Presidential and Parliamentary Democracy



Presidential and Parliamentary Democracy

A democracy is a government in which the power to rule rests with the people. A representative democracy is a form of democracy in which the people elect representatives to govern on their behalf. Both presidential and parliamentary democracies are representative democracies.

In a presidential democracy, three branches of government – the legislative, judicial and executive – share power equally. The people elect their representatives in the legislature and they also elect the president as leader of the executive branch. The legislature does not control who is chosen as president. In fact, the legislative and executive branches of government can be held by different political parties. In a presidential democracy, elections occur at intervals defined by the constitution. The term of the president is not determined by the legislative branch.

Some of the nations that have presidential democracies are the United States, Mexico and Brazil.

In a parliamentary democracy, the legislature – called parliament – is the highest authority in the land. There are also executive and judicial branches. The executive branch is led by the prime minister. Unlike in a presidential democracy, the prime minister is not elected by the public. He or she is a member of the parliament.

There are usually at least two or three main political parties in a parliamentary democracy. Members of parliament are elected by the voting public. The party with the most members of parliament, the majority party, chooses a prime minister. This is unlike a presidential democracy, in which the people elect the president.

The prime minister who is chosen has to please his or her party members in parliament to stay in office. If the majority party is displeased, it can call for a “no-confidence vote”. The parliament then votes on whether to keep the current prime minister.

If the majority votes against the prime minister, then he or she has two options. The prime minister can resign or call for new elections. If he or she resigns, the majority party chooses a new prime minister to govern. If the prime minister calls for a general election the people vote and the make-up of parliament may change.

Some nations that have a parliamentary democratic system of government are the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Jamaica.

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