Parliamentary system
Head of government and the Cabinet are dependent on confidence of legislature. The executive is collegial, consisting of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
Presidential system
Head of Government and the State is independent of legislature and cannot be dismissed from office. Executive is steered by one person.
Important qualifications Parliamentary systems
- The head of state
- Direct election of president
- Degree of fusion of power (not strong: where you have to give up your seat in parliament when you become a minister)
Important qualifications Presidential systems
- Removal of presidents
- Power of presidents (in the US the president cannot introduce legislation and can only veto part of a bill, in Russia they can do this all: super presidential system)
Advantages presidential system
- Stability
- Democratically elected
- Legislature can fully legislate
- Limited government
- Strong leadership
Disadvantages presidential system
- Deadlock between executive and legislature
- Fixed terms
- Winner takes all
- Favours poor chief executives
- Too much focuses on one person
Semi-presidential system
- A directly elected president
- Prime Minister & Cabinet answerable to legislature
- Dual executive
Cohabitation
System of divided government that occurs in semi-presidential systems. When the president is from a different political party than the majority of the members in parliament
Single-party government
Decided by election results
Coalition government
(multi-party systems): usually decided by negotiations between political parties after election
Golden rules for coalition formation (Minimum connected winning coalition)
- Control majority of seats
- Not include unnecessary partners
- Have political agreement
Minority governments
Social democrats won the elections but are short of the majority but because the opposition was so divided, they were more effective as a minority government
Why create oversized majority coalitions
- More legitimacy to the government
- Stronger buffer against revolts
- Extra policy connection (D66 to be between PVV and PvdA)
