PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEMS

• A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of

democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the
executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command
the support (“confidence”) of the legislature, typically a parliament, to
which it is accountable. In a parliamentary system, the head of state is
usually a person distinct from the head of government. This is in
contrast to a presidential system, where the head of state often is also
the head of government and, most importantly, where the executive
does not derive its democratic legitimacy from the legislature.
World’s states colored by form of
government
This map was compiled according to the
list of countries by system of government.
See there for sources.
• 2 This map presents only the de jure form
of government, and not the de facto
degree of democracy. Some countries
which are de jure republics are de facto
authoritarian regimes. For a measure of
the degree of democracy in countries
around the world, see the Democracy
Index or V-Dem Democracy indices.
Countries with parliamentary systems may be constitutional monarchies,
where a monarch is the head of state while the head of government is
almost always a member of parliament, or parliamentary republics, where
a mostly ceremonial president is the head of state while the head of
government is regularly from the legislature. In a few parliamentary
republics, among some others, the head of government is also head of
state, but is elected by and is answerable to parliament. In bicameral
 parliaments, the head of government is generally, though not always, a
member of the lower house.
Parliamentarianism is the dominant form of government in Europe, with 32
of its 50 sovereign states being parliamentarian. It is also common in the 
Caribbean, being the form of government of 10 of its 13 island states, and in 
Oceania. Elsewhere in the world, parliamentary countries are less common,
but they are distributed through all continents, most often in former
colonies of the British Empire that subscribe to a particular brand of
parliamentarianism known as the Westminster system.
CHARACTERISTICS
A parliamentary system may be either bicameral, with two chambers of parliament (or houses) or 
unicameral, with just one parliamentary chamber. A bicameral parliament usually consists of a
directly elected lower house with 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.

Types
Scholars of democracy such as Arend Lijphart distinguish two types of parliamentary democracies:
the Westminster and Consensus systems.
The Palace of Westminster in 
London, United Kingdom. The 
Westminster system Westminster system originates
from the 
British Houses of Parliament.
•The Westminster system is usually found in the Commonwealth of Nations and countries which
were influenced by the British political tradition. These parliaments tend to have a more
adversarial style of debate and the plenary session of parliament is more important than
committees. Some parliaments in this model are elected using a plurality voting system (
first past the post), such as the United Kingdom, Canada, India and Malaysia, while others use
some form of proportional representation, such as Ireland and New Zealand. The 
Australian House of Representatives is elected using instant-runoff voting, while the Senate is
elected using proportional representation through single transferable vote. Regardless of
which system is used, the voting systems tend to allow the voter to vote for a named candidate
rather than a closed list. Most Westminster systems employ strict monism, where Ministers must
be members of Parliament simultaneously; while some Westminster systems, such as 
Bangladesh, permit the appointment of extra-parliamentary Ministers, and others (such as 
Jamaica) allow outsiders to be appointed to the Ministry through an appointed Upper House, a
majority of Ministers (which, by necessity, includes the Prime Minister) must come from within
(the lower house of) Parliament.
Consensus system
The Reichstag Building in Berlin, Germany. The
Consensus system is used in most Western
European countries.

•The Western European parliamentary model (e.g., Spain, Germany) tends to have a more
consensual debating system and usually has semi-circular debating chambers. Consensus
systems have more of a tendency to use proportional representation with open party lists than
the Westminster Model legislatures. The committees of these Parliaments tend to be more
important than the plenary chamber. Most Western European countries do not employ strict
monism, and allow extra-parliamentary ministers as a matter of course. The Netherlands,
Slovakia and Sweden outright implement the principle of dualism as a form of 
separation of powers, where Members of Parliament have to resign their place in Parliament
upon being appointed (or elected) minister.
 Advantages
Adaptability
Parliamentary systems like that found in the United Kingdom are widely considered to be more
flexible, allowing a rapid change in legislation and policy as long as there is a stable majority
or coalition in parliament, allowing the government to have 'few legal limits on what it can do
Due to the first-past-the-post voting method, this system produces the classic "Westminster
Model" with the twin virtues of strong but responsive party government.This electoral system
providing a strong majority in the House of Commons, paired with the fused power system
results in a particularly powerful Government able to provide change and 'innovate’.

Scrutiny and accountability

The United Kingdom's fused power system is often noted to be advantageous with regard to
accountability. The centralised government allows for more transparency as to where decisions
originate from, this directly contrasts with the American system with former Treasury Secretary 
C. Douglas Dillon saying "the president blames Congress, the Congress blames the president,
and the public remains confused and disgusted with government in Washington".Furthermore,
ministers of the U.K. cabinet are subject to weekly Question Periods in which their
actions/policies are scrutinised; no such regular check on the government exists in the U.S.
system.
 Disadvantages
Incomplete separation of power
According to Arturo Fontaine parliamentary systems in Europe have yielded very powerful
heads of government which is rather what is often criticized about presidential systems.
Fontaine compares United Kingdom's Margaret Thatcher to the United States' Ronald Reagan
 noting the former head of government was much more powerful despite governing under a
parliamentary system. The rise to power of Viktor Orbán in Hungary has been claimed to
show how parliamentary systems can be subverted.The situation in Hungary was according
to Fontaine allowed by the deficient separation of powers that characterises parliamentary
and semi-presidential systems.Once Orbán's party got two-thirds of the seats in Parliament in
a single election, a supermajority large enough to amend the Hungarian constitution, there
was no institution that was able to balance the concentration of power.In a presidential
system it would require at least two separate elections to create the same effect; the
presidential election, and the legislative election, and that the president's party has the
legislative supermajority required for constitutional amendments. Safeguards against this
situation implementable in both systems include the establishment of an upper house or a
requirement for external ratification of constitutional amendments such as a referendum.
Fontaine also notes as a warning example of the flaws of parliamentary systems that if the
United States had a parliamentary system Donald Trump, as head of government, could
have dissolved the United States Congress.
Legislative flip-flopping
The ability for strong parliamentary governments to push legislation through with
the ease of fused power systems such as in the United Kingdom, whilst positive in
allowing rapid adaptation when necessary e.g. the nationalisation of services
during the world wars, in the opinion of some commentators does have its
drawbacks. The flip-flopping of legislation back and forth as the majority in
parliament changed between the Conservatives and Labour over the period 1940–
1980, contesting over the nationalisation and privatisation of the British Steel
Industry resulted in major instability for the British steel sector.

Political fragmentation
In R. Kent Weaver's book Are Parliamentary Systems Better?, he writes that an
advantage of presidential systems is their ability to allow and accommodate more
diverse viewpoints. He states that because "legislators are not compelled to vote
against their constituents on matters of local concern, parties can serve as
organizational and roll-call cuing vehicles without forcing out dissidents.
Parliamentary Form of Government Features
There are some significant features of a Parliamentary Form of Government. They have been listed
down below:
Real and Nominal Executives
The President serves as the formal executive, while the Prime Minister is the actual executive (de
facto executive). As a result, the President is the President of the State, and the Prime Minister is the
Prime Minister of the Government.
Dual Membership
The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers represent the executive, while the Parliament
serves as the legislative body. The executive is developed from the legislative since members of
parliament elect the prime minister and other cabinet officials.
Collective Responsibility
The legislative branch holds the executive jointly responsible. There is a concept of collective
accountability, meaning that the Council as a whole is accountable for the duties of each minister.
Secret Procedure
This type of management mandates that cabinet discussions be held in private and not made public.
Leadership under the Prime Minister
The Prime Minister is in charge of this kind of government.
Majority Party Rule
The prime minister is normally chosen by the leader of the party that gains a majority in the lower
chamber.
Bicameral Legislature
The majority of parliamentary democracies have bicameral legislatures.
Political Homogeneity
The members of the ministers’ council have similar political ideologies because they often belong to
the same political party. The ministers of a coalition government are required by the agreement.
No Fixed Term
The length of the government’s term is determined by the lower house’s majority vote. The
ministers are required to resign if a motion of no confidence in the government is unsuccessful.
There will be elections, and a new government will be installed.
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