Disavantage and avantage of parliamentary system Free Essays

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Parliamentary System A parliamentary system is a system of democratic governance of a state in which the executive branch derives its democratic legitimacy from, and is held accountable to the legislature. The executive and legislative branches are thus interconnected. In parliamentary system, the head of state is normally different from the head of government. We will write a custom essay sample on Disavantage and avantage of parliamentary system or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, parliamentary system had its own advantages and disadvantages. One of the common advantages parliamentary system had is that it’s faster and easier to pass legislation. This is because that the executive branch is dependent upon the direct or indirect support from the legislative branch. The executive branch is often includes members of the legislature. As the executive branch is made of the majority party or coalition of parties in the legislature, they possess more votes in order to pass legislation. Usually a bill becomes law within a single session of parliament. Besides, in a parliamentary system, with a collegial executive, power is more divided. It can also be argues that power in parliamentary ystem is more evenly spread out in the power structure of parliamentary system. If comparing the prime minister from the parliamentary system and the president from the presidential system, prime minister seldom tends to have as high importance as a ruling president. Parliamentary system tends to be focus more on voting for parties and its political ideas rather than focusing on voting for an actual person. There is also a body of scholarship, associated with Juan Linz, Fred Riggs, Bruce Ackerman, and Robert Dahl that claims that the parliamentary system is likely to or liable to suffer from authoritarian collapse. These scholars point out that World War II, two- thirds of Third World countries establishing parliamentary governments successfully made the transition to democracy. By contrast, no Third World presidential system successfully made the transition to democracy without experiencing coups and other constitutional breakdowns. One main criticism and benefits of many parliamentary systems is that the head of government is in almost all cases not the electorate, or by a set of electors directly chosen by the people, separate from the legislature. However, in a parliamentary system the prime minister is elected by he legislature, often under the strong influence of the party leadership. Thus, a party’s candidate for the head of government is usually known before the election, possibly making the election as much about the person as the party behind him or her. Another major criticism of the parliamentary system lies precisely in its purported advantage which is no truly independent body to oppose and veto legislation passed by the parliament, and therefore no substantial check on legislative power. Conversely, because of the lack of inherent separation of powers, some believe that a parliamentary system can place too much power in the xecutive entity, leading to the feeling that the legislature or Judiciary have little scope to administer checks or balances on the executive. However, parliamentary systems may be bicameral, with an upper house designed to check the power of the lower. Although parliamentarianism has been praised for allowing an election to take place at any time, the lack of a definite election calendar can be abused. In some parliamentary systems, such as the British, a ruling party can schedule elections when it feels that it is likely to do well, and so avoid elections at times of unpopularity. Thus, by wise timing of elections, in a parliamentary system a party can extend its rule for longer than is feasible in a functioning presidential system. This problem can be alleviated somewhat by setting fixed dates for parliamentary elections, as is the case in several of Australia’s state parliaments. In other systems, such as the Dutch and the Belgian, the ruling party or coalition has some flexibility in determining the election date. Conversely, flexibility in the timing of parliamentary elections avoids having periods of legislative gridlock that can occur in a fixed period presidential system. How to cite Disavantage and avantage of parliamentary system, Papers