Parliamentary system vs Presidential system

Difference between Parliamentary system and Presidential system

There are several major differences between Parliamentary system and Presidential system. The constitution of India provides for a Parliamentary form of Government both at the center and in the states. Article 74 and 75 deal with the parliamentary system at the center and article 163 at the states.

Modern democratic governments are classified into parliamentary and presidential on the basis of the nature of relations between the executive and legislative organs of the government. The parliamentary system of the government is the one in which the executive is responsible to the legislature for its policies and acts. The presidential system of government on the other hand is one in which the executive is not responsible for the legislature for its policies and acts and is continuously independent of the Legislature in response of its terms of office.

The parliamentary government is also known as cabinet government or responsible government and is prevalent in Britain, Japan, Canada and India among others. The presidential government on the other hand is also known as non responsible or non parliamentary or fixed executive system of Government and is prevalent in USA, Brazil, Russia, srilanka and among others. Lets know briefly about the Parliamentary system and Presidential system and their differences

Parliamentary government:

The president is the nominal executive while the Prime Minister is the real executive. Thus the president is the head of the state while the Prime Minister is the head of the government. Article 74 provides for a Council of Ministers headed by the prime minister to aid the adhesive to the president in the executive office functions. The Minister operate on the principle of secrecy of procedure and cannot divulge information about their proceedings policies and actions that take The Oath of secrecy before entering their office.

Presidential government:

Unlike the Indian constitution the American constitution provides for the presidential form of Government. The American president is both the head of the state and the head of the government. As the head of the state he occupies a ceremonial portion and as the head of the government he leads the executive organ of the government. The president is elected by an electoral college for a fixed tenure of 4 years he cannot be removed by the Congress except by impeachment for a Grave unconstitutional act.

Difference between Parliamentary system and Presidential system

Difference between Parliamentary system and Presidential system:

Parliamentary System Presidential System
Features
Real executive, Majority party rule, Collective responsibility, Double membership, Prime minister leadership Single executive, President and legislature elected separately for a fixed tenure, Non responsibility, Single membership
Merits
Harmony between legislature and executive responsible government., Prevents despotism, Wide representation Stable government, Definiteness in policies, Based on separation of powers, Government by experts
Demerits
Unstable government, Not continuity of policies, Government by amateurs Conflict between legislature and executive non responsible government, May lead to autocracy

Conclusion:

The conclusion about the Parliamentary system and Presidential system is there are certain reasons for adopting parliamentary system in India. As a plea was made in favor of US presidential system of government in the constitution assembly. But the founding fathers didn’t prefer the British parliamentary system due to the following reasons like we are familiar with the system and we prefer the responsibility and we need to avoid legislature executive conflict and we have to understand the nature of Indian society.

For further reading about Difference between Stock and Share click here.

content of this page is protected

Scroll to Top