Executive and Legislative Relations Flashcards
what are the two types of systems of government?
parliamentary system and presidential system
what is the relation between the prime minister and the parliament in parliamentary systems?
prime minister is dependent on the confidence of the parliament
what is the relation between the head of government and the parliament in parliamentary systems?
head of government is indirectly elected/appointed by the parliament
what is the fusion of power system in parliamentary systems?
executives and legislatives are mutually dependent
due to which three factors are there differences among parliamentary systems?
-head of state vs head of government
-degrees of executive collegiality
-degrees of fusion of power
what is the relation between the president and the legislature in presidential systems?
president is independent of the legislatives, elected for a fixed term, sits for a fixed time
what is the separation of power in parliamentary systems?
executives and president have separate mandates
what is the degree of authority of executive members?
executive is steered by one person: members of it only serve as advisors
what are the powers of the head of state like (in parliamentary systems)?
they do not hold much power at all
what functions do the heads of state have in parliamentary systems?
they only have symbolic, procedural and diplomatic functions
who holds most of the power in parliamentary systems?
Prime Minister
what is meant by the separation between the two types of “head of state”?
in monarchies: head of state is king/queen, born into it
in republics: head of state is president, elected directly or indirectly
what are collegial executives?
group of ministers who make decisions as a group
what is the fusion of power as a general? who depends on who?
parliament and government depend on one another
what is one example of high fusion of power?
United Kingdom: ministers are selected from parliament (they are both ministers and MPs)
what is one example of low fusion of power / high separation of power?
Netherlands: MPs must give up their seat in parliament to become ministers
how are presidents elected and removed in presidential systems?
they are elected for a fixed term in office, but can be removed through impeachment
does impeachment always work?
no, it is a complicated process and may fail
what is one example of a failed impeachment attempt?
Bill Clinton was impeached but couldn’t be removed from office
do all presidential system states have the same presidential powers?
no, the power of the president varies from country to country
what are some advantages of the presidential system?
-provides stability
-democratically elected executive
-legislature can fully legislate
-strong leadership
what are some disadvantages of the presidential system?
-danger of deadlock between executive and legislature
-fixed term, executive cannot be removed
-winner takes all (one wins, the rest loses)
-favours poor chief executives (Latin America)
which one of the two systems breaks down more often if a new democracy adopts a new system?
presidential system
what are semi-presidential systems?
-combines the features of presidentialism and parliamentarism and the proponents
-two main executives must cooperate to succeed
who holds power in semi-presidential systems?
- directly elected president (head of state)
- also a prime minister who is answerable to the legislation
what is cohabitation?
a system of divided government that occurs in semi-presidential systems such as France
under what circumstances does cohabitation occur?
when the president is from a different political party than the prime minister & majority of MPs
what are the three types of governments in parliamentary systems?
- single-party government
- coalition government
- minority government
what is a single-party government?
one party rules the country, usually decided by election results
what is a coalition government?
formed by multiple parties, decided by negotiations after elections
what are the golden rules for coalition government formation?
-control majority of seats
-exclude unnecessary partners
-agree on policies
what is the term for the type of coalition that applies the golden rules?
Minimum Winning Connected Coalition
which three types of governments break the golden rules?
- Minority Governments
- Surplus majority government
- Unconnected coalitions
what are surplus majority coalition governments?
include more parties than necessary
why are surplus majority coalition governments formed?
-adds more legitimacy to the system (UK war cabinet)
-buffer for security against MP revolts (Hungary 1994)
-enhances policy connections between parties (Netherlands 2012)
what do office-seeking parties believe in?
what matters most is to be in power, to occupy government offices; all else is secondary
what do policy-seeking parties believe in?
what matters most is implementing policies
are most parties office-seeking or policy-seeking nowadays?
office-seeking
