Presidential and Parliamentary Governments

            Around the world there are several types of governments. In a democracy you have a Parliamentary government or a Presidential Government. Around the world in most democracies we find that they tend to be parliamentary. Like in any type of decision making there are pros and cons on the actions a government takes. In a presidential government the legislative and the executive branches work independently from each other yet both work to help their country out. Although both legislative and executive work together to create laws they don’t always agree and conflict arises. Then we have the parliamentary in which both the executive and the legislative work together to function properly.

            One of the main advantages of the parliamentary system is that the government can respond rather directly to changed circumstances because power is unified. In this system all it takes to make a law is the majority of voted in the parliament. A second advantage to a parliamentary system is that the lines of responsibility for policy making are very clear. Voters know exactly who to blame for their current situation. Parties can then be held responsible once they are in office because there is nothing to prevent them from accomplishing in office what they said they would.

A disadvantage of the parliamentary system is that there are few protections for a minority that feels it is being wronged. In a presidential system, a minority may hope that even if it has lost its fight in the legislature, it may retrieve things with the president. This can also be viewed as an advantage because policy making is straightforward and efficient. Another disadvantage to the parliamentary system is that it may produce an unstable government. If no party holds the majority of the seats, then two or more parties in it disagree on enough things, it may be hard to keep them together and cooperating for very long.

As opposed to the way in which the premier and cabinet hold control over the ordinary members in parliament, the president has little control over the careers and advancement of members of the legislature. Secondly, there is no guarantee that the party that holds the presidency will also control the legislature, because the two parts of the government apparatus are elected independently.

The difference between a state with a parliamentary system and one with a presidential system are several. Policy leadership is often more clearly lodged with a president than with a parliamentary cabinet. Comprehensive policy is more difficult to accomplish in a presidential system. Recruitment of executive leaders differs vastly. There are special problems for review and control of the executive in a presidential system. And lastly the symbolic and political aspects of the executive are unified in a presidential system but split in a parliamentary one.

The major types of governments in a democracy are the presidential and the parliamentary governments. Both systems are different from each other and do not coincide with one another. Like most of the political systems there are positive and negative aspects for such. The most outstanding quality of the parliamentary government is due to its efficiency in policy making and agreeing with both executive and legislative. On the other hand we find that presidential mostly focuses on their leaders and the role they play. Also both do no executive and legislative don’t get along well. Both types of governments are great ways to lead a country yet there are always flaws.The difference between each type of government.