Democratic Systems

There are three

• Presidential

• Parliamentary

• Presidential-parliamentary

Presidential

• President is sole effective head of government

• Real decision-making powers

• Shares power with a separately elected legislature

Parliamentary

• Most widely used form in the world.

• The head of the country is called the “government” and consists of the leader and ministers of the executive.

• Often has a ceremonial head of state as well.

How it works

• First, the people elect the national legislature.

• The legislature elects the leader and approves the cabinet.

• The leader and cabinet must appear before the legislature on a regular basis and defend their decisions/policies.

• The legislature can vote the government out of power.– often called a “vote of no confidence”

Single Party Majoritarian Government

• One party wins absolute majority of seats in the national legislature and forms the government.

• Votes are more along lines of party than in U.S.

• Very efficient system.

Majority Coalition Government• Two or more parties agree to share cabinet

posts to form a voting majority• No clear majority• Advantages– smaller parties get a say– negotiations and compromise

• Disadvantages – the more parties in the coalition, the less chance of

compromise– inefficiency and ineffectiveness– more influence for a smaller segment of society– instability

Minority Government• No majority party and no

groups are able to form a coalition

• How does work get done?– parliamentary alliance: some

parties agree not to share cabinet posts, but will vote together

– policies passed on vote-by-vote alliances

– some parties agree to abstain from certain votes

– usually dissolves before end of term

Presidential-parliamentary system

• Contains both a president and a prime minister

• Also called a dual-executive system

• Intended to speed up the process, maximize the efficiency, and stabilize the executive.

• Voters also elect legislature– of course, this can lead to gridlock

Ways to elect a president• Directly– People vote directly for the

candidate– If a candidate gets a majority in

the first round, that person wins– If no majority in the first round, a

runoff between 2-3 candidates in a second round

• Electoral college– People elect president indirectly– Winner-takes-all in a state (even

if no majority)– Most electoral votes wins

Ways to elect a legislature

• single-member district / plurality method– country is divided into multiple

districts– one representative per district– candidate with most votes wins

• proportional representation– a party list is created– a number of reps from that list

are placed in the government ~equal to the percentage of popular votes the party received

SAGE