Lecture 8 Flashcards
Forms of government in the liberal-democratic: Constitutional Monarchy
- Monarch= head of state and of the executive:
- powers are limited
- appoints and revoks an unofficial Crown Council that exercises powers for the monarch
- legitimacy of heredity comes from God - Parliament:
- possesses legislative power
- elected by the people - order of checks and balances:
- monarch can’t dissolve or appoint the Parliament
- Parliament can’t appoint the head of state
- division of powers
- the executive (ministers and monarch) can engange in exective activities only if there’s a legal basis provided by the Parliament= RULE OF LAW
Forms of government in the liberal-democratic: Presidentialism
- Parliament:
- elected by the people to whom the sovereignty belongs
- cannot dismiss the president (impeachment is a criminal procedure not issued for political reasons)
- Congress can impeach the president - president:
- head of state
- head of government
- cannot dissolve the Parliament
- can veto legislation enacted by the Congress
- popularly elected without direct election - DEADLOCK:
the two bodies follow diverging political addresses and there is no constitutional device to solve the conflict. If the democracy is not stable the president can overthrow the Parliament (Ceasarism)
Forms of government in the liberal-democratic: Parliamentarism
- head of state= power of guarantee, vested with constitutional power= neutral authority:
- can intervene in parliamentary processes
- political intervention= can appoint the PM (typically in relation to the outcome of the elections; =leader of the majoritarian party to create confidence), dissolve the Parliament (usually under request of the head of government)
- represents the unity of the national and continuity
- emergency powers: can be given to the president in case of crisis, yet under a system of checks and balances and by approval of the legislative - Prime Minister:
- often the leader of the majoritarian party in order to create confidence in the Parliament; might be but the one of the minoritarian party too
- represents the executive and holds it
- appoints the various ministers and is responsible before the Parliament for their doing and for the implementation of policies
- international representation: signs treaties and agreements
- policy making (agenda): can propose bills and laws for pursuing the government’s goals
- crisis managment: provides leadership and directories
- budgetary managment
CONSENSUAL VARIANT:
Parliament can change the government without dissolving itself (can possibly be more dangerous). Typically in this variant government’s are of coalition, as through the proprotional system, many parties enter into Parliament and each owns a bit of power. Decisions and governments are to be built upon compromises and consensus among the different parties.
WEST MINSTER VARIANT:
typically favours the majority and a two-party dominance in the Parliament; the executive is given significant executive powers with little checks and balances.
Forms of government in the liberal/social-democratic: Chancellor
- head of state= neutral power as in Parliamentarism
- elected by the Parliament
- suggests (NOT appoint) the head of government= chancellor
- can dissolve the Parliament if the chancellor is elected with relative majority - head of government= chancellor
- elected by the Parliament
- appoints the minsiters
CONSTRUCTIVE NO-CONFIDENCE:
Parliament can cause the change of chancellor and thus of the ministers only if at the same time an alternative is presented
Forms of government in the liberal/social-democratic: Semi-Presidentialism
- major role of the people= elect the president (head of state) and the Parliament
- head of state:
- is political, thus elected based upon a political agenda
- can change the PM; in case where the PM and the President have different political colours, the president can either change the PM with one of another party or directly reform the Parliament. If the Parliament and the President are of the same colour the formula functions more efficiently - head of government and ministers function as secondary executive body
- head of government is formed in and needs confidence from the Parliament to govern
- PM appoints the Council of Ministers
- Council of Ministers share the executive with the President (Dualism); however it depends on the Constitution of the country who holds more power
POSSIBLE ADVANTAGE: stability as the Parliament cannot overthrow the president.
FUNCTIONING OF THE FORMULA:
all depends on the accordance of the political colour with either the president or the PM; whoever has the parliament as a backup has more power
Forms of goverment in the liberal/social-democratic: Semi-Parliamentarism/ Neo-Parliamentarism
- role of people: elect the Parliament and the head of governmet directly
- head of government cannot be at the same time the head of state= presidential feature
- head of government is elected by the people and presents himself before the Parliament asking for confidence
- it is the model adopted by the Regions of Italy
- no cohabitation is possible
- electoral laws provide that the President must have a majority in the Parliament
- the system is built upon the principle of “simul stabunt, simul cadent”– if the President resigns/dies/ becomes uncapable for any reason, the Parliament is dissolved as well; same thing happens in cases of motions of no confidence
Definition of “list of matters”
= document often entailed in the Constitution that delineates for which matters and specific topics the legislative authority is guaranteed to different levels of government or particular entities
Definition of “list of concurring matters”
= defines in a legal framework those issues and subject matters in which the legislative power of enacting laws is conferred at the same time to different levels of government (federal government and regional governments) in accordance to their jurisdiction
