Parliamentary and Presidential System - Essay Example

Parliamentary and Presidential System The Parliamentary system or Presidential System are two most important governance systems in the world which are effectively in place in most of the countries. In Parliamentary system, executive is directly or indirectly dependent on the legislature whereas in Presidential System of governance, the executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature. The main difference between both the systems of governance is the fact that under Parliamentary System, the Chief Executive of the country is accountable and responsible to the legislature and has the power to dismiss him whereas in case of Presidential System, the Chief Executive of the State is not accountable to legislature and in normal circumstances can not dismiss the head of the State.

“The president is elected directly by the people and is answerable to the voters rather than the legislature. Whereas the prime minister has no choice because he or she is a Member of Parliament and is directly accountable to that body. Herein lies a very basic difference between the presidential system of government as it exists in the United States and the parliamentary system that has evolved in Great Britain.” (http://teacher.scholastic.com) Therefore the Parliamentary System is more accountable than the Presidential System because of the fact that Sepration of powers is not allowed under the Parliamentary System and the Prime Minister, being the member of the Parliament is answerable to it.

The direct check and balance on Prime Minister in Parliamentary System is through legislature i.e. Parliament whereas in Presidential System, it is the shared system of check and balance. Costs and Benefits of Proportional Representation “Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation, or PR), is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive (usually in legislative assemblies)” (Wikipedia).

In its essence this is not itself an electoral system but a local arrangement of the way and has been criticized heavily for its inbuilt weaknesses. Mostly it has allowed the formation of the government by those parties who hardly got half of the casted votes thus negating the very essence of Parliamentary System. The system also tends to polarize the system and the left and the right wing parties virtually split and often succeed each other and the normal course of the government may be disrupted as through this system, mostly coalition governments are formed which do not prove as lasting alliance to run the affairs of the government more swiftly and soundly.

One of the most important costs of this proportional representation is the fact that minorities do not get the chance to show their presence in the legislature of the country and mostly their voice is not heard properly at the right forum. Further, this system does not allow formation of clear majorities thus effectively creating an environment ripe for political wrangling between the parties to form and sustain their alliances. Works Cited http://teacher.scholastic.com. "Presidential and Parliamentary Government." 2008. http://teacher.

scholastic.com. 27 June 2008 . Wikipedia. "Proportional representation." 2008. Wikipedia. 27 June 2008 .