Major differences between Presidential and Parliamentary republic

Metropolitan University Prague, o.p.s.

Major differences between the presidential and parliamentary republics

Martin Novák student number: 19833 word count: 2178

3.5.2014


Introduction In this essay I would like to discuss the topic of major differences between the presidential and parliamentary governmental systems. Since the end of World War I, democratic movements started to spread all across Europe and of course around the world as well. Democratic states started to form from old monarchies and colonial systems and so there was a need for a system of government that would be fitting for the majority of the new states. The decision whether to choose the presidential, semi-presidential or parliamentary governmental system was entirely up to each states. Usually states with absolute monarchies tend to lean towards the presidential or semipresidential system, on the other hand states with constitutional monarchies like the United Kingdom chose the parliamentary system. However, in the case of the UK, it still remained constitutional monarchy, it just adopted some elements of parliamentary governmental system. In the first part of this essay I would like to present a quick overview of both presidential and parliamentary systems and their brief descriptions. In the second part I would like to discuss advantages and disadvantages of each system and also the differences between them. In the final part I will provide you with the comparison of the governmental system of the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic.

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Parliamentary system The parliamentary system is a system of democratic governance of a state in which the executive branch acquire its legitimacy from legislature and is responsible to it. This means complex interconnectedness between executive and legislative branches. An important factor of the parliamentary system is that the head of a state is different from the head of the government. There are of course exceptions such as the UK, where the monarch is only the ceremonial head of the state, while the official head of the government is a member of legislature.1 In the Commonwealth of Nations, the head of state is formally the Queen of England, but physically there is a position called Governor-General, which has the position of the head of the state.2 In parliamentary republics the election of the head of a state is not dependent on the government that is currently ruling. The powers of the head of the state (president) are relatively limited. In fact in the parliamentary system, the president has mainly a ceremonial function and also the power to appoint the Prime minister and other ministers. It is a convention in many countries, that the president selects the Prime minister from the party that won the election, but as we have seen in the Czech Republic, it is not compulsory.3 When talking about the parliamentary system, we have to distinguish whether the parliament is bicameral or unicameral. Traditionally the system is bicameral in order to have the second chamber as an instrument of control over the main one. Scholars also distinguish between two main systems of parliamentary government, the Westminster system and the Consensus system.

Westminster system This system is well known in Commonwealth countries. It ascribes more importance to the adversarial style of the debate, rather then consensual. It enforces a voting system based on voting for a specific candidate rather than for a closed list of candidates. This meant a breakthrough in the transparency of political systems. Unlike in the consensus system, the plenary sessions here are more important that committee meetings.4 1

"Prime Minister - Glossary page." UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/ glossary/prime-minister/ (accessed May 2, 2014). 2

"Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia." Governor-GENERAL. https:// www.gg.gov.au/official-secretary-governor-general (accessed May 2, 2014). 3

In 2010, Czech president Václav Klaus did not assign the winner of the elections to assemble the government 4

"Westminster system." Princeton University. https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/ docs/Westminster_system.html (accessed May 2, 2014).

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Consensus system The consensus system promotes the consensual debating system and proportional representation. Plenary sessions are not that important in the consensus system, the committee meeting play the main role. Consensus system is based on dualism, which means that ministers are personally attending and participating in the debate, but are not entitled to vote.5

Presidential system This system is based on the fact that the head of the government is also the head of the state and that the executive branch is separated from the legislative one. The president in this system is not by any mean responsible for the legislative branch and nor can he dismiss it, but the legislative branch can through impeachment dismiss the president.6 The president has the veto power, using which he can veto legislatives act forcing the lawmakers to assemble Supermajority of votes to override the Veto, but that is for example in this US almost impossible. Presidential election take place on a fixed date and cannot be held any time earlier or later, in case of death of the president or his inability to rule, there is the Vice-president who takes over all the duties and responsibilities. Members of the cabinet are answerable to president only and are not members of the legislature. They form their own departments and serve under the name of secretaries. 7

Advantages of the presidential system One of the features of the presidential system is direct election, although some presidential republics have already adopted indirect vote and some parliamentary republic have adopted the direct vote. The direct vote represents a more powerful and legitimate mandate, because it comes from the people. The presidential system may also work as a factor preventing the abuse of power, because the executive and legislative powers are separated and are able to monitor each other. In the parliamentary system there is also a problem with the low power of the veto, because to override the

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"Legislative Assembly of The Northwest Territories." What is Consensus Government?. http:// www.assembly.gov.nt.ca/visitors/what-consensus (accessed May 2, 2014). 6

"Constitution for the United States of America." Constitution for the United States of America. http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm (accessed May 1, 2014). 7

"Presidential vs. parliamentary goverment." Presidential vs. parliamentary goverment. http:// professional.jodyb.net/presparl.pdf (accessed May 1, 2014).

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veto, you just need the simple majority of votes. However, in the presidential system you need supermajority of vote, which is for example in the US thanks to its distribution of mandates impossible to acquire.8 One of the most substantial factors in politics is speed. The president can always approve changes quicker than the parliament, but a problematic situation occurs when the president and the government are from different political parties. This kind of situation may slow or block the decision making process.9 The presidential system is and always will be politically more stable than the parliamentary system, mainly because the Prime minister can be dismissed at any time, but the president cannot, which puts him in a very stable and powerful position. There are also no problem with coalition and other disputes in between the political parties. 10

Disadvantages of the presidential system The presidential system will always lean towards authoritarian regime, because the power is invested into one person and so it may not be constitutionally stable. Another dangerous fact is that the president can rule as a unit without the support of any of the political parties and cannot be replaced until his electoral period is over. If the president and the legislative majority (government) are from different political parties, there is a risk of a deadlock, which could block or slow down the decision making process.11

Differences between the parliamentary and presidential systems One of the main differences between the presidential and parliamentary system is that in presidential system the legislative and executive branches are separated from each other, that means the president is not responsible for the government and the government is not responsible for the 8

"Supermajority votes in US government and politics, what are they and when are they required?." About.com US Government Info. http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/SupermajorityVote.htm (accessed May 2, 2014). 9

Cheibud, José Antonio. "Deadlock in Presidential Regimes." In Divided government, deadlock and the survival of presidents and presidential regimes. México: Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, 2000. 4-11. 10

Mainwaring, Scott, and Matthew S. Shugart. "Juan Linz, Presidentialism, and Democracy: A Critical Appraisal." Comparative Politics 29, no. 4 (1997): 460-465. 11

Cheibud, José Antonio. "Deadlock in Presidential Regimes." In Divided government, deadlock and the survival of presidents and presidential regimes. México: Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, 2000. 4-11.

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president. In the parliamentary system the executive branch is led by the PM and his council of ministers. They are all members of the legislative branch. In the presidential system, there is no such thing as the PM. The secretaries of the departments are answerable to the president only. In the parliamentary system the government can be dissolved by the president when the PM ask for it or when the government does not receive confidence. There is also a profound difference in the veto power, in the parliamentary system when the president applies the veto power on a bill, all the government needs to do is to pass the bill against with the simple majority support. However in presidential system the government needs supermajority to override the presidential veto. The biggest difference is in terms of powers for the president. In the parliamentary system, the president acts as a ceremonial figure and the head of the state who appoints the ministers and the PM, but has no powers in terms of foreign or domestic policy. In the presidential system, the president is the key actor in foreign and domestic policy and also a representative of constitutional authority. 12

Systems of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic For each country there are specific rules and procedures needed for the presidential election. In the American constitution it is state as: “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows(...)“ 13 That means, that the president is the only person in the government to be elected by the whole nation. This is different from both the constitutional system in the UK, and until recently from the parliamentary republic in the Czech republic, because there, nobody from the government was elected directly. This situation lasted until 2013 when the constitution of the Czech republic adopted an amendment regarding the direct election of the president. When comparing the powers of the president in the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom (the Queen) and the US, it is very clear from the beginning that we are comparing 3 absolutely different meanings of the world president (the Queen). In the US the president possesses all executive power in the federal government and is elected for 4 year. Along with the president of the United States there is also a Vice president who is steps in if the President dies, resigns, is 12

"Constitution for the United States of America." Constitution for the United States of America. http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm (accessed May 1, 2014). 13

"Constitution for the United States of America - ARTICLE II." Constitution for the United States of America. http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm (accessed May 1, 2014).

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kidnapped or unable to reign. The president of the US must be at least 35 years old and a born citizen of the US. The Veto power of the president in the United States is also very strong, because if the president vetoes a bill, the Congress needs 2/3 majority14 in order to override the presidential veto and only in 4% of cases they are successful.15 The president also serves as the chief executive officer, which means he is responsible for enforcing laws of congress, and also for governing the country alongside with 14 executive departments led by Secretaries, which, together, create the presidential cabinet. As the chief commander of the armed forces, the president has the right to command the army, but not to declare a war.16 If we compare this to the UK and the Czech Republic we can see some major differences. At first the term in office is for 5 years in the Czech republic and in the UK there is no term in the office at all, because in the UK, there is a kingdom. That means the king (the Queen) is always someone from the royal family, and there probably will not be any election regarding the new ruler any time soon. In terms of powers, the Queen of England and the president of the Czech Republic are almost on the same level. Both posses the title of the commander of armed forces, both appoint the PM and the government. The Queen of England unlike the president of the US and the Czech republic does not posses the right to Veto a decision of a the government. The Queen of England and the president of the Czech republics are both the highest representatives of their countries. In terms of foreign policy, the highest figure is definitely the president of the United States of America, because US constitution is clearly specifying this role. The president of the US is the driving force behind the US foreign policy. The queen of England has huge historical influence over the Commonwealth countries, but it is on a decline. The president of the Czech Republic is important for the foreign policy of the Czech Republic, but is insignificant in the world wide scale.

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"Constitution for the United States of America." Constitution for the United States of America. http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm (accessed May 1, 2014). 15

SZILÁGYI, ILONA MÁRIA. "Presidential versus parliamentary systems." AARMS Vol. 8 (2009): 310. 16 16

"Constitution for the United States of America." Constitution for the United States of America. http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm (accessed May 1, 2014).

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Conclusion Since the beginning of the 20th Century the whole world started to fight for freedom and began to develop governmental system unlike before. Depending on the nature of the nation and its citizens people tend to choose the parliamentary system over the less strict presidential system. Later, the semi-presidential system was also created, the system which adopted the best from the two opposing systems. It is important to remember the main differences between the parliamentary and the presidential system of government: the main is the election of the executive powers, the debate styles and the position of the president on two posts at once: the head of the state and the chief executive. In this essay I compared 3 completely different countries - the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Given the fact that one is a constitutional monarchy with elements of parliamentary republic, one is a parliamentary republic and the last one is a presidential republic, it is necessary to mention, that they still share common features like the position of the parliament, but in the constitution they are completely different. Still, their main purpose is the same, to promote democracy, human rights in order to create a better world for its citizens.

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Bibliography Cheibud, José Antonio. "Deadlock in Presidential Regimes." In Divided government, deadlock and the survival of presidents and presidential regimes. México: Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, 2000. 4-11. "Constitution for the United States of America." Constitution for the United States of America. http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm (accessed May 1, 2014). "Constitution for the United States of America - ARTICLE II." Constitution for the United States of America. http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm (accessed May 1, 2014). "Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia." Governor-GENERAL. https:// www.gg.gov.au/official-secretary-governor-general (accessed May 2, 2014). "Legislative Assembly of The Northwest Territories." What is Consensus Government?. http:// www.assembly.gov.nt.ca/visitors/what-consensus (accessed May 2, 2014). Macasaquit, Mari-Len R.. "Forming a government: parliamentary vs. presidential system." Philippine Institute for Development Studies Vol. 6 No. 2 (2006). http://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/eid/ pidseid0602.pdf (accessed May 1, 2014). "Parliament of the Czech Republic." Constitution of the Czech Republic. http://www.psp.cz/cgi-bin/ eng/docs/laws/1993/1.html (accessed May 1, 2014). "Presidential vs. parliamentary goverment." Presidential vs. parliamentary goverment. http:// professional.jodyb.net/presparl.pdf (accessed May 1, 2014). "Prime Minister - Glossary page." UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/ glossary/prime-minister/ (accessed May 2, 2014). "Supermajority votes in US government and politics, what are they and when are they required?." About.com US Government Info. http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/ Supermajority-Vote.htm (accessed May 2, 2014). SZILÁGYI, ILONA MÁRIA. "Presidential versus parliamentary systems." AARMS Vol. 8 (2009): 307-314. "Westminster system." Princeton University. https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/ docs/Westminster_system.html (accessed May 2, 2014).

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