presidential and parliamentary
When you vote using an approval ballot, you pick all the options you like from a list. This list could be names of people running for office (candidates), ideas in a public vote (proposals), or choices for different groups. For example, if you were voting for superheroes, the list might include:
Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
Green Lantern
Lex Luthor
Overview of Democracy and Accountability
Democracy is all about making sure that those in power are answerable for what they do. This idea of being 'accountable' comes in two main forms:
Horizontal Accountability
This is when different parts of the government keep an eye on each other. It's like a system of checks and balances to prevent one part from becoming too powerful.
It means the executive (like the President), legislative (like Congress), and judicial (like courts) branches each have ways to oversee and limit the others. For instance, Congress can investigate the President's actions, courts can say a President's order is against the law, or a legislative body can even try to remove a President (impeachment).
Vertical Accountability
This is when everyday people and groups can directly hold the government responsible. It makes sure the government listens to what the public wants.
People do this by voting in elections, joining protests, getting involved in public interest groups (like environmental non-profits), and through the news media, which often investigates and reports on government actions. Citizens use their power by electing officials, asking the government to change things, and talking about public issues.
This creates a back-and-forth relationship between citizens and their government, showing why it's so important to have strong ways to hold power accountable in a democracy.
Institutional Variations in Representative Democracies
Different democracies organize themselves in various ways, especially in how power is set up. Here are some key differences:
Voting System: How votes are counted to give people seats in government.
Proportional Representation (PR): Tries to give political parties seats in government that match the percentage of votes they got (Example: Germany). Many different parties can get seats.
Majoritarian Systems: The candidate who gets the most votes (even if not more than half) in a single area wins the seat. This often leads to fewer parties having power (Example: UK or Canada's "First-Past-the-Post" system).
Law-Making Body: How many parts the main law-making group has.
Unicameral: Has only one main group or
house(Example: Sweden's Riksdag).Bicameral: Has two main
houses(Example: the U.S. Congress with its House of Representatives and Senate).
Government Power Structure: Where the main power lies.
Unitary: Most political power is held by the central national government. Local governments get their power from the central one (Example: France).
Federalist: Power is clearly divided and shared between a central government and regional or state governments, with each having its own defined areas of control (Example: United States, Germany).
Main Leader: How the top leader is chosen and works with the law-making body.
Parliamentarism: The government's leader (Prime Minister) comes from and is accountable to the law-making body (parliament) (Example: United Kingdom).
Presidentialism: The country's leader (President) is chosen separately from the law-making body and is independent of it (Example: United States).
Courts reviewing laws (Judicial Review): How much power courts have to check if laws are constitutional.
Strong Judicial Review: Courts can cancel laws or executive actions if they don't follow the constitution (Example: U.S. Supreme Court).
Weak Judicial Review: Courts might comment on laws but usually can't cancel them, or their power to do so is limited (Example: UK, where Parliament is supreme).
Local Governments: How much control local areas have.
Strong autonomy: Local governments have a lot of freedom and money to make their own decisions without too much central control (Example: Swiss regions called cantons).
Weak autonomy: Local governments have limited power and rely heavily on the central government for money and decisions (Example: many local areas in centralized countries like France).
Government Jobs (Civil Service): How people get jobs in the government.
Spoils recruitment: Jobs are given to friends, family, or political supporters as a reward (Example: historical U.S. system).
Merit recruitment: Jobs are given based on tests and qualifications, ensuring professionalism (Example: modern civil service in most developed countries).
Protecting Minorities: How well the system protects the rights and representation of smaller groups.
This refers to laws and programs that prevent unfair treatment and help ensure minority groups have a voice in politics (Example: specific seats for native groups in New Zealand's parliament).
Public Votes (Referendums): How often citizens vote directly on specific laws or issues.
Regularly used: Citizens often vote directly on policies, sometimes bypassing the main law-making body (Example: Switzerland).
Not used: Decisions are mostly made by elected representatives, and direct public votes are rare (Example: United States).
Focus on Formal Institutional Variations
Two very important differences in how power is shared relate to the Executive (the leader) and Legislative (law-making) parts of government:
Presidential Systems
The executive (President) and legislative (Congress) branches are chosen separately, meaning they each have their own powers.
The election gives us one main leader, the President, who acts as both the symbolic head of the country and the person running the government day-to-day.
The President serves for a set time, so they can't be easily removed by the legislature. This can provide stability but also lead to situations where the President and legislature disagree and can't get things done (a "deadlock") (Example: United States).
Parliamentary Systems
The government's leader (Prime Minister and their team, called the Cabinet) gets its power from the law-making body (parliament). This means the Prime Minister is usually a member of parliament.
People primarily vote for members of parliament, and the party (or group of parties) that wins enough seats chooses their leader to be the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister and their cabinet are directly responsible to the parliament and can be removed by a "vote of no confidence" if parliament loses faith in them (Example: United Kingdom).
Electoral Systems Overview
How votes are counted and translated into political power:
Majoritarian Systems: In these systems, the person who gets the most votes in a specific area wins the seat, even if they don't get more than half the votes. This often leads to two main political parties dominating (Example: Canada's federal elections).
Proportional Representation (PR): This system tries to make sure that the number of seats a political party gets in the legislature is very close to the percentage of votes it received overall. This makes it easier for smaller parties to be represented (Example: The Netherlands).
Mixed Systems: These systems combine parts of both majoritarian and proportional systems. They aim to get the benefits of having clear local representatives while also making sure everyone's votes are fairly counted for parties (Example: Germany).
Countries like Canada and the USA mostly use Majoritarian systems. Germany and Chile use Mixed Systems.
Formal Institutions
Branches of Government
Executive
This branch has the main power to put laws into action, run the government, and handle foreign relations. They start new policies.
Head of State: This person is the symbolic face of the country, representing its traditions and unity. Sometimes this is a separate role (like a King or Queen, or a ceremonial President) (Example: King Charles III in the UK) or combined with the Head of Government (like the U.S. President).
Head of Government: This person is the political leader in charge of the daily running of the government, making policies, and managing administration (Example: the Prime Minister of Canada, the President of Brazil).
Legislative
This is the main law-making body. It's designed to limit the power of the executive branch by checking its actions.
It can be made up of one
house(unicameral) (Example: New Zealand's House of Representatives) or twohouses(bicameral, like a Senate and another house), with each having different jobs and members (Example: the Indian Parliament).Political parties are very important here. They help represent people, organize how laws are made, debate different ideas, and get voters involved (Example: the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. Congress).
Judiciary
This branch interprets the laws, making sure they are applied fairly and consistently. It acts as an independent oversight on what the executive and legislative branches do, protecting people's rights and ensuring laws are followed. For courts to be effective, they must be independent (Example: the Supreme Court of the United States).
Models of Democracy
Democracies can be understood through different models, mainly distinguished by how the executive (leader) and legislative (law-making) branches work together:
Parliamentary Systems:
Here, the symbolic Head of State (like a ceremonial president or monarch) (Example: the President of Germany) is separate from the Head of Government (the Prime Minister) (Example: the Chancellor of Germany).
People vote mainly for the parliament (legislative body). The leader of the winning party (or group of parties) in parliament becomes the Prime Minister and holds executive power.
The Prime Minister and their cabinet are directly accountable to the parliament and are usually members of it.
Parliament can vote to remove the Prime Minister and cabinet through a "vote of no confidence," which might lead to new elections (Example: how Italian governments sometimes change).
The Head of State mainly represents the country and ensures constitutional rules are followed, with little actual political power.
Presidential Systems:
The President (executive) and the legislature are chosen independently by voters and have separate powers, sticking to a strict idea of
separation of powers.The President is both the symbolic Head of State and the person running the government, making them the main political figure.
The President chooses their cabinet members (who usually aren't also in the legislature) and serves a fixed term, meaning the legislature cannot easily remove them (Example: The U.S. President appoints cabinet members who are not part of Congress).
Semi-Presidentialism:
This is a mix of both systems. There's a directly elected President who shares executive power with a Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is accountable to the legislature.
Typically, the President handles foreign affairs and defense, while the Prime Minister manages domestic issues. If the President and Prime Minister are from different parties, it can create complex power-sharing situations (called "cohabitation") (Example: France).
Examples of these systems worldwide include:
United Kingdom: Has a King (Head of State) and a Prime Minister (Head of Government).
Canada: Has a King (Head of State) and a Prime Minister (Head of Government).
Germany: Has a President (Head of State) and a Chancellor (Head of Government).
Specific Countries and Their Structures
Japan: Emperor (Head of State), Prime Minister (Head of Government).
Belgium: King (Head of State), Prime Minister.
India: President (Head of State), Prime Minister (Head of Government).
The United States: President (both Head of State and Head of Government).
Mexico: President (both Head of State and Head of Government).
Brazil: President (both Head of State and Head of Government).
Nigeria: President (both Head of State and Head of Government).
Tanzania: President (both Head of State and Head of Government).
France: President (Head of State), Prime Minister (Head of Government) – Semi-Presidential.
Portugal: President (Head of State), Prime Minister (Head of Government) – Semi-Presidential.
Mixed Governmental Systems
Governments around the world have many different setups due to their history and politics:
Presidential republics: A President is both the country's symbolic head and the head of the government, chosen directly by the people (Example: United States, Brazil).
Semi-presidential republics: Have a directly elected President and a Prime Minister and cabinet who are accountable to the legislature (Example: France, Portugal).
Republics with an executive president chosen by or nominated through legislative procedures: While there is a President who leads the executive, how they are chosen and their powers are linked to or controlled by the legislature, making it different from full presidential systems (Example: Germany, India).
Parliamentary republics and constitutional monarchies: These have a head of government (Prime Minister/Chancellor) who is responsible to the legislature. The head of state is either an elected president (in a republic) (Example: Germany, Italy) or a king/queen (in a constitutional monarchy) (Example: United Kingdom, Japan).
Comparison of Systemic Effectiveness for Democracy
There's a big discussion about whether presidential or parliamentary systems are better for a stable, accountable, and responsive democracy.
Advantages of Presidentialism
Direct Public Choice: The President is chosen directly by the people, giving them strong and clear authority from the whole country, and making them easily recognized as the leader (Example: U.S. presidential election).
Set Terms: Presidents and lawmakers serve for fixed periods, which creates stability and prevents constant changes in leadership that might happen with votes of no confidence (Example: a U.S. President serving exactly four years).
Clear Leadership: Since one person wins the top job, it's very clear who is in charge and responsible for decisions. The President can't easily pass the blame to other government parts (Example: the U.S. President is clearly responsible for executive actions).
Disadvantages of Presidentialism
Political Division: The "winner-takes-all" nature of presidential elections can make political disagreements much stronger, as winning control of the executive becomes extremely important, possibly leading to a mentality where one side must completely lose for the other to win (Example: the very divided politics often seen during U.S. presidential elections).
Too Much Power: The President acting as both Head of State and Head of Government can sometimes lead to too much power in one person's hands. This might encourage a "populist" style where the President claims to be the only true representative of the people, potentially weakening other parts of government (Example: a president using popular support to ignore legislative checks).
Government Stalemate: Since both the President and lawmakers have fixed terms and their own separate authority, disagreements between them can cause severe deadlocks, making it hard to pass laws or carry out policies. It also means an unpopular president cannot be easily removed, which can lead to periods of ineffective government (Example: a U.S. President