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Parliamentary system From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in U.S. English), is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. Hence, there is no clear-cut separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches, leading to a differing set of checks and balances compared to those found in a presidential republic. Parliamentary systems usually have a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state, with the head of government being the prime minister or premier, and the head of state often being an elected (either popularly or through parliament) president or hereditary monarch. Though in Parliamentary systems the prime minister and cabinet will exercise executive power on a day-to-day basis, actual authority will usually be bestowed in the head of state, giving them many codified or uncodified reserve powers, providing some balance to these systems.

States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in red and orange—the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics whose parliaments are effectively supreme over a separate head of state. States denoted in green have the roles of head of state and head of government in one office, similar to presidential systems, but this office is filled by parliament's choice and not elected separately.

The term parliamentary system does not mean that a country is ruled by different parties in coalition with each other. Such multi-party arrangements are usually the product of an electoral system known as proportional representation. Parliamentary countries that use first past the post voting usually have governments composed of one party. However, parliamentary systems in continental Europe do use proportional representation, and tend to produce election results in which no single party has a majority of seats. Parliamentarianism may also be heeded for governance in local governments. An example is the city of Oslo, which has an executive council as a part of the parliamentary system. The council-manager system of municipal government used in some U.S. cities bears many similarities to a parliamentary system.

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1 Types 2 Advantages of a parliamentary system

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5 Countries with a parliamentary system of government n 5.1 Unicameral system n 5.2 Bicameral system 6 Notes

Types There are broadly two forms of Parliamentary Democracies. n

Westminster System or Westminster Models tend to be found in Commonwealth of Nations countries, although they are not universal within nor exclusive to Commonwealth countries. These parliaments tend to have a more adversarial style of debate and the plenary session of parliament is relatively more important than committees. Some parliaments in this model are elected using "First Past the Post" electoral systems, (e.g. Canada, India and the UK), others using proportional representation, e.g. Ireland and New Zealand. The Australian House of Representatives is elected using the alternative or preferential vote while the Senate is elected using PRSTV (proportional representation through the single transferable vote). However even when proportional representation systems are used, the systems used tend to allow the voter to vote for a named candidate rather than a party list. This model does allow for a greater separation of powers than the Western European Model, although the extent of the separation of powers is nowhere near that of the presidential system of United States.

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Western European Parliamentary Model (e.g. Spain, Germany) tend to have a more consensual debating system, and have semi-cyclical debating chambers. Proportional representation systems are used, where there is more of a tendency to use party list systems than the Westminster Model legislatures. The committees of these Parliaments tend to be more important than the plenary chamber. This model is sometimes called the West German Model since its earliest exemplar in its final form was in the Bundestag of West Germany (which became the Bundestag of Germany upon the absorption of the GDR by the FRG).

There also exists a Hybrid Model, the semi-presidential system, drawing on both presidential systems and parliamentary systems, for example the French Fifth Republic. Much of Eastern Europe has adopted this model since the early 1990s. Implementations of the parliamentary system can also differ on whether the government needs the explicit approval of the parliament to form, rather than just the absence of its disapproval, and under what conditions (if any) the government has the right to dissolve the parliament.

Advantages of a parliamentary system Some believe that it's easier to pass legislation within a parliamentary system. This is because the executive branch is dependent upon the direct or indirect support of the legislative branch and often includes members of the legislature. In a presidential system, the executive is

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often chosen independently from the legislature. If the executive and legislature in such a system include members entirely or predominantly from different political parties, then stalemate can occur. Former US President Bill Clinton often faced problems in this regard, since the Republicans controlled Congress for much of his tenure. That being said, presidents can also face problems from their own parties, as former US President Jimmy Carter often did . In addition to quicker legislative action, Parliamentarianism has attractive features for nations that are ethnically, racially, or ideologically divided. In a unipersonal presidential system, all executive power is concentrated in the president. In a parliamentary system, with a collegial executive, power is more divided. In the 1989 Lebanese Taif Agreement, in order to give Muslims greater political power, Lebanon moved from a semi-presidential system with a strong president to a system more structurally similar to a classical parliamentarianism. Iraq similarly disdained a presidential system out of fears that such a system would be equivalent to Shiite domination; Afghanistan's minorities refused to go along with a presidency as strong as the Pashtuns desired. It can also be argued that power is more evenly spread out in the power structure of parliamentarianism. The premier seldom tends to have as high importance as a ruling president, and there tends to be a higher focus on voting for a party and its political ideas than voting for an actual person. In The English Constitution, Walter Bagehot praised parliamentarianism for producing serious debates, for allowing the change in power without an election, and for allowing elections at any time. Bagehot considered the four-year election rule of the United States to be unnatural. There is also a body of scholarship, associated with Juan Linz, Fred Riggs, Bruce Ackerman, and Robert Dahl that claims that parliamentarianism is less prone to authoritarian collapse. These scholars point out that since World War II, two-thirds of Third World countries establishing parliamentary governments successfully transitioned to democracy. By contrast, no Third World presidential system successfully transitioned to democracy without experiencing coups and other constitutional breakdowns. As Bruce Ackerman says of the 30 countries to have experimented with American checks and balances, “All of them, without exception, have succumbed to the nightmare [of breakdown] one time or another, often repeatedly.” A recent World Bank study found that parliamentary systems are associated with lower corruption. [1]

Criticisms of parliamentarianism One main criticism of many parliamentary systems is that the head of government is in almost all cases not directly elected. In a presidential system, the president is usually chosen directly by the electorate, or by a set of electors directly chosen by the people, separate from the legislature. However, in a parliamentary system the prime minister is elected by the legislature, often under the strong influence of the party leadership. Thus, a party's candidate for the head of government is usually known before the election, possibly making the election as much

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about the person as the party behind him or her. Another major criticism of the parliamentary system lies precisely in its purported advantage: that there is no truly independent body to oppose and veto legislation passed by the parliament, and therefore no substantial check on legislative power. Conversely, because of the lack of inherent separation of powers, some believe that a parliamentary system can place too much power in the executive entity, leading to the feeling that the legislature or judiciary have little scope to administer checks or balances on the executive. However, most parliamentary systems are bicameral, with an upper house designed to check the power of the lower (from which the executive comes). Although it is possible to have a powerful prime minister, as Britain has, or even a dominant party system, as Japan has, parliamentary systems are also sometimes unstable. Critics point to Israel, Italy, India, the French Fourth Republic, and Weimar Germany as examples of parliamentary systems where unstable coalitions, demanding minority parties, votes of no confidence, and threats of such votes, make or have made effective governance impossible. Defenders of parliamentarianism say that parliamentary instability is the result of proportional representation, political culture, and highly polarised electorates. Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi criticized the parliamentary system of newly-democratic Iraq, saying that because of party-based voting "the vast majority of the electorate based their choices on sectarian and ethnic affiliations, not on genuine political platforms."[2] Although Walter Bagehot praised parliamentarianism for allowing an election to take place at any time, the lack of a definite election calendar can be abused. In some systems, such as the British, a ruling party can schedule elections when it feels that it is likely to do well, and so avoid elections at times of unpopularity. Thus, by wise timing of elections, in a parliamentary system a party can extend its rule for longer than is feasible in a functioning presidential system. In other systems, such as the Dutch and the Belgian, the ruling party or coalition has some flexibility in determining the election date. Alexander Hamilton argued for elections at set intervals as a means of insulating the government from the transient passions of the people, and thereby giving reason the advantage over passion in the accountability of the government to the people. (citation needed)

Parliamentarism and party formation Parties in parliamentary systems have had much tighter ideological cohesiveness than parties in presidential systems. It would be difficult for a parliamentary system to have a party like the United States Democratic Party, which until the 1980s was a coalition of Southern conservative Protestants ('Dixiecrats') and urban liberals with no single unified ideology. In a parliamentary system, a party such as this would typically splinter because, if in government, it may be unable to govern effectively. Having splintered, though, the resulting parties might join in a governing coalition. This form of government is often compared to a Presidential system.

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Countries with a parliamentary system of government Unicameral system This table shows countries with parliament consisting of a single house. Country

Parliament

Albania

Kuvendi

Bangladesh

Jatiyo Sangshad

Bulgaria

National Assembly

Burkina Faso

National Assembly

Croatia

Sabor

Denmark

Folketing

Dominica

House of Assembly

Estonia

Riigikogu

Finland

Eduskunta

Greece

Hellenic Parliament

Hungary

National Assembly

Iceland

Althing

Israel

Knesset

Kurdistan Region

Kurdistan National Assembly

Latvia

Saeima

Lithuania

Seimas

Luxembourg

Chamber of Deputies

Malta

House of Representatives

Moldova

Parliament

Mongolia

State Great Khural

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Montenegro

Parliament

New Zealand

Parliament

Norway*

Storting

Palestinian Authority

Parliament

Papua New Guinea

National Parliament

Portugal

Assembly of the Republic

Saint Kitts and Nevis

National Assembly

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines House of Assembly Samoa

Fono

Serbia

National Assembly

Singapore

Parliament

Slovakia

National Council

Sri Lanka

Parliament

Sweden

Riksdag

Turkey

Grand National Assembly

Ukraine

Verhovna Rada

Vanuatu

Parliament

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The Norwegian Parliament is divided in the Lagting and Odelsting in legislative matters. This separation will be abolished with the next parliament in 2009 due to a constitutional amendment.

Bicameral system This table shows countries with parliament consisting of two houses. Country

Parliament

Upper chamber

Lower chamber

Australia

Parliament

Senate

House of Representatives

Austria

Parliament

Federal Council

National Council

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Antigua and Barbuda Parliament

Senate

House of Representatives

The Bahamas

Parliament

Senate

House of Assembly

Barbados

Parliament

Senate

House of Assmebly

Belize

National Assembly

Senate

House of Representatives

Belgium

Federal Parliament

Senate

Chamber of Representatives

Bhutan

Parliament (Chitshog)[3]

National Council (Gyalyong Tshogde) National Assembly (Gyalyong Tshogdu)

Canada

Parliament

Senate

House of Commons

Czech Republic

Parliament

Senate

Chamber of Deputies

Ethiopia

Federal Parliamentary Assembly House of Federation

Germany

House of People's Representatives

Bundesrat (Federal Council)

Bundestag (Federal Diet)

Grenada

Parliament

Senate

House of Representatives

India

Parliament

Rajya Sabha (Council of States)

Lok Sabha (House of People)

Ireland

Oireachtas

Seanad Éireann

Dáil Éireann

Iraq

National Assembly

Council of Union [4]

Council of Representatives

Italy

Parliament

Senate of the Republic

Chamber of Deputies

Jamaica

Parliament

Senate

House of Representatives

Japan

Diet

House of Councillors

House of Representatives

Malaysia

Parliament

Dewan Negara (Senate)

Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives)

The Netherlands

States-General

Eerste Kamer

Tweede Kamer

Pakistan

Majlis-e-Shoora

Senate

National Assembly

Poland

Parliament

Senate

Sejm

Romania

Parliament

Senate

Chamber of Deputies

Saint Lucia

Parliament

Senate

House of Assembly

Slovenia

Parliament

National Council

National Assembly

South Africa

Parliament

National Council of Provinces

National Assembly

Spain

Cortes Generales

Senate

Congress of Deputies

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Switzerland

Federal Assembly

Council of States

National Council

Thailand

National Assembly [5]

Senate

House of Representatives

Trinidad and Tobago Parliament

Senate

House of Representatives

United Kingdom

House of Lords

House of Commons

Parliament

Notes 1. ^ http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=632777 2. ^ "How Iraq’s Elections Set Back Democracy" (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/opinion/02allawi.html), Ayad Allawi, The New York Times, November 2, 2007 3. ^ Bhutan is in the process of becoming a democratic constitutional monarchy in 2008 4. ^ The Council of Union is defined in the constitution of Iraq but does not currently exist. 5. ^ Prior to the coup d'etat of September 19, 2006

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