This is a graded discussion: 20 points possible

WEEK 5: PARLIAMENTARY AND PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEMS

Identify a few key differences between a parliamentary and a presidential system. How is the top leader selected differently? How do you think this difference impacts the kind of people who are chosen?

Hello Professor and classmates! A few key differences between a parliamentary system and a presidential system are as follows. In a parliamentary system, the people vote for a legislature (parliament or parties), who then, in turn, elect a representative (prime minister, from their own rank. This prime minister and his cabinet guide the departments/ministries. This parliamentary system can also remove the prime minister if need be.

In the presidential system, on the other hand, the people vote for the president and they vote for the candidates in different parties. They have a split vote. The president will then choose a cabinet/administration and choose department secretaries from outside the legislature. The president, however, cannot be easily removed from office. The Senate will confirm judicial officers and top executives. According to Roskin, “The two branches of government cannot control, dissolve, or oust the other, as happens in parliamentary systems” (10/2013, p. 209).

The way the top leaders are selected differently may impact the kind of people who are chosen in that in a parliamentary system, parliament can select a prime minister with like-minded views and beliefs of the majority of the legislation. In the presidential system, a president is voted in with the like-minded views and beliefs of the majority of the people, not the majority of the legislation necessarily.

Reference:

Roskin, M. G., Cord, R. L., Medeiros, J. A., Jones, W. S. (10/2013). Political Science: An Introduction, 13th Edition [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781269724821

Hi Kandice,

It’s interesting how in a parliamentary system the voters indirectly vote for the prime minister. I appreciate that we have a presidential system which allows us to vote for the parties and directly for the President. I feel that in a presidential system the president is held accountable by the voters while in a parliamentary system the president/prime minister would be held accountable to the parties since they are the ones who voted.

Jasmine,

I also like our presidential system where we can hold the president accountable for his actions. It seems like the prime minister in a parliamentary system has a lot of pressure on him to vote and believe exactly like his party in parliament. However, I guess he would already have the same viewpoints as his party, and that is why he was voted into the prime minister position. With the president, he not only has to worry about Congress, but also the people of the U.S. In viewing it in that way, it seems the president has more pressure to vote, believe, and act in certain ways. The only thing saving the president if he does go against the grain is that there must be sufficient evidence that he acted unconstitutionally to be impeached. The prime minister only has to be voted out by Parliament. He does not have break the law or anything. They could just not like him or the way he votes.

Leona

Greeting Kandice,

Great Post. I’m a bit torn over which system is better because in one system we hold the president accountable for his actions and in the other more so the legislation that put him there but I believe that both entities should be held accountable for the outcome of any given administration. Simply rather parliament or presidential they should be focused on the promises made to the masses and practice what they preach to gain the present office selection rather by legislation or individual votes.

Kandice, I agree with your post. The way leaders are selected impact who are chosen. In the United States, we can directly choose who we want to lead us. In other countries, they choose representatives to choose for them.

Hello Kandice,

Great post and very interesting read. I have to say that I agree with you. I am very thankful to live in a presidential system where we have the ability to vote for the specific president we feel matches our point of view.

Thanks again

Kyle

US and UK political systems compared

Students, as you know the US and the UK share the same concept of a legal system called common law.

However, political leaders in the US and the UK operate under a different political system. The US is based on a presidential system comprised of two main political parties with those political parties extending into the legislative branches (but not the judicial branch). The UK is based on a parliamentary system.

Since we discussed at great length last week the US-based electoral system, let’s start our discussion here with a discussion of the parliamentary system. What exactly is it, and how does it work? Are political parties formed in this type of system?

Professor Terwilliger and Class,

Presidential systems combine offices of head and state with a chief of government, the president, elected by constituents and selected further by the electoral college. Presidents then choose their selected cabinets, etc. On the contrary, parliamentary systems are offices of government elected by voters where the legislature is elected and the chief of government is then put into place by the elected group. Presidential systems elect the person with a separation of powers between the President and cabinet; Parliamentary systems elect the governing group (Roskin, p.208-209) with no divided party.

The differences between how people are chosen is either a group of individuals with the same opinions, beliefs and wants from the government with the leader (prime minister, etc.) further selected into that position or voters selecting the individual itself as the leader with like opinions, beliefs and wants.

Political parties are formed within Parliament. Members of Parliament (MP) are representatives in the House of Commons to speak on interests and concerns of the constituency. MP’s split their time between working in Parliament and working with voters to represent their political party. Political parties of Parliament include Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties with smaller parties existing within such as the Conservative Party, Co-operative Party, Democratic Unionist Party, Green Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, Scottish National Party, Sinn Féin, Social Democratic and Labour Party, UK Independence Party, and Ulster Unionist Party.

– Dana

Roskin, M., Cord, R. L., Medeiros, J. A., & Jones, W. S. (2014). Political science: an introduction (13th ed.). Pearson.

http://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/mps/

Professor Terwilliger & Classmates

In Parliamentary System is a system of democratic governance of a state where the executive branch derives from its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the confidence of the legislative branch, typically a parliament, and is also held accountable by a parliament. A system of government in which the power to make and execute laws is held by a Parliament.

Countries with Parliamentary systems pass legislations faster, allowing for the change in power without an election, and for allowing elections at any time. Parliamentary advantage,The Gridlock, frequent in the American system, cannot occur because both the executive branch and the legislative branches are governed by the same party. Roskin (2014 Ch. 13 Pg. 210).

The electoral systems (Majoritarian, Proportional, Mixed) and results of Parliamentary elections are the key element for the creation of government and political parties are the main actors in the process of government formation in western Europe. UK has been called a two & a half party system because Parliamentary politics is dominated by the Labor Party, Liberals and the Conservative Party. They do have Minor parties such as the United Kingdom Independence Party, Green Party of England and Wales.

Reference

Political Parties of The United Kingdom: https://www.rationalwiki.org (Links to an external site.)

Roskin, M. G., Cord, R. L., Medeiros, J.A., & Jones, W. S. Political Science: An Introduction. 13th Edition 2014

Damaris:

Thank you for your post. I understand that parliament is held accountable for the actions the decision that they make. How fast does a law become a rule in their system? How fast do they start to act on the law? I feel that in our government it takes so long for them to make changes or get bills across and then a long time to start acting on them. Is this effective and efficient? I look at healthcare where the Joint Commission has had standards for Emergency Preparedness in place for years and facilities have lived up to those rules. Now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has enacted rules starting November 18, 2017, and have made some changes with the standards that Joint Commission had for emergency preparedness. These rules have been progressing over two years. I find our system slow.

Thanks

Rory,

I agree, with our system being completely backed up. I was looking at some items that were related to homelessness and they have yet to be acknowledged after 10 years, just introduced. However, I would probably assume that there are so many issues to be reviewed that it would talk that amount of time to get to them. It is pretty interesting how he system works.

Professor,

A parliamentary system works in that the voters only have control over one aspect of the governmental system. For example, the voters are responsible for electing officials into parliament. (Roskin, Cord, Medeiros, & Jones, p. 208, 2014) Once parliament has been chosen, they are then responsible for electing a prime minister. This is different from the U.S. government system in that the voters have the power to elect both parliament and the president. Within a parliamentary system, there are still parties that form. Unlike in the U.S. where there are two main parties, in parliament there can be multiple types of parties that form among them. If there happens to not be one party that is the majority, two or more of the parties then go and form a coalition. (Roskin, Cord, Medeiros, & Jones, p. 209, 2014) By running a governmental system in this fashion, it gives the elected officials more power over what takes place rather than the voters.

Resource

Roskin, M., Cord, R. L., Medeiros, J. A., & Jones, W. S. (2014). Political science: an introduction (13th ed.). Pearson.

Hi Marissa! That was a great description of presidential and parliamentary government systems. To add to your post, it is also interesting how they differ in aspects of choosing their members of the cabinet or administration. In a parliamentary system, the Prime Minister will name a team of ministers, who happen to be parliament members themselves, from a group of representatives that are likely to support them as Prime Minister. (Roskin, 10/2013, p. 209). Presidents, on the other hand, generally choose members of their administration who are outside of legislature. With a presidential government the two branches, legislative and executive, “cannot control, dissolve, or oust the other, as happens in parliamentary systems. This gives presidential systems great stability” (Roskin, 10/2013, p. 209). However, still, the presidential system is of the minority government type throughout the world.

Reference:

Hey Marissa, Great Post. You brought up many great points about the parliament. I do not like how they vote for leadership. Like you say they vote for legislation and legislation votes for the prime minister. I don’t agree with that! I feel if i’m going to vote for someone, I want to vote for the person directly. I wouldn’t want someone else voting for me.I know they say they vote for a person that is like minded, but what if they are not? I just don’t agree with it! I love the way we vote here. I feel my voice is heard with the click of a button. I feel this gives the freedom of “speech” freedom of “expression”. Great Post!

Aesha,

I agree with you regarding the ability to vote for an individuals directly as opposed to letting someone make that decision for us. I do wonder though if the people in that political system feel that they are living in a system that is unjust, or if we just feel this way because it is something that we are not used to.

Hello Marissa!

Great post! I am very thankful that we do not live under a parliamentary system as the people have a lot less control on deciding who will be the president / leader. The people may vote in certain parliment and then they vote in a prime minister with completely different views. This is not whats best for the people.

Thanks

Kyle

Professor,

The parliamentary system differs from the US electoral system in that it is often based off proportional representation. There can be multiple seats in Parliament representing different political parties. This diversity means that there usually isn’t two parties controlling everything. However, a majority vote is needed to determine the Prime Minister, but if there is no majority party control in Parliament, two or more parties may form a coalition in order to get the majority. This means that often times, the division isn’t Democrat and Republican in terms of two parties differing. It’s more about conservatism and liberalism differing, and different political parties will fall somewhere along that spectrum.

In a parliamentary system the people elect only the legislature which is what we now know as a proportional representation. This parties, once elected, then form coalitions inside the legislature to form the majority. What is so different in regard to the parliamentary system in respect to the U.S. is the public does not vote for the president. Once the parliament is established by the people, it is the parliament who chooses the prime minister from the majority representation. Once the prime minister is chosen by the parliament he forms the cabinet. The ministers are selected by the prime minister from the parliament and makes up the executive branch. The prime minister and cabinet answer to the parliament.

Of course, in our presidential system the people elect the legislature and the president. It is the president who decides his cabinet. However, executives and judicial officers must be confirmed by the senate. Another difference between the two is the qualifications to obtain the position. The U.S. president is not required to have any experience inside the legislature, but the prime minister can only come from the legislature.

Reference:

Roskin, M, Cord, R, Medeiros, J, & Jones, W. (2014). Political Science: An introduction (13^th ed). Hoboken, N.J.: Pearson.

Hello Michelle, great post. I like how you broke the differences down with the parliament and president selections. Before reading the material, I didn’t know with the parliament one had to have experience to be elected. I wonder if we had this qualification for our president elect, would we have a better selection potential presidents? I honestly feel that qualification would be a positive aspect. Great post.

Hello Michelle,

That was such a great post and I like how you present the differences between the two. However, I usually consider the fact that each and every person’s vote matters a lot. Therefore, I do not like hoe the Prime Minister is chosen at all. I mean we the people need to decide who should be in that seat and for how long. When the parliament makes the decision for us, they may be biased based on a number of facts hence present us with an illegitimate leader. Great post.

Hello,

“In parliamentary systems, the head of state ( figurehead monarch or weak president) is an office distinct from the chief of government (prime minister, premier, or chancellor). The prime minister is the most important figure” (Roskins 2013 pg 208). The parliamentary system does not have a separation of branches They never have to worry about executive-legislature deadlock. In parliamentary system, the voters elect a legislature, then the legislature elects and executive. Political parties are formed in this type of system. Unlike the presidential system which has basically two parties, the parliamentary system is made up of several different parties. But if one party does not hold the majority of the seats in parliament, they will join together to form a coalition. The presidential system is a direct way of choosing government and leaders. The parliamentary system is indirect.

Roskin, M., Cord, R. L., Medeiros, J. A., & Jones, W. S. (2014). Political science: An Introduction (13th ed.). Pearson

Robyn

A parliamentary system is a system of democratic governance of a state where the executive branch derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the confidence of the legislative branch, typically a parliament, and is also held accountable to that parliament. In a parliamentary system, the head of state is usually a different person from the head of government. This is in contrast to a presidential system where the head of state often is also the head of government and, most importantly, the executive branch does not derive its democratic legitimacy from the legislature. A parliamentary system is designed to put one party into legislative and executive control and give that party (or a coalition of parties constituting a parliamentary majority) the tools to both enact and implement its program. The job of the out-of-power party is to criticize and oppose the in-power party, to describe its alternative ideas for how to run the country and to explain why the country should put the in-party out and the out-party in in the next election. Political parties are formed in the parliamentary system.

Reference:

Paliamentary system in Wikipedia. Retrieved November 22nd, 2017, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_system

Based on what I read from our textbook, Parliamentary system conducts their elections where citizens votes on the parliament only then, it is the winning party that elects their top leader of their country which is the prime minister. In this system, voters only vote for legislature (Roskin et. al, 2014, p. 208). It is then the prime minister after being chosen by the parliament who will choose a team of ministers who will be a part of his cabinet and act as members of the parliament as well (Roskin et. al, 2014, p. 208). As mentioned by the authors of our textbook, this system often consists of many parties with most likely no single party controlling the majority. Hence, parliamentary system urges and motivates these tiny parties to undergo coalition and merge into one in order to achieve dominance and win with the likelihood of watering down their beliefs and values as a compromise. IN addition to this, in the parliamentary system, the parliament serves to check and challenge the work of the government, make and change laws, debate on important issues of the day as well as check and approve government spending and tax budgeting (Parliament.UK).

Reference:

Parliament.UK. (n.d.). How Parliament works. Retrieved November 22, 2017, from http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/ (Links to an external site.)

Roskin, M, Cord, R, Medeiros, J, & Jones, W. (2014). Political Science:

An introduction (13th ed). Hoboken, N.J.: Pearson.

Hello professor and class!

Our text tells us that the Parliamentary system is a system where the people vote in members of parliament from which point the party with most votes then chooses the Prime Minister. With this system, the voters (citizens) are not able to directly vote for the prime minister / leader of their choice and the members of parliament may choose a prime minister with completely different views than the voter. Another difference in the two systems is that it is easier to remove the prime minister from power than it is the president in the presidential system.

Reference

Roskin, M. G., Cord, R. L., Medeiros, J. A., Jones, W. S. (10/2013). Political Science: An Introduction, 13th Edition [VitalSource Bookshelf version].

~Kyle

Hi everyone!

According to (Roskin, Cord, Medeiros, & Jones, 2017, p. 244), in a parliamentary system the voters elect only a legislature and the legislature elects a representative (prime minister, premier, or chancellor) of the parliamentary system. In this system, the Prime Minister (PM) is the important figure, however, the parliament can removed and replaced the PM if needed. In this system, the PM tends to be more in line with the parliament because they are the sole group that can remove and replace him, therefore, the PM tends to be more in line with the parliament than the people. In the presidential system, voters elect a president and other officials, usually based on a specific party. The president is responsible for electing his own cabinet. The president responds to the people and their interests, and does not necessarily have to have the same views as the legislation. There is no real concern about being removed from office, unless the people vote to impeach a president. This is not the duty of the legislator.

I believe within the parliament system, the people’s interests are not really taken into consideration, therefore the parliament will likely chose a PM that has very similar views of the parliament in order to remain in control. It is not likely that a PM with opposite views will be selected as this can likely lead to the replacement process. Within a presidential system, the people have the vote, therefore, everyone is encouraged to vote, express their views for their selected party, and make a difference by choosing their candidate of choice. This system has a lot of checks and balances, so it is not a select few making all the decisions, it is the majority of the people that have chosen the elected officials.

Reference:

Roskin, M., Cord, R. L., Medeiros, J. A., & Jones, W. S. (2017). Political Science: An Introduction (14th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Hi Amber! I really found your post thought-provoking. I did not think about how a parliamentary system is more in line with Parliament rather than the people, and the President is more in line with the people. That is a very good point of view. I just viewed it as how the book made it seem, like the Parliament seems to have the most control, not the Prime Minister, yet this is what works for them. I suppose though that this IS what works for them because they’ve been doing for longer than the U.S. has been doing our presidential system. In fact, according to Roskin, the Presidential system is, “a minority of the world’s governments” 10/2013, p. 208). It would seem that the Parliament system works well for Great Britain.

Reference:

Amber

In reading your post I was intrigued. Can we imagine the US only having us vote for Legislature. The PM being in line with parliament doesn’t fair well for the people. Too constrictive for what I feel should be the freedom of the people and our voices being heard and respected in the running of our country.

They are less powerful and less interesting. Efficiency has led to atrophy. The US Capitol Hill has no problem with efficiency. Roskin (2014.Ch.13 Pg.217)

Amber,

I find it interesting that it is so easy in a parliamentary system to remove the prime minister from that position. Only a vote from Parliament, and he is out. To me it seems like there is not much use to have a prime minister if he is only going to vote in the direction the lower house wants him to vote. He must maintain good relationships with the lower house in order to remain in that position, so it seems useless to have it. In the presidential system we use, there seems to be a better representation of the people. We elect officials to the Senate, House of Representatives, and the President. It is also harder to remove a president from office. There must be a case made that shows the president has acted in a manner that opposes the law. The Senate cannot just vote him out of office when he does something they don’t necessarily agree upon.

Leona

I agree that parliament has the authority in the parliamentary system. I think it is rather disheartening that one could be controlled in such a way as the prime minister. Or since the prime minister is usually the head of the parliament that elects him or her, maybe that is not true. I am very glad that the US has the presidential system. I think this gives the citizens more say in the government that we have. I too was surprised at the ease of removing a prime minister. With the parliament falling with the prime minister, I am sure that this is a rare occurrence.

Scott

Professor Terwilliger and Class,

Identify a few key differences between a parliamentary and a presidential system.

How is the top leader selected differently?

Simply put, in a parliamentary system, the populace votes for a party. The party winning a majority of the votes organizes a government that includes choosing a Prime Minister. The Prime Minister then assigns Ministers to oversee ministries (equivalent to our federal departments). Voters don’t directly vote for their executive leader, the majority party in parliament chooses that person. In the presidential system, the voters get to choose the executive leader (the president) directly. This system allows for a separate vote for the legislative branch. So potentially, different parties may occupy the White House and be the majority in congress. The presidential system is a very stable form of government. This is due, in part, to the fact that in the U.S. the president is not responsible to the legislature (separation of powers). As Roskin (2014) puts it, the close connection between the legislative and executive branches is broken. Presidents are elected on their own and choose their own cabinet (federal department secretaries).

The parliamentary system is not as stable as the presidential system, with the need to, at times, form coalition governments, the ability to effectively dissolve a government with a “vote of no confidence”, and the ability to call for early elections, we see government change more often (although, less dramatically) than in the presidential system.

How do you think this difference impacts the kind of people who are chosen?

Within the presidential system, the populace casts their vote directly (technically, indirectly via the Electoral College), for the president. So, they are typically looking for an experienced candidate, with the credentials and abilities to shoulder the weight of that position. The president has to, in many cases, act as a lone wolf in leading and making decisions. The president is a very powerful, nearly independent position (congress cannot dissolve the presidency). Most of all, as a “Lone Wolf”, the president has to inspire confidence in his/her leadership. Typically, the two parties nominate their best and brightest candidate, but only one can win.

If a spirit of independence is admired in the president, the spirit of team play is sought after in a parliamentary candidate. Since, candidates are expected to “toe the party line” once elected, voters look for a leader who is capable of leading the party in a spirit of cooperation. Voters in this form of government are voting for the party package, as opposed to individual leadership skills in the presidential system. Ultimately, the majority party gets to choose their leader. But, it is typically common knowledge who will be selected as Prime Minister and the voting public knows that. So, even though voters in this system vote for the party, they know who will be leading as Prime Minister.

Thank You,

Gordon

Reference:

Roskin, M, Cord, R, Medeiros, J, & Jones, W. (2014). Political Science:

An introduction (13^th ed). Hoboken, N.J.: Pearson.

Gordon

Great layout of the questions with your response following. I grew up in a country with a parliamentary system. When compared with the electoral system, citizens feel safer and more confident. The presidential system in the US I think complies to the checks and balances more than in a parliamentary system thus leading to less corruption. This again leads to citizens having confidence and respect for their leaders..

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POLI 330N Week 5 Discussion Question 1, Parliamentary versus Presidential Systems

WEEK 5: PARLIAMENTARY AND PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEMS

US and UK political systems compared

Identify a few key differences between a parliamentary and a presidential system.

How is the top leader selected differently?

How do you think this difference impacts the kind of people who are chosen?

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