Politics

Presidential Versus Parliamentary System Author’s Name The Institutional Affiliation Course Number and Name Instructor Name Assignment Due Date Introduction In the choice of head of state, from one significant aspect to the other, the fundamental ideas and institutions of every type of government present differences in every aspect: in presidential systems with great distance from the parliamentary systems. In the UK’s parliamentary democracy, the Prime Minister heads the executive branch after rising from the majority party in Parliament, thus combining legislative and executive power. On the other hand, the US uses a presidential system whereby the President is chosen independently by popular vote, stressing a clear division of powers between the executive and legislative (Puig, 2002). Although both systems apply the First Past the Post voting system, their approaches to preserving democratic responsibility and government stability differ. The complexities of different election procedures are investigated in this essay, together with every system’s unique benefits and difficulties. Election Process of Head of Government in Presidential and Parliamentary Systems The US is a presidential system; the UK is parliamentary. The USA and the UK employ the First Past the Post voting system and conduct essentially winner-take-all elections. Each has representative legislative assemblies and two major parties. Still, the two nations have somewhat different structures. Whereas the US’ general election’ every four years contains the election of the President, the complete House of Representatives, one-third of the Senate, and many state and local authorities, a general election in the UK is for one house of the national legislature. The UK does not have primaries, mid-term elections, or meetings of supporters (Google, n.d.). The fundamental structural difference returns to the Constitution, which divides the UK’s fused legislature and executive from the USA’s legislative and executive. This produces separate elections for Congress and the President, while Parliament constitutes the UK government. PMs have no personal mandate and can be dismissed without an election (Google, n.d.). Both systems have different structures. The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy with Parliament as the legislative institution (Commonwealth of Nations, 2024). The Prime Minister leads the majority party (Hong Kong Metropolitan University, 2024); the system is predicated on England’s political structure, geography, and past (Anonymous, n.d.a). All 650 seats in Parliament are up for a general election; the political party with the most seats becomes the government. Though they must occur within the five-year maximum duration of Parliament, there are no set election dates. The date the Proclamation is released determines the actual date of parliamentary elections; they must take place within seventeen days. Many deadlines fall within these days: writing a writ, publishing a notice of the election, delivering papers nominating and withdrawing candidates, registering to vote, designating polling and counting agents, and polling (voting) day (Feikert-Ahalt, 2010). The Prime Minister’s political and tactical advantage comes from his discretion in calling elections (Carey, 2005). Constituencies on a local level check and balance the authority of the Prime Minister (PM) and their cabinet both nationally and based on party discipline and committed opposition. With 52.6% of the vote, Boris Johnson, the PM from the Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency, will let local residents personally meet with him for constituency affairs. Johnson is the PM of the whole nation because the Conservative Party, the majority party of the Parliament, obtained 43.6% in the 2019 election (Hong Kong Metropolitan University, 2024). Under the first-past-the-post approach of the House of Commons contemporary election system, the most votes reflect the constituency. Under its federal system, the US runs federal elections through the states to produce an electoral college. Consequently, the USA boasts much more elections than the United Kingdom. While the US Constitution is seen as a whole masterwork of original creativity, the five electoral systems in the UK mirror the organic and changing culture of the country (Google, n.d.). The US President is elected via the Electoral College (Hong Kong Metropolitan University, 2024). The Electoral College is a body of electors established in 1787 by the founders of the Constitution, the US President. Every state or the District of Columbia hosts one college meeting to choose the next President. Though not flawless, Constitutional modifications have helped it pass several tests. Prenomination, national conventions, general election campaigns, and the electoral college phase define four phases of the presidential election process. Modern presidential elections combine modern features of a bigger, more sophisticated, technologically savvy society with conventional elements of law and practice (Coleman, 2000; US Election Assistance Commission, 2011). The head of both state and government is the US president. Moreover, the authority of the US president is disjointed from the legislative branch. Generally speaking, in a presidential system, the President and the executive branch are the most powerful entities; in a parliamentary system, the Parliament—the legislative branch—owns a commanding influence (Hong Kong Metropolitan University, 2024). Since 1804, the Electoral College has passed several challenging tests and has not undergone structural modification by a constitutional amendment. Separation of Powers Presidential and Parliamentary Systems A fundamental concept guiding the operation of the ideal nations is the division of powers. It is about the three branches of state, i.e., legislative, judicial, and executive, having particular and distinct authorities and responsibilities. Ensuring no one branch is overly strong is meant to help maintain the three branches’ autonomy and responsibility. Separating these branches of government helps to prevent one from holding all (or too much) authority. Thus, every branch can monitor the other two branches to ensure they are not oversteering their responsibility (The British Institute of Human Rights, 2024). This will help guarantee justice in our system by preventing each branch from misusing its authority and ensuring that every state component operates under the laws. The system of parliament government, also known as Cabinet Government, emphasizes proximity between the executive and legislature, having nominal and real executives. It does not distinguish between the three strands of power (Anonymous, n.d.). For example, the UK does not have a strict separation of powers. The several branches of the state are intimately connected. For instance, the Prime Minister typically leads the majority party in the legislature (Parliament) and is head of the executive (Government) (The British Institute of Human Rights, 2024). On the contrary, based on the principles of maximum separation of powers and exclusive cabinet responsibility to the President, pure presidentialism—popularly known as separated democracy—is founded (Ganghof, 2021; Strauss, 2019). Compared to parliamentary regimes, this division of powers infers mutual independence between the two arms of power: the executive and the legislature. However, constitutional amendments focus on maximal separation to ensure checks to each branch while preserving their roles without specifically visualizing this division (Adejumobi, 2002). Based on the ideas of separation of powers, a presidential system is one in which a head oversees an executive branch apart from the legislative branch. Although this system stresses checks and balances, challenged presidents might challenge it. Whereas pure presidentialism concentrates on the maximum separation of powers and exclusive cabinet responsibility to the President, hyper-presidentialism questions the division of powers (Demet & Üni, 2021). Constitutional amendments seek maximum separati...