4. Forms of Gov

Question 1

Definition form of government

Answer 1

• The relationship between constitutional bodies
• Looks at how power is distributed among the constitutional bodies
• Form of gov <=> electoral system <=> political system (closed cycle)
• Concrete functioning of form of gov depends on political and electoral system

Question 2

Elgie’s three dispositional properties

Answer 2

• a method of classification of forms of government.
• can be used to classify contemporary gov
• Distinct properties:
  
  1. whether there is both a head of state and a head of government; it is possible that head of state and head of gov coincides
  2. whether or not the incumbents of these institutions are popularly elected (directly or indirectly elected)
  3. whether the incumbents serve for a fixed term (head of state and gov serve for an amount of years OR may vary on the basis of contingent situations)

Question 3

Parliamentary Executive - a form of gov analysed by Elgie

Answer 3

1. have both head of gov and head of state - 2 separate bodies (UK, Italy, Germany, Spain)
   
   • head of state either a monarch - in office because of descendence line of succession => neither elected nor appointed OR an elected one (both monarchies and republic - related to selection procedure)
2. selection procedure:
   
   • in case of monarchy, law of succession may differ from country to country.
   • in parliamentary republic, elections occur; the parliament (the legislative body) elects head of state
   • head of gov is appointed by head of state => no elections. However, has to appoint someone who has parliamentary majority => does not have full power
     
     • this is important because relationship between parliament and gov is the most distinctive of this form of gov (parliament provides confidence and gov provides power of dissolution)
3. term for incumbents:
   
   1. no fixed term for head of gov - as long as the gov has confidence from parliament, they remain in office
      
      • however, if parliament has power to withdraw support/confidence => no corresponding replacement
      • survival of gov in office depends on confidence => no fixed term
      • however, parliament needs to be replaced every 5 years => new par => new gov
   2. fixed term for head of state
      
      • can still be reassigned
      • but not fixed as the ruler can pass away
      • if head of state is monarch, term of office is fixed in the sense that is a life-term office => neither fixed nor unfixed as a monarch can replace another; or step down/resign

Question 4

Parliamentary Executive - relationship of governance

Answer 4

• parliament has great power since it can decide to withdraw confidence => gov is forced to resign
• parliament can open a gov crisis by casting a no confidence vote
• confidence = power check
• if parliament withdraws, whether general elections occur or not depends; when gov resigns:
  
  • head of state analyses the situation in order to see whether it’s possible to appoint new head of gov => if yes, no need for elections
  • head of state not able to find someone with parliament majority; no possible alternative majority => general election
• to counterbalance the power, gov has power of dissolution => coaltition of government:
  
  • can trigger a general election to dissolute parliament
• no confidence = no power of dissolution and vice versa
• can be controversial as traditionally, power belongs to head of state, however, it’s now being co-joined
  
  • form: head of state
  • substance: head of gov
  • head of state = placed outside politics, a figurehead; guardian of constitutional power; someone above all the parties => cannot exercise political roles

Question 5

Historical evolution of parliamentary executive

Answer 5

• The origins of the parliamentary form of government are to be found in Great Britain although the Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet has evolved as a matter of political expediency and constitutional practice rather than by law given that the country does not have a codified Constitution.
• 1782 is considered an important moment in the evolution from a constitutional to parliamentary monarchy - political contingency
• Cons. convention that regulates the British form of gov:
  
  • Magna Cart: King bounded by the parliament, hence no absolute monarchy
  • King George - figure of reference which becomes the representation of prime minister - criticiser of power => cannot have the King alone
  • Establishment of confidence that marks the distinctive characteristic of parliamentary executive

Question 6

1782 and important events

Answer 6

1. Up until 1782 the King had the power to appoint and to dismiss the Prime Minister and the rest of the Cabinet.
2. Resignation of Lord North marks the first time a Prime Minister resigns following a vote of no confidence. (negative votes of the gov => marks a possibility that a prime minister and head of cabinet needs the support of the government; exercise power)
3. King George III realised he had no choice but to appoint a Prime Minister with majority in Parliament…
4. …i.e. Charles Watson-Wentworth who was the leader of the largest group in Parliament, the Whigs.

Question 7

1832 and important events

Answer 7

1. Approval of the Reform Act caused a struggle between Parliament and Monarch came to a head.
2. 1834 King William IV decided to dismiss the then Prime Minister Lord Melbourne and replace him by the Tory Robert Peel - not the party leader in Parliament and could not govern
3. King was forced to reappoint Lord Melbourne
4. Last time a Monarch will dismiss a Prime Minister of his own accord.

(can appoint prime minister not the head of majority party, however, that is no longer the case; PM has to be leader of a party )

Question 8

Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011

Answer 8

• mechanism was produced in order to stablise confidence or power of dissolution (following 1832 events)
• Before the passage of the Act, Parliament could be dissolved by royal proclamation by virtue of the Royal Prerogative. Over time, the monarch increasingly acted only on the advice of the prime minister.
• Introduces fixed-term elections to the Westminster Parliament. Under the provisions of the Act, parliamentary elections must be held every five years (reducing power of dissolution), beginning in 2015.
• There are also two ways in which an election could be triggered before the end of the five-year term (gov dissolved):
  
  •  if a motion of no confidence is passed and no alternative government is found within 14 days
  •  or if a motion for an early general election is agreed either by at least two-thirds of the House (including vacant seats) or without division

Question 9

The Italian Case: the Head of State

Answer 9

• Majority electoral system assigns seats to the most voted candidates => ruling party does not need to enter coalition
• Vagueness of the Constitution’s text
  
  • powers of head of state are not clearly expressed, not detailed => position within constitutional architecture and the extent of power has been influenced by personality of president of republic => each president has intepreted the position in his/her own interpretation
• => Requirements to correct ambiguity of Cons text:
  
  • 50 years old
  • enjoy full political and civil rights
  • have Italian citizenship

Question 10

The Italian Case: the Head of State - election and term of office

Answer 10

Election:

• Occurs during parliament joint session (2 houses)
• three delegates for each Region (representative)
• the first three ballots cast, a vote of two-thirds of the electors needs to be reached
• from the forth ballot onwards an absolute majority needs to be reached

Term of office:

• 7 years
• Possible re-election (only once, Napolitano in 2013)
• Constitution does not say anything about re-election => a matter of interpretation
  
  • although, it is usual that impossible to be re-elected due to age (link with requirements - too old)
  • interpretation depends on political contingency => contextual
  • had one reelection - when Italy was in a political crisis, could not come to compromise and provide a common candidate (Napolitano in 2013)

Question 11

The Italian Case: the Head of State - presidential act

Answer 11

• The tripartition of Presidential Acts - power exclusive to the president; power Cons. give to president. 3 main types:
  
  • Formally Presidential Acts which are Substantially Governmental - president provides content
  • Substantially Presidential - government establishes the content
  • Substantially Complex Acts - a joint act, content is established jointly by head of state and gov; one cannot decide without another:
    
    • party solution: to have power of dissolution exclusively to the state is no longer possible
    • appointment of the new government
  • defining element is always presidential because they are presidential acts but key substance is gov.
• President has the power to
  
  • appoint the constitutional judge, no possible objection from the gov
  • appoint Life senators serve until they die; anyone has distinguished him/herself in any field has access to this appointment. Appoint max 5. since it is substantially presidential
  • Power of president to send back legislation to parliament.
• substance determined by the president and not gov
• It is possible that 2 heads fight against each other for power, never argue on the form but the substance - substantially gov or substantially presidential up to Cons in court to solve the problem
• Irresponsibility of the President = a ministerial countersignature can occur where an
  effective transfer of responsibilities would ensue.
•  Presidential Offences - basis of impeachment of state
  
  • special commission within the senate to investigate when suspection arise (3 month to gather witness)
  • when concluded, evidence sustainable or not. if yes, go forward and wait for parliament in joint session to formally decide whether to impeach or not
  • not to revise election performance functions

Question 12

The Constructive Vote of No Confidence (pt1)

Answer 12

Article 67 of German basic law states:

1. “The Bundestag (lower house) may express its lack of confidence in the Federal Chancellor only by electing a successor by the vote of a majority of its Members and requesting the Federal President to dismiss the Federal Chancellor. The Federal President must comply with the request and appoint the person elected”.
   
   • Parliament elects the Chancellor, election expresses relationship of confidence
   • Head of state (president) then appoints him/her as Chancellor
   • Bundestag can only dismiss the current position of Federal Chancellor only if the bundestag can/able to elect a successor; if not able, the chancellor will remain in office
2. “Forty-eight hours shall elapse between the motion and the election”.

Question 13

The Constructive Vote of No Confidence (pt2)

Answer 13

Article 68 of the German Basic Law:

1. “If a motion of the Federal Chancellor for a vote of confidence is not supported by the majority of the Members of the Bundestag, the Federal President, upon the proposal of the Federal Chancellor, may dissolve the Bundestag within twenty-one days. The right of dissolution shall lapse as soon as the Bundestag elects another Federal Chancellor by the vote of a majority of its Members”.
   
   1. chancellor goes to house and ask to give him again the confidence
   2. goes both ways to ensure stability and prevent political instability
2. “Forty-eight hours shall elapse between the motion and the vote”.

Question 14

Constructive Vote of No Confidence as an instrument

Answer 14

• In Germany it was used only twice.
• Spain too provides for the constructive vote of no confidence (Section 114 Cost.).
• The very limited resort to the constructive vote of no confidence in both Germany and Spain should not lead one to think that it is of limited importance.
•  It has worked as a strong deterrent.
• Makes the house more accountable for their actions; prevent abuse of power

Question 15

Presidential Executive - a form of gov analysed by Elgie

Answer 15

1. head of state is also head of gov - they concide in one position - president
2. president is elected directly; derives directly from the will of the people (not a direct election but rather a popular one because of the establishment of the electoral college)
3. incumbent serve for fixed term of office
   
   • the length varies between countries and constitutions
   • possibility of re-election is also dependent on those factors
   • must serve for fixed term due to the lack of relationship of confidence - white house and congress interact but are separate bodies
   • both elected by people => difficult for parliament to dismiss the head of state => strong legitimisation

Question 16

The US: the Electoral college

Answer 16

• is the system through which the President is elected.
• 270 electoral votes needed out of 538.
  
  • not a fixed number because it depends on numerical composition of components of the 2 houses - senate and house representative
  • 2 senators per state => 100 senators
  • house of rep composed of 435 rep - most inhabitated states will have more representatives
  • 435 + 100 = 535 + 3 - come from the federal district (not a state => no senate or house of rep)
  • not a fixed number because it depends on the number of states (affect no. of senators), no. of rep is counted w.r.t population (if pop increases, has to be adjusted)
• If the vote fails, so-called “1824 scenario”, 10th Amendment comes into play:
  
  • if none of candidates unable to reach majority, president and vice president elected by the congress
• If majority is chose for a party, all the votes for that state go to that party
• Except for Maine and Nebraska, they do not follow the winner-takes-all rule.
• Critical issue: the unfaithful electors.

Question 17

Example of electoral college

Answer 17

California

•  Population: 35,484,453
•  Senators: 2
•  Representatives: 53
•  Electoral Votes: 55

=> 1 electoral vote represents: 645,00 people

Wyoming

• Population: 498,703
• Senators: 2
• Representatives: 1
• Electoral Votes: 3

=> 1 electoral vote represents: 166,000 people

Question 18

2016 elections and impact of popular vote

Answer 18

• The fact that Mr Trump won several key swing states very narrowly, while Mrs Clinton won big majorities in some states is part of the reason she was able to get more votes but still lose the election.
• Two thirds (273 out of 399) of campaign events in the 2016 election were held in only six states (Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and Michigan).

Question 19

Caucuses and Primaries

Answer 19

• Presidential candidates are selected through:
  
  • primaries, run by state governments;
  • Caucuses, run by the political parties.
•  Primaries can be
  
  • i. closed - has to be a member of the party
  • ii. semi-closed - in order to vote for primary, you have to register with the party the day before the vote
  • iii. open - anyone
• Eleven states - Iowa, New Mexico, North Dakota, Maine, Nevada, Hawaii, Minnesota, Kansas, Alaska, Wyoming, Colorado and the District of Columbia - use caucuses.

Question 20

Semi-presidential Executive - a form of gov (Elgie’s dispositional prop)

Answer 20

borrow distinguishing elements from presidential and parliamentary executive. France is the most common example (1958 - adopted new constitution but the form of gov was not established in this year, already prior in 1920s)

1. both head of gov (prime minister) and head of state (president); separate - similar to parliamentary
2. selection of incumbents are distinct:
   
   • head of state: elected directly by the people (similar to presidential executive), enjoys a strong popular legitimisation
   • head of gov: procedure similar to election of head of gov in parliamentary executive, head of state appoints one with majority (has confidence of parliament) => reason why they might be of different ruling party
3. term of servitude:
   
   • head of state: fixed term
   • head of gov: does not serve for fixed term, because in a relationship of confidence with the parliament => corresponding dissolution
     
     • opposite to parliamentary executive, both heads participate in the exercise of the executive power (political agenda )
     • whereas in parliamentary, head of state is only the constitutional agenda, a symbolic figure only exercise in crisis

Question 21

France - prime ex. of semi-presidential executive

Answer 21

• Only adopted this quite recently, before was parliamentary executive
• present Cons. was enacted in 1958, during Algerian crisis
• De Gaulle founded the Fifth Republic (with new cons) with a strong presidency, and he was elected in the latter role.
• He introduced the direct election of the President of the Republic in 1962 with a presidential referendum, referendum called for sovereignty of people
• The amendment procedure in breach of the 1958 Constitution.
• However, the Conseil Constitutionnel ruled that since a referendum expressed the will of the sovereign people there was no breach of the Constitution.

Question 22

France: Cohabitation

Answer 22

• Cohabitation occurs when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament.
• Cohabitation occurs because of the duality of the executive.
•  Since 1958, France experienced cohabitation three times.
•  When in cohabitation the balance of powers changes.
• Constitutional reform of 2000, term of office shortened from 7 to 5 yrs

Question 23

Sub-classification of semi-presidential

Answer 23

1. Semi-presidential systems where the Prime Minister prevails;
2. Semi-presidential systems which are based on a diarchy or clear separation of competences between the Prime Minster and his government, on one hand, and the President of the Republic, on the other;
3. Semi-presidential systems where the President plays a central role.

Question 24

The Bulgarian Paradox

Answer 24

Article 93:

The President is elected directly by the voters for a period of five years by a procedure established by law.

Article 1:

Bulgaria is a republic with a parliamentary form of government.

Question 25

Directorial Executive - a form of gov (Elgie)

Answer 25

e.g. Switzerland Introduced after the French Revolution 1. head of gov and head of state coincides, combined in single incumbent, but not a single person but a collegiant bond, composed by 7 people (similar and dissimilar to presidential) 2. incumbent is selected by the parliament 3. does serve for fixed term, term for head of state always fixed, term for head of gov can change over time (still fixed, but can change from 7 to 5 years for ex.) 1. for each of the 7 year, one will become pres. 2. before same number of seats given to number of parties but because of this (strongest parties have the seats), however, some weaker parties gain strength and vice versa -\> subjected for speculation 3. magic formula - agreement on how to distribute the 7 seats and it reflects the strength of the part

Question 26

Neo-Parliamentary Executive - a form of gov; why was it formed?

Answer 26

* Prime-ministerial form of gov - stress importance of role of PM * theorised by constitutional scholars, born from books and then enforced as a legit form of gov * in time of political crisis, either head of state appoints new head of gov or a general election (for the parliamentary executive form) =\> unpredictable instability * changes had to be introduced to restore stability =\> neo-parliamentary

Question 27

Neo-Parliamentary Executive - a form of gov (Elgie's)

Answer 27

1. both head of gov and head of state and are separate bodies 2. election: head of gov (pm) is not appointed by head of state, is instead directly elected by the people. Same for parliament, separate head of state with ceremonial functions may exist (as in most parliamentary systems) 3. head of state serves for a fixed term; head of gov does not because, so is parliament: * does not serve for fixed term due to relationship of confidence * parliament can withdraw confidence * to counterbalance, the state can dissolve the gov 4. relationship confidence-dissolution is based on the principle "we stand together, we fall together" , election of both have to take place at the same time * when one of the two bodies fall, the other follows =\> resignation of PM and pres at the same time * withdraw of confidence automatically leads to the dissolution of the house * make parliament more accountable for the power over confidence * however, this "we stand together" is what ensures stability * does not necessarily apply to central gov but also useful for regional gov

Question 28

Israel and neo-parliamentary

Answer 28

* tried this model for 9 years until 2001 because figured parliamentary executive works better * partly because they introduced some other elements to this model * special elections for PM, but not for parliament =\> undermine the functions the basic principle of "we fall together" which is the foundation of the model * introduce split vote - one ballot for the minister and other for parliament) * vote for person rather than the party (minister) * vote for the party rather than the person (parliament) * can vote for different parties * may cause that PM may not correspond to strong majority =\> weakens the PM

Question 29

Italy and neo-parliamentary

Answer 29

* has regional president elected by the council * has the committe that helps president with executive power at a regional level * problem of stability still arise due to poor performance * reform of 1999 intervenes, new adoption procedure of the statute (cons. for regions) * took some years for region to adopt new stage =\> a gap was presented * during these gap years period, 1999 introduced temporary form of gov that was enforced - neoparliamentary

Question 30

Limits of neo-parliamentary in Italian case

Answer 30

* when opted for election of the president of the region, and there exists a form of gov that provides relationship of confidence, then you have to have the basic principle of "we fall together" =\> contraints * not properly in compliance with the cons. * national can challenge the regional gov to track how effective the system is =\> 2 outcomes: cons. concede and comply or opposite * statute provides a direct election of president, whenever president of region resigns, it would have been replaced by vice president * according to cons, breach of agreement =\> decided to challenge the statute