Types of Democracies

Types of Democracies

presidential, semi-presidential, or parliamentary

Government (Definition)

The political chief executive and their cabinet (the CGG).

Classifying Democracies (Method)

how the government is selected, how it comes to power, and how it stays in power

Legislative Responsibility Question

legislature can remove head of government

presidential democracy

absence of legislative responsibility (legislator can’t remove government without cause) + president is head of state + head of government

Semi-Presidential Democracy

If the government is responsible to the legislature and the head of state is popularly elected for a fixed term (ex: France)

2 types: premier (prime minister has power, not pres) and president (president has more power)

Parliamentary Democracy

If the government is responsible to the legislature and the head of state is not popularly elected for a fixed term (e.g., UK, Belgium).

Head of State vs. Head of Government

In presidential systems (e.g., US), the president is both. Presence of a president does not determine regime type. Monarchies are automatically parliamentary.

Government Formation in Parliamentary Democracies

Citizens vote for the legislature, which determines the government.

Office-Seeking World

Politicians want to maximize control of portfolios. They distribute cabinet portfolios proportionally to legislative seats (Gamson’s Law) and form the smallest Minimal Winning Coalition (MWC) → ideally the Least MWC.

Policy-Seeking World

Politicians choose coalition partners closest to them ideologically → Connected/Compact Coalition, ideally a Connected Least MWC.

Trade-Off Between Models

In practice, politicians appear similar because democracies force them to consider both office- and policy-seeking goals.

Doctrine of Ministerial Responsibility

The government acts as one entity and is collectively accountable to parliament.

Doctrine of Collective Cabinet Responsibility

Cabinet members must publicly support all government decisions, even if they internally disagree.

Importance of These Doctrines

When the government falls, the entire cabinet falls. They maintain unity, prevent infighting, and avoid strategic reshuffling.

Gamson’s Law

Coalition parties receive cabinet portfolios proportional to their contribution to the coalition’s legislative majority.

Types of Government

Minority governments, surplus majority governments, supermajorities, and pre-electoral coalitions.

Presidential Democracies: The Government

Composed of the president and cabinet. The president appoints cabinet members

Principal–Agent Framework

Principals (beneficiaries) rely on agents (decision-makers) to act on their behalf. Delegation forms chains of responsibility.

Benefits of Delegation

Expertise, reduced effort and cost for citizens, ability to handle complex or time-consuming tasks.

Costs of Delegation

Power transfer problems, shirking, and agency loss (difference between agents’ implemented policy and principals’ preferred policy).

Successful Delegation

Improves the principal’s welfare relative to no delegation.

Principal–Agent Game

Agent proposes policy first; principal accepts or rejects. Both have single-peaked preferences on a 0–10 policy scale. The agent must propose within the principal’s region of acceptability.

Agency Loss

The net difference between the agent’s chosen policy and the principal’s preferred policy within the acceptance region.

Role of Incomplete Information

Creates adverse selection and moral hazard problems.

Adverse Selection

Principal cannot observe the agent’s skills or preferences. Parties try to signal policy positions, but voters may still elect incompetent or corrupt agents.

Moral Hazard

Principal cannot fully observe agent’s actions, allowing agents to act against principal interests.

Mitigating Adverse Selection (Ex-Ante Mechanisms)

• Screening processes

• Campaigning in presidential systems (signals effort more than skill)

• Party-based promotion in parliamentary systems (filtration theory)

• Forcing agents to reveal their type

Mitigating Moral Hazard (Ex-Post Mechanisms)

• Joining specific parties

• Skill-appropriate appointments

• Fire-alarm oversight: procedures enabling principals to detect violations

• Police patrol oversight: direct monitoring

• Free media

Minimum Winning Coalition (MWC)

coalition with just enough parties to control legislative majority)