Essay On Parliamentary And Presidential Government

1001 Words3 Pages

Both the parliamentary and presidential constitutional systems of government are popular choices of democratic countries around the world. Nevertheless, despite their core similarities, each form of government poses unique ideologies of representation, as well as methods of conducting the business of governing. Circumstance leads to the organization of a representative body given the power to make and enforce law, as well as a basic mutual agreement between the people and their government. The end result of this agreement is a system of government unique to the culture, values, and circumstance of a population. This concept leads to unique principles exemplified by each country 's style of government in democratic societies and is specifically …show more content…

Though the primary purpose of a cabinet in both systems is to advise the executive leader, cabinet members in the presidential system work directly for the president, therefore there is “...no tradition of shared cabinet responsibility.” (slide 5 of 40, A Parliamentary System for the USA, Dr. Wood) While the executive leader in a presidential system is free to choose anyone he or she likes to serve as a member of the cabinet, the prime minister or president of a parliamentary system of government must choose a member from his or her own party that also sits as a member of the legislative branch. (slide 19 of 40, The United Kingdom (Great Britain): The Classic Parliamentary Model, Dr. Wood) Perhaps the most important aspect of each cabinet to take into account is that in the parliamentary model, the prime minister or president is considered “first among equals” and can be ousted from his or her position if he or she becomes alienated from the cabinet members. (slide 19 of 40, The United Kingdom (Great Britain): The Classic Parliamentary Model, Dr. Wood) However, this is not the case in a presidential system, where members of the cabinet have no power despite the ability to directly advise the …show more content…

The ability to elect members of the upper house, as well as the ability to elect the leader of the executive branch of government provides the governed people with more opportunities to take direct control of political happenings and forces elected officials to protect the values of their constituents. It is advantageous, albeit dangerous, for the executive leader to be able to circumnavigate around congress; at times they can be seen as clumsy and ineffective at producing results expediently. In the presidential system of government, the power of an executive leader’s cabinet is non-existent, which in a way provides stability to the executive branch and allows the executive leader to focus on important issues rather than waste time attempting to maintain positive relations with his cabinet or political party. Finally, the separation of powers that exist in the presidential system of government is unheralded. The founding fathers of the presidential system attempted to create a system in which no particular branch of government held exponential power over the other. This system of checks and balances is beyond needed in a world where politics is generally a game of corruption and political leaders are in an overwhelming position to take advantage of their constituents.

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