Presidential system
A presidential system is a system of government that features a president as the nation's head of state and active chief executive authority. It is often associated with the congressional system of government. The term is usually used in contrast to cabinet government, which is usually a feature of the parliamentary system.
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2 The reality 3 World presidentialism 4 See also 5 External links |
A number of key theoretical differences exist between a presidential and a cabinet system:
In reality, elements of both systems overlap. Though a president in a presidential system does not have to choose a government answerable to the legislature, the legislature may have the right to scrutinise his or her appointments to high governmental office, with the right, on some occasions, to block an appointment. In the United States, many appointments must be confirmed by the Senate. By contrast, though answerable to parliament, a parliamentary system's cabinet may be able to make use of the parliamentary 'whip' (an obligation on party members in parliament to vote with their party) to control and dominate parliament, reducing its ability to control the government.
Presidential governments make no distinction between the positions of Head of state and Head of government, both of which are held by the president. Most parliamentary governments have a symbolic Head of State in the form of a president or monarch. That person is responsible for the formalities of state functions as the figurehead while the constitutional prerogatives as Head of Government are generally exercised by the Prime Minister. Presidents in presidential systems are always active participants in the political process, though the extent of their relative power or powerlessness may be influenced by the political makeup of the legislature and whether their supporters or opponents have the dominant position therein. In some presidential systems such as South Korea or the Republic of China (on Taiwan), there is an office of the prime minister or premier, but unlike semi-presidential or parliamentary systems, the premier is responsible to the president rather than to the legislature.
In the late nineteenth century, it was speculated that the United States Speaker of the House of Representatives would evolve into a quasi-prime minister, with the US system evolving into a form of parliamentarianism. However this did not happen. More recently, it has been suggested that the office of White House Chief of Staff, the President's chief aide, has become a de facto United States prime minister of sorts, with his dominance or weakness in the US governmental system depending on whether there is a "hands off" or "hands on" president. (Ronald Reagan was the former, Bill Clinton the latter). Reagan's Chiefs of Staff in many ways ran the day to day affairs of government, with the President standing back from intervention.
Countries with Presidential systems include the United States, Mexico, and most nations in South America.
A frequent demand is that the UN become "more democratic." This raises fundamental questions about the nature and role of the UN. The UN is not yet a world government, rather a forum for the world's sovereign states to debate issues and determine collective courses of action. Since the large majority of the world's states are now democracies, the UN is in a sense an "indirect democracy" already - the majority of countries cast votes at the UN in accordance (at least in theory) with the wishes of the electorates that elected them.
A direct and participative democracy would request the election of the United Nations Secretary-General by votation of the citizens of the democratic countries (World presidentialism).
See: United Nations#Reforming the UN, totalitarian democracy, world democracy.
Republic, congress, congressional system, semi-presidential systemDifferences from a cabinet system
The reality
World presidentialism
See also