Abstract
The classification of the government as Parliamentary and Presidential form is based on the relationship of the executive with the legislature. Democratic government have always been favoured by the countries for their own political as well as economic development. The present write-up gives an analysis of the different forms of democratic government. It also throws light on the advantages and disadvantages of those forms.
Introduction
In the present era, the government has evolved into a welfare state that prioritises both the general welfare of the nation and that of its inhabitants. Democracy becomes the sole answer of a welfare state. One of the key factors in developing a welfare state lies in the correct process of choosing the leaders of the countries. Democratic governments often take one of two forms: Presidential or Parliamentary. The system of different forms of governments must be known to every student not only those admitted in the Best Colleges for Law but also in the different academic departments.
Parliamentary System of Government
India has a Parliamentary system of governance that was modelled after the British one. This was chosen by our founding fathers over the Presidential system for good reasons. The Parliamentary form of government is often described as the cabinet form of government. In the words of Garner, A cabinet government is that system of government where the executive wings of the government is immediately and legally responsible to the legislature for its political polices and acts.
In Parliamentary system of government, there is a head of the state whose position is different from that of the head of the government. In such system, legislature plays a supreme role and executive derives its power from the legislature. Therefore, the executive is responsible to the house of people’s representative in the legislature.
The origin of Parliamentary form of government can be traced back to 17th and 18th centuries. In the present political scenario, Parliamentary form of government is the best and most prevalent democratic form of government. Countries such as U.K, Austria, Germany, Denmark, India, Japan enjoy have set up Parliamentary form of government.
Advantages of Parliamentary form of Government-
- The Parliamentary form of government maintains harmony between the different wings of the government especially Legislature and Executive. The Cabinet Government controls both the wings of executive and legislative. In such system, the executive is responsible to the legislature that results in the smooth functioning of the government.
- Such type of government imposes a restriction on the autocratic rule of the government. The presence of opposition makes it difficult for the government to work against the public. Therefore, the opposition keeps a check on the policies of the government and prohibits the system to go arbitrary.
- The Parliamentary form of Government provides an opportunity to the common people to be a part of the government. In other words, it provides chance to the citizens of the country to rule their own country by assuming the reign of the government.
- Such system of government is responsive to the public opinion. The Cabinet prepares the policy according to the desires and aspiration of the people. The public policies are always based on the satisfaction of the public at large as dissatisfaction on the part of the public might result in the change of the government.
- Parliamentary form of government provides a flexible and responsive form of government. If the cabinet fails to exercise its power, the legislature has the power to overthrow the present cabinet and appoint a new cabinet that will meet the need and aspiration of the people.
Therefore, the ultimate sovereignty of the people is recognized in Parliamentary form of government. As a result, such type of government has been considered as the best specimen of the representative democracy.
Disadvantages of Parliamentary form of Government-
- There is no proper separation of power in such system of government. In such system, the cabinet constitutes the political executive while retaining their seats and power in the Parliament. Hence, this system witnesses the fusion of powers between the executive and the legislature. Furthermore, lack of separation of power between the wings of the government results in abuse of power that leads to arbitrariness.
- Parliamentary system is not suitable for the implementation and formulation of long-term policies. This is due to the uncertainty and temporary nature of the government’s tenure. It is always seen that change in the ruling party brings change in the policies of the government. For instance, the Janata Government headed by Morarji Desai in the year 1977 changed several policies of the previous Congress Government. Similar issue was witnessed during the rule of Congress government when it again came back in power.
- Parliamentary System often leads to dictatorship of the government. This happen when the ruling party wins the election with absolute majority in the Parliament. In such cases, the party tends to become autocratic and exercises unlimited power. According to H.J. Laski, Parliamentary system gives the executive an opportunity to become tyranny. Such dictatorship of the cabinet was seen during the governance of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
- The Parliamentary System fails to provide a stable government. Although it provides a fixed tenure but there is no guarantee that the government can survive its tenure. In this system, the executives depend on the will and majority of the legislature. No-confidence motion, political defection and evils of multi-party coalition system has resulted in the stable government.
It is to be noted that Parliamentary system is led by a party that aims to protect its own interests. It is often seen that the interest of the nation tends to be ignored for the interest of the party. In many occasions, the Parliamentary system of government has become a government for the party and of the party.
Presidential Form of Government
The Presidential form of government is also known as fixed Executive, Non-Parliamentary, Non-responsible executive. This system is known as presidential because president is the supreme head of the state as well as the government. The system is called non-Parliamentary because the executive is neither elected nor responsible to the Parliament. Unlike the Parliamentary system, the executive (President) is not responsible to the legislature. This system does not distinguish between the nominal and real executive.
Advantages of Presidential Form of Government–
- One of the advantages of the Presidential form of government is stability due to its fixed tenure of 4 years of the executive. In this system, the executive cannot be thrown due to the lack of majority in the legislature. Hence, such system witnesses fixed tenure of office along with consistency of policies.
- Concentration of Nominal and Real executive in one hand makes it a powerful executive authority. This results in less chaos and promptness of action. The system favors quickness in decision making process. Hence, such system is suited for emergencies situation as being the head of both the government and the state, the government can take quick decision concerning the crisis and emergencies in the country.
- This system has proved to be beneficial for the countries having diverse groups and multiple parties. This system is also suitable for a federal type of governance where there is proper division of powers between different organs of the government.
- The Presidential system is comparatively immune from the party power and spirit. Since the president does not have to depend on the legislators, the evils of rewarding party men enjoying the position of majority in the legislature are completely eliminated.
Therefore, Presidential form of governments is also considered as the representative government as both the legislature and executive are elected by the vote of the people. This system does not witness plural form of executive.
Disadvantages of Presidential Form of Government-
- In the Presidential form of government, the chief executive (the president) might become autocratic due to the presence of concentration of power. In the Presidential system, the legislature and executive are completely separated from each other. There is no cooperation between the two wings of the government. It is also possible that both the wings might be controlled by different political parties. Therefore, this results in chaos and conflict among the wings of the government.
- Another disadvantage of Presidential form of government is that as President is not the part of the legislature, any criticism against the legislature would not affect the President. Hence, it becomes difficult to fix the responsibility and short comings of the government.
- As President is not responsible to the legislature, there is a chance of it becoming irresponsible and dangerous. Moreover, the necessary laws cannot be passed as executive cannot initiate the laws it needs. It can only influence the members of the legislature indirectly for the implementation of the desired laws. It’s totally depends on the legislature to follow it or not. The executive (the president) has not role in the legislature.
- The Presidential system is not suited for external disturbances. This is because during the time of external disturbances, President cannot declare war. The power of declaring war is on the hands of the legislature. Similarly, the President can conclude international treaties only with the approval of the legislature.
It is to be noted that both the system of government has its own advantages and disadvantages. The founding fathers of the Constitution of India decided in favour of Parliamentary form of government. They preferred responsible government to stable government.
Conclusion
It is to be noted that whether it is a Presidential or Parliamentary system, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The government of a specific nation is responsible for choosing the system that will work best for that nation. This is because every country has a unique structure, population, and culture; as a result, it is critical to understand what that country actually requires.
The path chosen by India in the form of Parliamentary system has gifted the country a way of not concentrating and abusing the power in one hand. However, there has been several academic debates in academic institutions especially the Best Colleges for Law and related field concerning the form of government adopted by India.
