FORM OF GOVERNMENT

OR POLITICAL SYSTEM

Unitary System of Government

As the name suggests, a unitary form of government is a single unit state
where the central government is supreme. All the power rests with the central
government and any divisions in governance, for instance, in the form of
administrative or sub-national units, have only those powers that the central
government gives them. While democratic systems have become popular over the
world, a number of states still have a unitary system of government among several
other archetypes that are found in different countries.
Some of the examples of a unitary form of government are dictatorships,
monarchies and parliamentary governments. Some countries that follow the unitary
system of government are France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. Since the
power is vested in the Centre, a unitary system of government is based on the
principles of centralization of power.
Within such a system, a fair amount of hegemony is found between different
regions in the same country. Thus, local governments follow instructions of the
Centre and have only those powers which are delegated by the central government.
Yet, there are no fixed rules to this system and not all countries use the same
principles of centralization and decentralization of powers.
One of the major advantages of such a system is the fact that the government
at the centre can make quick decision since it has all the powers of rule-making. A
significant disadvantage is that there are no ways to keep a check on the activities
of the central government.
Moreover, most unitary governments have large bureaucracies where the
members are not appointed on the basis of popular voting.

Salient Features of Unitary Government

As stated above, a unitary system of government widely differs from one that
is federal in its organization. Federal governments, by their very nature,
constitutionally divide powers between the centre and the state. No such power
division occurs in a unitary system even though the central government, by its own
accord, delegate some superficial powers to various states.
 Moreover, in a federal system, the constitution is supreme and determines the
powers between the centre and the states. Both exist as equal before a federal
constitution. In contrast, centre is supreme authority in a unitary government. States
function independent of the centre in a federal system whereas in the unitary system,
states are subordinate to the centre.
In short, Unitarianism can be referred to as: ‘The concentration of the strength
of the state in the hands of one visible sovereign power, be that power parliament
are czar.’ Federalism, on the other hand, is distribution of force. As has been cited:
‘The sovereign in a federal state is not like the English parliament an ever wakeful
legislator, but like a monarch who slumbers and sleeps. And a monarch who
slumbers for years is like a monarch who does not exist.’
A unitary government can have an unwritten yet flexible constitution but
federal government cannot go about its daily chores unless it has in its possession a
written constitution. Judiciary also plays a very important role in a federal
government and also decides on disputes that may crop up among the central and
state governments or between other units. These are some of the key differences
between federal and state governments. This brings us to the characteristics and
features of unitary form of government:

1. Centralization of power
The centre is the reservoir of all powers in unitary system. There exist no
province or provincial governments in such a system and the central government
has the constitutional powers to legislate, execute and adjudicate with full might.
There is no other institution with this kind of state to share the powers of the
central government. Thus, it rules with no external pressure and runs the state
and administration free of any checks and balances. Their power is absolute.
What powers are to be centralized and decentralized are also decided by the
central government. Local governments exist but it is the centre which decides
what powers will be given to them. Even these are carried out with central
control or supervision.

2. Single and simple government:

The unitary system of government is a simple system. There exist no
provincial assemblies, executives or upper chambers in the Centre. One exception
to this is Britain. Yet, most unitary systems are defined by single central
government where the popular voting is held for unicameral legislature. It is the
central legislature that legislates and executes. The expenses of such a system
are minor and a unified command is adopted in running the state. Democratic
systems can be expensive; upper chambers demand finances and weak states
cannot afford them. Thus, unitary system is simple and understandable. Its
structures and powers also understood easily by the citizens.
3. Uniformity of laws:
Laws in unitary system are uniform laws unlike the ones in the federal
state. This is one crucial characteristic of a unitary government. Laws are made
and executed by the central government for the entire state. They are enforced
without any distinction being made for any state. In contrast, in a federal system,
the nature of a law can vary from state to state. But in the unitary system, the
laws are made uniform on the principles of justice and nature of human beings.
In a federation however, laws of similar nature can have sharp contrasts, thus
complicating their understanding.

4. No distribution of powers:
As stated, within a federation powers are distributed among the federal
and the state. In contrast, in the unitary system, no such distribution of powers is
made. All powers rest with the centre. One of the advantages of this lack of
distribution of power is that the government does not have to bother about
delegating powers and instead concentrate on more welfare issues and
development of the state and citizens.

5. Flexible constitutions:
Flexibility is what defines the constitutions of unitary states. It is within
federal systems that a rigid constitution is required so as to clearly define and
maintain the relationship between the centre and the state. One of the
advantages of a flexible constitution is that it can be altered as be the needs of the
state amid the continuously changing circumstances. As said, a constitution is a
document which is necessary to run a state according to the changing
orientations. A flexible constitution ensures that the desires and changing
demands of people are included in it accordingly and from time to time. It is
crucial to the idea of progressiveness. Thus, constitutions in unitary systems are
evolutionary and are strong to respond to contingency situations.

6. Despotism attributes a Unitary State:

A unitary state can turn totalitarian or despotic when its rulers do not
follow rules or move away from the path of patriotism. Since powers are with the
Centre and there is no check on the activities of the government, there are higher
chances of misuse. Such a government can become absolute and abuse its
powers mainly due to the absence of an internal check system.

7. Responsibility:
In contrast to a federation, a unitary system is more responsible. Certain
defined institutions have fixed responsibility and this is a significant characteristic
of a unitary system. The central government is responsible for legislation,
 executive for implementation and judiciary for adjudication. Thus, it is these
institutions that are responsible for their activities and therefore they try to
operate within the law of the land.

8. Local government institutions:

Usually in a unitary form of government, the powers lie in the hands of
urban bureaucracy. Such a government has also been found to be limited in the
city areas and have no influence in remote towns and villages. Therefore, to
maintain its influence in rural areas, the central governments manipulate their
affairs through municipalities and other such local institutions. In one way or
other, local governments also become important and effective in unitary
systems. Such examples are found in states like China and Great Britain where
local governments are very powerful. The central government maintains its
influence through local governments and also gives them financial support to
run their daily affairs. In fact, local representatives are elected for these
institutions on the guidelines of the central government.

Advantages of Unitary Form of Government

1. Throughout the state, uniform policies, laws, political, enforcement,
administration system is maintained.
2. There are fewer issues of contention between national and local governments and
less duplication of services.
3. Unitary systems have greater unity and stability.

Disadvantages of Unitary Form of Government

1. Local concerns are usually not the prerogative of the central government.
2. Thus, the centre is often at a lax in responding to local problems.
3. In case the centre gets involved in local problems, it can easily miss out on the
needs of a large section of other people.

Federal Government:
A federal government is the national government of a federation. It is defined
by different structures of power; in a federal government, there may exist various
departments or levels of government which are delegated to them by its member
states. However, the structures of federal governments differ. Going by a broad
definition of basic federalism, it comprises at least two or more levels of government
within a given territory.

All of them govern through some common institutions and their powers often
overlap and are even shared between them. All this is defined in the constitution of
the said state. Therefore, simply put, a federal government is one wherein the powers
are delegated between the centre and many other local governments.

An authority which is superior to both the central and the state governments
can divide these powers on geographical basis, and it cannot be altered by either of
the government levels by themselves. Thus a federation, also called a federal state, is
characterized by self-governing states which are in turn united by a central
government. At the same time, both the tiers of government rule on the basis of
their own laws, officials and other such institutions. Within a federal state, the
federal departments can be the various government ministries and such agencies
where ministers of the government are assigned.

For instance, in the US, the national government has some powers which are
different from those of other 50 states which are part of the country. This division of
powers has been elaborated in the constitution of the US. Thus, a federal
government works at the level of a sovereign state. At this level, the government is
concerned with maintaining national security and exercising international
diplomacy, including the right to sign binding treaties. Therefore, as per the
guidelines of the constitution, the federal government has the power to make laws
for the entire country and not the state governments.

For instance, the US Constitution initially was did not empower the federal
government to exercise undue powers over the states but with time, certain
amendments were introduced to give it some substantial authority over states. The
states that are part of a federation have, in some sense, sovereignty because
certain powers are reserved for them that cannot be exercised by the central
government. But this does not mean that a federation is a loose alliance of
independent states. Most likely, the states that are part of a federation have no
powers to make, for instance, foreign policy; thus, under international law they
have no independent status.

It is the constitutional structure in the federation that is referred to as

federalism. This is in contrast to the unitary government. With 16Länder, Germany is
an example of a federation while its neighbour Austria was a former unitary state
that later became a federation. France, in contrast, has always had a unitary system
of government. As mentioned earlier, federation set-ups are different in different
countries. For instance, the German Lander have some independent powers which
they have started to exercise on the European level.

While this is not the case with all federations, such a system is usually multi-
cultural and multi-ethnic and covers a large area of territory. An example is India.
Due to large geographical differences, agreements are drawn initially when a
federation is being made. This reduces the chances of conflict, differences between
the disparate territories, and gives a common binding to all. The Forum of
Federations is an international council for federal countries which is based in Ottawa,
Ontario. This council brings together different federal countries and gives them a
platform to share their practices. At present, it includes nine countries as partner
governments.

Where states have more autonomy than others, such federations are called a
symmetric. Malaysia is an example of one such federation wherein states of
Sarawak and Sabah joined the federation on their own terms and conditions. Thus,
a federation often appears after states reach an agreement about it. There can be
many factors that could bring in states together.

For instance, they might want to solve mutual problems, provide for mutual
defence or to create a nation state for an ethnicity spread over several states. The
former happened in the case of the United States and Switzerland and the latter
with Germany.

Just like the fact that the history of different countries may vary, similarly their
federal system can also differ on several counts. One unique system is that of
Australia’s where it came into being after citizens of different states voted in the
affirmative to a referendum to adopt the Australian Constitution. Brazil has
experienced with both federal and unitary system in the past. Till date, some of the
states in Brazil maintain the borders they had during Portuguese colonization. Its
newest state, Tocantins, was created mainly for administrative reasons in the 1988
Constitution.

Characteristics of federal system

1. Division of Powers:
In a federal government, the powers of administration are divided
between the center and the units. The powers may be distributed in one of the
two ways. Either the Constitution states what powers the federal authority shall
have and leaves the remainder to the federating units, or it states what powers
the federating units shall possess and leaves the remainder to the federal
authority.

2. Written Constitution:
A federation must have a written constitution. A federation is a political
partnership of various states and consequently, there must be a written
constitution.

3. Rigid Constitution:
The constitution of a federation should be rigid so that it could be regarded
as a sacred agreement, the spirit of which should not be easily violated. A flexible
 constitution allows the scope of the central government to curtail the autonomy of
the federating states.
4. Special Judiciary:
In a federation, there are possibilities of constitutional disputes arising
between the federal center and the units or between one unit and another or
between the citizens and the government. All these disputes are to be
adjudicated in the light of the constitution. For this purpose, a special judiciary
with wide powers must be established. It should act as the custodian and
guardian of the constitution. It should be vested with powers of declaring any
law, national or local, ultra vires if it is at variance with the articles of the
constitution.

5. Supremacy of the Constitution:

The Constitution is the supreme law in a federation. Neither the central
government nor the government of the units can go against its spirit.

6. Double Citizenship:
Citizens in a federal state have dual interests and they should be given
rights of double citizenship of the state wherein they are domiciled and citizenship
of federal state as a whole. However, in India, we have a single citizenship.

7. Bill of Rights:
Citizens in a federation enjoy certain rights given to them by the
Constitution. The constitution of India, Russia, and the U.S.A. have given
fundamental rights to the citizens. It is a well-established custom now.

Advantages of Federal Form of Government

1. There is larger federal unity though local governments may handle their own
problems.
2. The government at the Centre is more committed towards national and
international issues.
3. It is a participatory system and there are more opportunities to make decisions.
For instance, what goes into school curriculums and ways in which highways and
other projects are to be carried out, can be decided through participation of local
populace.
4. Local government/officials are more responsive towards people who elect them.

Disadvantages of Federal Form of Government

1. Since laws are different in different states, people living in one country can be
treated differently. This can happen not only in spending that each state makes of
welfare programmes but even in legal systems, where different punishment can
be meted out in similar offences or right laws are differentially enforced.
2. Duplication of services.
3. States can pass laws that counter national policy and this can influence
international relations.
4. Conflict can arise over power/national supremacy vs. State’s rights.

System of Government
Every country in the world has its own constitution, according to which policies
are framed, government bodies and institutions function and decisions are made. In
finer terms, it is the constitution, that covers all the aspects of the political system
adopted by the country. There are two forms of government, Parliamentary and
Presidential.

In Parliamentary System, the political party winning the majority seats in the
parliament makes the government and elects a person from among themselves as
the Prime Minister who is the head of the Government. The members of the cabinet
possess double membership, i.e. of legislative and executive organ of government.
Contrary to this, in the presidential form of government, the members of the cabinet
possesses the membership of executive organ only.

When it comes to dominance, in the Parliamentary System, the President is

only the titorial head, while the real powers lie in the hands of the Prime Minister.
On the contrary, in the Presidential System, the President has got the supreme
power.

On the other hand, in the presidential form of government, the President is

the chief executive, who is directly elected by the people or by the members of the
electoral college.

Presidential System of Government

A Presidential System of Government is one in which there is an executive
President, that is, someone vested with all executive powers and who combines the
office of head of state and head of government. The President whose constituency
is the entire country, combines government powers with ceremonial powers, and is
also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

When a country follows the Presidential form of Government, it denotes that

there is only one person as the head of the state and government, i.e. the President.
The election of the President is made directly by the citizens of the country or
sometimes by the members of the electoral college for a fixed period.

The President elects some ministers as the Secretary and forms a small
Cabinet, who assist in governing the country. Neither the President nor the
Secretaries are accountable to the Congress (Parliament) for their acts. Indeed, they
do not attend the sessions as well. This form of government can be found in the
countries like United States of America, Russia, Brazil and Srilanka.

In this post, we shall look at what the advantages and disadvantages of the
Presidential System of Government really are. In our previous post, we underlined
that the President holds both executive and ceremonial powers. He is important in
the Presidential System. The President is both head of state and head of
government. Having said all that, we will let you know the merits and demerits of the
Presidential System of government.

Just a quick one, a Presidential System of Government is one in which there is

an executive President, that is, someone vested with all executive powers and who
combines the office of head of state and head of government. The President whose
constituency is the entire country, combines government powers with ceremonial
powers, and is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Presidential government practices Single Executive concept, where the Head
of State is also the Head of Government, and he is called the President. The Chief
Executive, the President is responsible for the leadership of the government and
the state. The Chief Executive is independent from the legislature, unlike the
parliamentary system which practices the principle of Fusion of Power, where the
Chief Executive and his cabinet members are also the members of the
Legislature. The United States of America,
the Philippines, Mexico, Indonesia and Singapore are some examples of
Presidential Governments.
A presidential system is a democratic and republican system of
government where a head of government leads an executive branch that is separate
from the legislative branch. This head of government is in most cases also the head
of state, which is called president.
In presidential countries, the executive is elected and is not responsible to the
legislature, which cannot in normal circumstances dismiss it. Such dismissal is
possible, however, in uncommon cases, often through impeachment.
The title “president” has persisted from a time when such person personally
presided over the governing body, as with the President of the Continental
Congress in the early United States, prior to the executive function being split into a
separate branch of government.
A presidential system contrasts with a parliamentary system, where the head
of government is elected to power through the legislative. There is also a hybrid
system called semi-presidentialism.
Countries that feature a presidential or semi-presidential system of
government are not the exclusive users of the title of president. Heads of state
of parliamentary republics, largely ceremonial in most cases, are called
presidents. Dictators or leaders of one-party states, popularly elected or not, are
also often called presidents.
Presidentialism is the dominant form of government in the
continental Americas, with 19 of its 23 sovereign states being presidential republics.
It is also prevalent in Central and Southern West Africa and in Central Asia.

Characteristics of Presidential Government

1. In Presidential System of Government, the President is both the head of state and
head of government, and exercises real executive powers.
2. The President and legislators remain in office for a fixed term.
3. The President is not chosen by the legislature, but is elected by the electorate
directly, or indirectly through an electoral college.
4. The principle of collective responsibility, which obtains in a cabinet system of
government does not apply in a Presidential System of Government.
5. The principle of checks and balances is applicable. For instance, in the US, the
President can veto Acts of Congress, the legislature can impeach and remove
Federal judges and the President, while the judiciary can declare a law
unconstitutional through the process of judicial review.
6. The principle of separation of powers applies in a Presidential System of
Government. Members of the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary are
therefore separate from one another.
7. The President has the power to appoint supreme court judges and ministers,
subject to the approval of the legislature, and sign bills into law.

Advantages/Merits of the Presidential System of Government

1. The President's fixed term of office enables him to give his full time to the pursuit
of state duties during his tenure, rather than dividing his time between State
duties and politics.
2. The clear separation of powers among the three organs of government helps to
prevent the misuse of state power.
3. Although there are majority and minority parties in the legislature, the absence of
an official opposition party makes everyone work together for greater
development.
4. The President's power to discipline any erring member of his government,
especially the ministers, makes for an effective running of the executive arm of
government.
5. The President's power to discipline any erring member of his government,
especially the ministers, makes for an effective running of the executive arm of
government.
6. The conflicts and tensions between the head of state and head of government in
the cabinet system are non-existent in the Presidential System of government.
7. The President is the effective symbol of the nation and may not bend to the
dictates of his party members. This helps to guarantee the smooth running of
government.

Demerits\ limitation of the Presidential System of Government

1. The Presidential System is very expensive to run, in terms of finance and

personnel required for the separate executive and legislative arms of government.
2. Since the President is not responsible to Parliament, an ambitious President may
become autocratic because of the enormous executive powers at his disposal.
3. The fixed term of office of the President may make him become very
unresponsive to public opinion.
4. The separation of the executive and legislative arms of government often results
in government crises whenever both arms disagree with each other, especially
on such issues as the budget.

Parliamentary System of Government

A parliamentary or cabinet system of government is one in which there is no
distinct separation of powers between the executive and the legislature. In this
system, the head of state called president, is different from the head of government
called prime minister.

Parliamentary form of government represents a system of democratic

governance of a country, wherein the executive branch is derived from the
legislative body, i.e. the Parliament. Here, the executive is divided into two parts,
the Head of the State, i.e. President, who is only the nominal executive and the
Head of the Government, i.e. Prime Minister, who is the real executive.
 A parliamentary system may be either bicameral, with two chambers of
parliament (or houses) or unicameral, with just one parliamentary chamber. In the
case of a bicameral parliament, this is usually characterised by an elected lower
house that has the power to determine the executive government and an upper
house which may be appointed or elected through a different mechanism from the
lower house.

Implementations of the parliamentary system can also differ on the manner of

how the prime minister and government are appointed and as to whether the
government needs the explicit approval of the parliament, rather than just the
absence of its disapproval. Some countries such as India also require the prime
minister to be a member of the legislature, though in other countries this only exists
as a convention.

As per this system, the political party getting the maximum number of seats
during federal elections, in the Parliament, forms the government. The party elects
a member, as a leader, who is appointed as the Prime Minister by the President.
After the appointment of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet is formed by him, whose
members should be out of the Parliament. The executive body, i.e. the Cabinet is
accountable to the legislative body, i.e. Parliament. This system is prevalent in the
countries like India, Japan and Canada.

Executive powers are vested in the cabinet, headed by the prime minister,
and the legislature which is the source of authority for the executive.

Characteristics of Parliamentary System

a. Formation of Cabinet
When the general election is over and the prime minister is elected, then
the prime minister nominates her council of ministers or cabinet. This
responsibility of the prime minister is of prime significance. The list of ministers is
presented before the head of state for her approval. They are commonly taken
from the party’s ring leadership. Well-experienced, alert and learned members
are given preference because of the sensitive nature of the parliamentary
system.

b. Team Work Spirit

In parliamentary system all ministers work with a team spirit. They must
agree on an issue in a cabinet meeting and because of different opinions, the
minister concerned must resign or he is expelled from the cabinet. All differences
 must be kept secret. The cabinet members are in the same boat and they either
swim together or sink together.

c. Supremacy of Premier

In ministerial or parliamentary system, the Prime Minister is very important

and has too many powers. In the legislature, he or she is leader of the house while
in executive he or she is leader of the council of ministers. The Prime Minister is to
appoint, remove, allot portfolios and supervise the activities of his or her
ministers. He or she acts as a bridge between cabinet and president. On his or her
resignation, the council of ministers must resign.

d. Coordination of Powers

It is the basic principle of this system that two organs, legislature and
executive share their powers. In this system, both the organs (legislature and
executive) are dependent upon each other. In different constitutional ways, they
interfere with each other affairs. For example, bills are presented in the
legislature by the ministers. They can take part in legislation, address legislature,
call meetings and even to dissolve the lower house etc. On the other hand,
parliament can question the activities of the cabinet members, present various
motions and to remove cabinet through no confidence. Both government organs
have strong checks upon each other.

e. Political Collective Responsibility

It is another significant attribute of the parliamentary system that cabinet is

collectively accountable to legislature. The activities of the cabinet can be
questioned and checked by legislature through various constitutional means.
Ministers remain in office as long as they enjoy confidence in legislature. In a case
of no confidence in a single minister, the whole cabinet must resign. A bill
presented by a minister must be supported by all ministers because its defeat
means no-confidence in the whole cabinet. Cabinet members (ministers) are
responsible before people through their elected representatives. People can
present their grievances through their representatives and ministers are
accountable before the people.

f. Term

The term of the cabinet is fixed by the constitution but not in a rigid sense.
A minister may be removed or changed any time. Parliament can be dissolved
during national emergencies. If the parliament is dissolved, the government no
longer remains in office. The parliament, through no-confidence movement
against any particular minister, the prime minister or against the whole cabinet,
can remove government. Therefore, the term of a parliamentary government is
uncertain.
g. Two Executives

Another characteristic of parliamentary system is, that there are two type
of executives i.e. titular executive and real executive. Titular executive is head of
the state, for example, the President of Pakistan. This type of executive is merely
a symbolic or constitutional head of state. The second is the real executive who
can exercise real powers of the state and is head of government, for example,
the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Characteristics of a Parliamentary System Of Government

1. There is lack of strict separation of powers between the executive and
legislature.
2. The head of state is different from the head of government. The prime minister is
the head of government, while the monarch or president is the head of state.
3. Ministers are collectively responsible to the legislature for state administration.
The prime minister is also the parliamentary leader of the party in power, and
has the power to dismiss any minister from his cabinet.
4. There must always be at least two parties; the ruling party, and the opposition
party. Thus, an official opposition party is recognised.
5. A vote of no confidence by the parliament can force the prime minister and his
ministers to resign together.
6. The executive and the legislature are controlled by the party having a majority in
the legislature.
7. The parliamentary system has an in-built majority which can effectively pass bills
and govern the country in the desired direction.
8. The formation of a coalition government is inevitable if no single party wins the
overall majority in a general election.
9. In such a country as Britain, an arm of the parliament, the House of Lords, is the
highest court of appeal.
10.The Parliamentary system of government operates the dual executive. It is also
called the bicephalous executive. There is a head of state who performs the
ceremonial functions and a head of government who performs the
governmental functions.
11.It is based on the concept of fusion of powers between the executive and the
legislature meaning that the members of the executive are at the same time,
members of the legislature.
12.Members of the executive arm are made equally responsible and accountable to
legislature. In fact, they could be forced to collectively resign their position where
they no longer enjoy the support of the legislature.
13.This system operates under the principle that parliament is supreme.
14.In the Parliamentary system, the executive does not have a fixed term of office
and a vote of no confidence can be used to force the cabinet to step down.
15.Members of parliament are not expected to deviate from the goals and policies
of their party and are not allowed to openly criticize their party.
16.There is an official recognition of an official opposition which puts the ruling
government in check by monitoring its work and waits in line so that when a need
arises, it could become the next government.

Merits Of The Parliamentary System Of Government

1. The principle of collective responsibility in a cabinet system of government
enhances the efficiency, accountability and responsiveness of the government to
the people.
2. The executive tends to be less dictatorial in a cabinet system of government, as it
could easily be dismissed by the legislature through a vote of no confidence.
3. Usual conflicts between the executive and the legislature are reduced, since the
two arms of government are not strictly separated.
4. The government usually gets its bills passed in parliament, because members of
the government party always vote in favour of government sponsored bills.
5. Government decision making process is faster in a cabinet system since members
of the executive are also members of the legislature.
6. Party discipline is enhanced in the parliamentary system, since the prime minister
is obliged to pick his ministers from his party members in the legislature.
7. The presence of a recognised opposition party ready to criticise bad policies of the
ruling party helps to make for good governance.

Demerits Of The Parliamentary System Of Government

1. A cabinet system of government does not avail itself of the human resources
outside the ruling party. This is because ministers must be chosen from the ruling
party.
2. The absence of individual accountability (as a result of the principle of collective
responsibility) lays ministers open to misbehaviour since they cannot easily be
judged individually.
3. Non-separation of powers does not encourage specialisation in the art of
government, leading to inefficiency in administration.
4. The cabinet system is less democratic since the prime minister is not directly
elected by the electorate.
5. The tenure of the cabinet is not stable, since the legislature can dismiss the entire
cabinet with a vote of no confidence.
6. The prime minister could become dictatorial because of the powers vested in him
to appoint and dismiss ministers, as well as the fact that he alone can call for the
dissolution of the house.
7. A coalition government which usually emerges in a cabinet system, where no
party has won a clear majority in elections, often leads to conflicts, corruption and
rivalry among the coalition parties.

Duties And Constitutional Powers of a Prime Minister

1. The prime minister is the head of government, as well as the head of the ruling
party.
2. He has power to appoint, change the position or of any minister in his cabinet.
3. The prime minister exercises real executive powers and represents his country in
heads of government summits.
4. He presides over cabinet meetings, and coordinates the activities of various
government departments.
5. The prime minister is the link between the cabinet and the president.

Role Of The Opposition Party In A Parliamentary System Of Government

1. It acts as a check on the ruling party by exposing the weaknesses and
shortcomings of government.
2. It serves as an alternative government to the ruling party whenever the need
arises.
3. It helps to make the ruling party alive to their responsibility to the people.
4. The opposition party helps to safeguard the interests of the people through its
critical activities.

Duties And Constitutional Powers Of A Minister In A Cabinet System Of

Government
1. He is the political head of his ministry.
2. He is a member of parliament.
3. The minister coordinates the activities of the various departments in his ministry.
4. He attends cabinet meetings and is responsible for all the bills presented in the
parliament concerning his ministry.
5. The minister participates in government decision making and implementation and,
with other cabinet members, accepts responsibility for all actions of government.

Differences Between Parliamentary and Presidential form of Government

1. The Parliamentary system of government is one in which there exists a
harmonious relationship between the legislative and executive body, while the
judiciary body works independently. As against this, in Presidential form of
government, the three organs of the government work independently of each
other.
2. In Parliamentary form of government, the executive is divided into two parts, i.e.
the Head of the State (President) and the Head of the Government (Prime
Minister). On the contrary, the President is the chief executive of the Presidential
form of Government.
3. In the Parliamentary form of government, the executive body, i.e. the Council of
Ministers is accountable to the Parliament for its acts. Conversely, in the
Presidential form of Government, there is no such accountability, i.e. the executive
body is not accountable to the Parliament for its acts.
4. Fusion of powers exists in the Parliamentary system, whereas the powers are
separated in Presidential system.
5. In Parliamentary form, only those persons are appointed as ministers in the
executive body who are the members of Parliament. Unlike, in Presidential form,
persons other than those working in the legislature can be appointed as
secretaries.
6. In Parliamentary government, the Prime Minister has the power to dissolve the
lower house before the completion of its term. As opposed, the President cannot
dissolve the lower house, in Presidential government.
7. The tenure of the executive is not fixed in Parliamentary government, as in, if a no-
confidence motion is passed in the Parliament, the Council of Ministers is
dismissed. Contrary to this, the executive has a fixed term in the Presidential
governmence.

Semi-Presidential Semi-Parliamentary form of

government
We find that in the Presidential form of government there is a single executive
and how the executive is completely independent of the legislative, whereas in the
Parliamentary form of government there is a dual executive of which the Prime
Minister is a member of the legislature and is responsible for his actions in the
parliament.

A Semi-Presidential government lies somewhere between a pure Presidential

and pure Parliamentary system form of government. So, A Semi-Presidential system is
a form of governance that has both the characteristics of a Parliamentary and a
Presidential form of government.

For instance, it has a dual executive system (like parliamentary government)

where the Prime Minister and the cabinet is responsible to the legislature, and on the
other hand, the President is the popularly elected head of the state and has a
significant amount of control over the state’s administration (which is a characteristic
of the presidential government).

Types of Semi-presidential forms of government :

A. Premier-presidential system:
 In this form of Semi-Presidentialism, the Prime Minister and the cabinet
ministers are only responsible and answerable to the legislature even though they
are not a member of parliament. And although the President chooses the Prime
Minister and the cabinet from the party that dominates the legislature, he cannot
dismiss them from the office until the legislature passes a vote of no confidence.
This subtype of semi-Presidentialism is much related to a pure parliamentary
government. This type of semi-presidentialism can be found in countries like
France, Portugal, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mali etc.

B. President-parliamentary system:
In this form of Semi-Presidentialism, the Prime Minister and the cabinet are
responsible and answerable to both the President and the legislature. Although
the President selects the Prime minister and the cabinet, his decisions must have
support from the majority of the legislature. In this system, the Prime minister and
the cabinet ministers can be dismissed from the office, both by the president and
by the motion of no confidence in the legislature. This form of semi-
presidentialism is much related to pure Presidentialism. Some examples of
countries that follow this system are Russia, Senegal, Taiwan, Mozambique,
Namibia etc.

Characteristics of a Semi-Presidential form of Government

A. Dual executive:
Like the Parliamentary form of government, the semi-presidential system
has both head of the state and head of the government. The head of the state is
the President and the head of the government is the Prime Minister. However,
here the President is popularly elected by the people whereas the Prime Minister
and the government ministers are chosen by the President. However, although the
Prime minister and the cabinet ministers need not be a member of the legislative,
the President’s selection must have majority support in the legislative.

B. Relationship between executive and legislative:

The executive and legislative has a symbiotic relationship in the Semi-
Presidential form of government much like the Parliamentary system. The Prime
Minister and the ministers, although not a member of the legislative, is
responsible and answerable to it.Moreover, although the President chooses the
Prime minister and the ministers from the majority party that controls the
legislature, he cannot dismiss them and can only be done by the vote of no
confidence. However, there is an exception as seen in the President-Parliamentary
system where the president can also dismiss the cabinet.

C. Division of power:
 When the President and the Prime Minister are from the same Political
party in a Semi-presidential Government, then there is not much division of power
as the president grants as much executive authority he wants the Prime Minister
to have. However, when the President and the Prime Minister are from different
political Parties then often there is a strict division of powers between the two. he
division often differs from state to state and depends upon the state’s policy and
tradition. For instance, in France, whenever there is this type of government, by
tradition the President is responsible for the foreign and defence policy whereas
the Prime Minister is responsible for the domestic and economic policy.

D. Cohabitation:
Cohabitation is the period in a Semi-Presidential government when the
President and the Prime Minister come from a different political party. As
mentioned earlier, as the President of a Semi-presidential government holds a
significant executive authority over the state just like the Premier or simply the
Prime Minister, there is a strict division of power in these states between the dual
executive during the period of cohabitation. This period of two opposing political
parties in power can produce either an effective checks and balances system or a
tumultuous political period resulting from the different ideologies of the two
executive authorities.

E. Subtypes:
As discussed earlier, Semi-Presidential government can be of two types-
Premiere-Presidential system and President-Presidential system. In the former
system, the President does not have the power to dismiss the Prime Minister and
the cabinet but the legislature with the motion of no confidence does. This form of
government is much related to the pure Parliamentary government. On the other
hand, the latter provides the President with the power to dismiss the Prime
Minister and the cabinet without the approval of the legislature; however, the
parliament also has the power to remove the cabinet by the motion of no
confidence. This system is much related to the pure Presidential government.

Advantages of a Semi-Presidential system

1. The Semi-Presidential form of government provides a unique form of stability
that is not found in any other system of government.
2. The President enjoys a fixed term in the office whereas the Prime Minister can be
removed from the office employing a vote of no confidence by the legislature.
3. This ensures stability in the executive as well as checks that a part of the executive
does not become despotic.
4. The Semi-Presidential system removes one of the major drawbacks of the
Presidential systems by making the prime minister and the cabinet responsible
and answerable to the legislature.
5. Although the ministers are not a member of the legislature like in the
Parliamentary states, they have to be present in the Parliament when bills and
policies related to their respective departments are being discussed.
6. Although there are exceptions, in most of the Semi-Presidential
governments there are additional checks and balances such that the president
does not become the supreme authority.
7. For instance, in most semi-presidential states, the President cannot dismiss the
Prime Minister and the cabinet and can only be done through the motion of no
confidence by the legislature.
8. Again, although the President selects the Prime Minister and the cabinet, his
selection must have major support in the legislature.
9. Again, when there is a Cohabitation government, there is a clear division of power
between the President and the Prime Minister.

Disadvantages or vices of a Semi-Presidential government

1. The legislative process in the Semi-Presidential system is often cumbersome and
ineffective.
2. It is because the Prime Minister and Cabinet, although not a member, is
responsible to the parliament.
3. The ministers do not take part in the law-making process but have a say in the
process in case their respective department is being discussed.
4. This creates unnecessary confusion and delay in legislative actions.
5. Again the dual executive in the Semi-Presidential system is kind of
disadvantageous for the electorate.
6. As both the executives have significant control over the administration of a state,
it is kind of confusing for the voters regarding who to account for the successes
and failures of the government.
7. As there is no strict division of powers between the president and the prime
minister(except during cohabitation), the Prime Minister often acts as a shield of
the President, thus absorbing the criticisms and failures as he is responsible for the
day to day operations on the advice of the President.
8. The Cohabitation government in semi-presidential states often poses a major
problem.
9. As the President and the Prime Minister do not come from the same party during
this period their ideological differences can often hamper public interest and delay
administrative processes.

Federalism in Nepal
The Constitution of Nepal, promulgated through historical Constitution
Assembly in 20 September 2015, declared Nepal as a 'federal democratic republic'
state with three levels of governments having 761 federal units including one federal
union, seven provinces and 753 local units.
 Nepal witnessed a historical transformation in polity from constitutional
monarchical system of governance to republicanism and from a unitary form of state
structure to federal form of governance. The division of state-powers among federal,
provincial local level provides the bases for exercising federal system of governance in
Nepal. Following the constitutional spirit, elections for three levels of governments
have been conducted in 2017 that brought a safe landing of political transition. With
this, the elected governments are functional to deliver 'perpetual peace, good
governance, development and prosperity' and safeguard citizen's entitlements.

However, a number of political-administrative and economic agendas pertinent

to effective implementation of the constitutional mandates need to be appropriately
taken care. This calls for right appreciation of the mandates, continuous assessment
of the citizenry aspirations and trust towards the public governance, systematic
analysis of the service delivery and evaluation of immediate socio-economic impacts
of the new governance system. It also requires to build the capacity of public officials
and elected representatives; prepare knowledge-base on federal affairs and support
the government for effective implementation of the Constitution. With a felt need of
supporting in these aspects through training, research, consulting and informational
activities, the Nepal Administrative Staff College takes new initiative to establish and
operate a dedicated unit 'Centre for Federalism Studies'.

Scope and Objectives

The scope and objectives are to:

 Design and deliver training courses on federal affairs to federal, provincial and
local government including civil employees and representatives of citizens
 Engage in research and analysis on issues related to federalism
 Act as a resource center with excellence for consultation and advice on federal
affairs to all levels of government
 Serve as one-stop federalism resource centre
 Build training capacity on federalism that supports the NASC's core training
mandate