Presidential System Presidential

Presidential system

A presidential system, also called a congressional system, is a system of government where an executive branch exist and presides (hence the term) separately from the legislature, to which it is not accountable and which cannot in normal circumstances dismiss it. [1]

It owes its origins to the medieval monarchies of France, England and Scotland in which executive authority was vested in the Crown, not in meetings of the estates of the realm (ie. parliament): the Estates-General of France, the Parliament of England or the Estates of Scotland. The concept of separate spheres of influence of the executive and legislature was copied in the Constitution of the United States, with the creation of the office of President of the United States. Perhaps ironically, in England and Scotland (since 1707 as the Kingdom of Great Britain, and since 1801 as the United Kingdom) the power of a separate executive waned to a ceremonial role and a new executive, answerable to parliament, evolved while the power of the United States's separated executive increased. This has given rise to criticism of the United States presidency as an "imperial presidency" though some analysts dispute the existence of an absolute separation, referring to the concept of "separate institutions sharing power".

Although not exclusive to republics, and applied in the case of absolute monarchies, the term is often associated with republican systems in the Americas.

Contents [hide]

. 1 Republican presidential systems

. 2 Types of president

. 3 Advantages of Presidential Systems

3.1 Direct mandate

3.2 Separation of powers

3.3 Speed and decisiveness

3.4 Stability

. 4 Criticism

4.1 Tendency towards authoritarianism

4.2 Separation of powers

4.3 Impediments to leadership change

. 5 Differences from a cabinet system

5.1 The reality

. 6 Democracies with a presidential system of government

. 7 Footnotes

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Republican presidential systems

The defining characteristic of a republican presidential system is how the executive is elected, but nearly all presidential systems share the following features:

0. The president does not propose bills. However, in systems such as that of the United States, the president has the power to veto acts of the legislature and, in turn, a supermajority of legislators may act to override the veto. This practice is derived from the British tradition of royal assent in which an act of parliament cannot come into effect without the assent of the monarch.

0. The president has fixed term of office. Elections are held at scheduled times, and cannot be triggered by a vote of confidence or other such parliamentary procedures. However, many presidential systems incorporate provisions for the president's trial and subsequent removal from office by the legislature if he or she is found to have committed a crime.

0. The executive branch is unipersonal. Members of the cabinet serve at the pleasure of the president and must carry out the policies of the executive and legislative branches. However, presidential systems frequently require legislative approval of presidential nominations to the cabinet as well as various governmental posts such as judges. A president generally has power to direct members of the cabinet, military or any officer or employee of the executive branch, but generally has no power to dismiss or give orders to judges.

0. A power to pardon or commute sentences of convicted criminals is often exercised by heads of states in governments with a separation of power between legislative and executive branches of government.

0. The term presidential system is often used in contrast to cabinet government which is usually a feature of parliamentarism. There also exists a kind of intermediate--the semi-presidential system.

0. Countries with congressional and presidential systems include the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, Mexico, South Korea and most countries in South America, as well as much of Africa and the Central Asian Republics. The widespread use of presidentialism in the Americas has caused political scientists to dub the Americas as "the continent of presidentialism".

0. The concept of a presidential system is distinct from the title of President or the republican form of government. For example, a dictator not popularly or legitimately elected is frequently styled "president". Likewise, many parliamentary democracies are formally styled republics and have presidents, a position which is largely ceremonial; notable examples include Israel, the Czech Republic, Germany and Ireland. The present article generally does not apply to that sort of presidency.

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Types of president

As noted in the preceding paragraph, some national presidents are "figurehead" heads of state, like constitutional monarchs, and not active executive heads of government. In a full-fledged presidential system, a president is chosen by the people to be the head of the executive branch. - - Presidential governments make no distinction between the positions of head of state and head of government, both of which are held by the president. Most parliamentary governments have a symbolic head of state in the form of a president or monarch. That person is responsible for the formalities of state functions as the figurehead while the constitutional prerogatives of head of government are generally exercised by the prime minister. Such figurehead presidents tend to be elected in a much less direct manner than active presidential-system presidents, for example, by a vote of the legislature. A few nations, such as Ireland, do have a popularly elected ceremonial president. - - A few countries (e.g., South Africa) have powerful presidents who are elected by the legislature. These presidents are chosen in the same way as a prime minister, yet are heads of both state and government. These executives are titled "president", but are in practice similar to prime ministers. Other countries with the same system include Botswana, the