CPS Final - Presidential, Parliamentary, and Semi-Presidential Systems

Constructive vote of confidence

Those who oppose the government also indicate who should replace the government

Vote of confidence

Government initiates the procedure, and not the legislature; typically is attached to a piece of legislation

Parliamentary systems

Government is responsible to the legislature and the head of state is not popularly-elected for a fixed term; includes a prime minister and cabinet ministers

Semi-presidential systems

Legislative responsibility combined with a popularly-elected executive (who is elected for a fixed term)

Presidential systems

The government doesn’t depend on a legislative majority

Ministerial responsibility

Idea that cabinet ministers bear responsibility for what happens in their department/ministry

Collective cabinet responsibility

The doctrine that ministers should air their disagreements in private and defend the government in public

2 theories of government formation

Minimal winning, minimal connected

Formateur

Initiates the government formation process; typically leader of the largest government party

Informateur

Examines politically feasible coalitions and nominates a formateur

Gamson’s Law

The largest parties in a parliament will seek to minimize their costs by forming a minimal winning coalition

Least minimum winning coalition

Forms the smallest possible majority so largest party controls as many cabinet seats as possible

Minority government

Parties in government don’t command a majority of legislative seats

Corporatism

Governing system where major interest groups are integrated into policymaking process and where group affected by policy must be consulted in policymaking process

Governments of national unity

Belief that it’s important to set aside everyday partisan politics for sake of the country’s immediate future

Strategic problems

A least minimum winning coalition may be subject to blackmail and time-inconsistency problems

2 ways parliamentary government can end

1. Technical reasons

2. Discretionary reasons

Technical reasons

Things beyond the control of the government such as a constitutionally mandated election

Discretionary reasons

Political acts on the part of the government or opposition such as a vote of no confidence, or a call for early elections

3 explanations for when endogenous elections occur

1. Political business cycle

2. Political surfing

3. Signaling

Political business cycle

Government actively manipulates the economy to engineer a short-term economic boom and then immediately calls an election to claim credit for the good economic times

Political surfing

Government doesn’t actively manipulate the economy but waits until the economic conditions are just right

Signaling

Government better informed about future economic conditions than citizens → it could call election before economic decline so voters don’t sanction them when decline arrives

Decree power (presidents)

The authority to issue an official order or decision, often without legislative approval; all presidents have some degree of it (in US it’s weak)

Laver and Shepsle (1996)

Minority governments are more likely when there is a strong party; they are large, in the middle of policy space, and have opposition on both sides