Parliamentary Vs. Presidential - Essay Example

The government can be dissolved at will by the parliament by means of a no confidence vote or the leader of the cabinet may dissolve the parliament if it is not able to function anymore. On the contrary, a presidential government is one in which the executive branch is not accountable to the legislative branch. Both branches can check the actions of the other branch. The President and the members of Congress are elected in separate elections. The President holds office for a fixed term and his authority is not subject to direct control of the legislature.

However, the President cannot dissolve government and order a new election. Clearly, there is a difference in the voting system between a parliamentary government and a presidential government. The indefinite terms of office in a parliamentary system allows a party to hold office and thus are permanent in order to provide some stability to the system. However, it may be argued that this may lead to unfavorable type of ruling for a country. This is because the possibility of the head of government holding office for life contributes towards the making of an autocrat.

Especially in nations with weak democratic traditions and with executive powers concentrated in the hands of the party in power, this type of system signals dictatorship. It also does not welcome new ideas or changes that could benefit the economy of a country in the long term. For instance, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, from 1959 to 1990 recently commented the decision by the current Prime Minister to open a casino in Singapore would never happen under his control. However, he welcomed the changes as fresh and different.

A divided executive is one in which the relative powers vary between a Prime Minister and a President, representing two different parties and ideologies. This is important in a system where there are no dual lines of authority. A divided executive results in varied institutional forms to allow