system is fixed. Except under very
exceptional circumstances s/he remains in office until
the his/her term has ended (often 4 years, sometimes
more). Then there must be a new election to choose a
new head of government / state.
 In parliamentary systems the prime minister’s term of
office is typically much less stable. Legally s/he might
serve for a fixed term (often 5 years) before having to
face a new election, but if s/he loses the confidence
of a majority in parliament (often the case with
coalition governments) new elections must be held.
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Presidential and Parliamentary Systems (4)
 In presidential systems the president is not a
member of the legislature and nor are his/her
cabinet ministers. In fact, they may have limited
political experience or attachment to political parties.
(Someone from the legislature might be appointed as
a minister, but must then resign from the legislature).
 In parliamentary systems, the key cabinet ministers
are typically leading figures from parliament who
belong to the prime minister’s political party. They
continue to be both members of the legislature and
of the executive.
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Presidential and Parliamentary Systems (5)
 In presidential systems there’s little regular mechanism for
the executive to be questioned by the legislature. In
parliamentary systems, however, the opposition normally
has the right to regularly question the executive, (i.e. the
prime minister and ministers) in parliament, known as the
«question period» or «question time».
 Coalition governments are formed by 2 or more political
parties, ministers typically included from all coalition
partners. Conflicts are more likley in such governments,
leading to breakdown of the coalition & new elections. The
chief executive in a presidentail system is usually the
candidate of one party &/or has gained a majority of votes
& can not (normally) be removed by the legislature, so
governments in presidential systems tend to be more stable.
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Presidential and Parliamentary Systems (6)

 In Presidential systems both the legislature and the

president are normally elected by the people. In
parliamentary sytems, however, the people do not
typically elect the chief executive (prime minister)
or ministers. Instead, they elect the members of
the legislature who (depending on which party
wins how many seats) then choose/approve the
new prime minister and ministers. In the first
system, then, the method of choosing the chief
executive is much more direct.

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Presidential and Parliamentary Systems (7)

* See http://www.dsusd.k12.ca.us/users/kevin.husen/AmericanGov/Book/iText/products/0-13-251359-5/ch1/ch1_s2_4.html 10
Presidential and Parliamentary Systems (8)
 In the presidential system party discipline is usually
weaker, so even if the president is the leader of the
biggest political party, it doesn’t mean s/he can
guarantee that the majority in the legislature will
support him/her to pass the laws s/he wants.
Passing legislation can be especially difficult because
of the separation of powers.
 In parliamentary systems, however, checks and
balances don’t exist on the power of government,
which is itself typically the dominating part of
parliament (like a special committee in parliament).
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 Presidential and Parliamentary Systems (9)
Presidential Parliamentary
Relationship between Separation of power Fusion of Power
Executive and Legislative
Head of State /Government Same Person Different Persons
Term of Office Fixed (Predictable) Less Predicatable
Cabinet From outside Legislators
Legislature
Executive’s Question Period Irregular (primarily Regular (primarily
responsible to the responsible to parliament)
people)
Government Coalitions Less Likely More Likely
Election of Chief-Executive Normally Direct Normally Indirect
Legislation More Gridlock, Easier to pass Legislation,
More Independence Party control more
from Party Disciplined
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Representation in Federal Systems (1)
 «Federations» are those states in which
powers and sovereignty are constitutionally
divided between the central government
(which has authority and power throughout the
whole federation) and the different political
units (which may themselves be referred to as
provinces, states etc) that make up the
federation. States where all sovereignty is held
by the central authorities are referred to as
«unitary states».
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Representation in Federal Systems (2)

* Map of 36 states of the

* World map of federal states from
Nigerian federation from
http://mapsof.net/uploads/static-
www.nigeriamasterweb.com/5m
maps/map_of_federal_states.png
bebe/NigeriaStatesMap.gif
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 Representation in Federal Systems (2)
 Federations typically have 2 «houses» or «chambers», or
two parts to the legislative branch. We call these
legislatures «bicameral legislatures» (as opposed to
«unicameral legislatures» which have only 1 house
/chamber). In federations one house (the lower house)
normally represents the people & their interests, while
the second house (upper house) represents the states &
their interests. Often representation for each part of the
federation in the lower house is based on their
proportion of the overall population, whereas
representation in the upper house is based on equality
of the different parts irrespective of population levels.
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 Bicameral Legislatures (1)
Upper (Combined
Lower House Federation
House Name)

Nigeria
House of
Representatives
Senate
National
Assembly 
USA
House of
Representatives
Senate Congress 
Germany Bundestag Bundesrat -- 
UK
House of
Commons
House of
Lords
Houses of
Parliament 
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 Bicameral Legislatures (2)
 Not all states that have bicameral legislatures are
federations however. In the UK for example, there is a
bicameral system of the House of Commons and the
House of Lords. Such cases, however, are frequently a
result of historical developments, particularly of the fact
that in the past different houses / chambers in
legisltures represented different classes in society.
 In the medieval French assembly known as the «Estates
General», for example, there were actually three estates
(or chambers) representing the clergy, nobility and
commoners respectively.
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 Functions of Legislatures (1)
 The main and most obvious function of legislatures is
to make laws. Though procedures vary in different
states depending on their constitutions, it can be a
long process to pass a new law or ammend an old one.
 Draft laws (proposed but not yet passed) are called
«bills». Bills supported by the government usually
have a better chance of becomming law, but most
never actually do. They must often first be discussed
and agreed to in special parliamentary committees,
often more than once, and the process can be even
more difficult to complete when there is a bicameral
legislature, where each house must give approval.
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 Functions of Legislatures (2)
 Another function of Legislatures is «constituency
work». The legislator’s constituency is the area/district
from which s/he is elected. Often it’s seen as a task of
legislators to stay in contact with the people from their
district, give them speeches about developments and
talk to them about (and where possible help them with)
their problems. The legislator sort of acts like a channel
between central government and the districts.
 Related is the function of «representation», that is
legislators as representives of the interests of the people
who have elected them. Of course not all are
represented equally if at all! Do these «representatives»
vote as the people who elected them would like?
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 Functions of Legislatures (3)
 Supervision and criticism of the government is also
possible even in parliamentary sytems where there is
no separation of powers. Through «question time»
and other mechanisms the governments power can
be partially checked (especially if there are strong
opposition parties) and improvements made in
government-supported bills.
 Legislatures also often have a task of making and
ammending constitutions. Constitutions are usually
written legal documents outlining the most
fundamental principles for governing a state, with
which other laws are expected to comply.
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 Functions of Legislatures (4)
 Most legislatures also have a degree of power over
the state’s finances, such as approving budgets, that
give them too a financial function.
 Likewise, legislatures sometimes have judicial and
investigative functions, though typically restricted to
certain areas such as judging whether the president
has committed a serious crime or investigating issues
of public concern regarding government abuse.
Sometimes the investigative task may be «informal»
with legislative committees producing reports, but
not necessarily having a legal power to punish.
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