2.
How does the position and power of the President of a Parliamentary
government differ from those of the counterpart in the Presidential form
of government ?
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
There are basically two forms of democratic government systems – Presidential and Parliamentary. India follows a parliamentary form of government modelled on Britain’s. Our founding fathers had strong reasons for adopting this, as opposed to the presidential system. In this article, we compare both systems for the polity and governance sections of the UPSC syllabus.
Apart from the parliamentary and presidential systems, there can also be a hybrid system incorporating features of both systems. The chief difference between these systems is the extent of power separation between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. Another major difference between the presidential and parliamentary systems is the accountability of the executive to the legislature.
First, we will discuss both forms of government systems enumerating their merits and drawbacks and then do a comparison of both the systems.Presidential System of Government
In a presidential system, the head of the government leads an executive, that is distinct from the legislature. Here, the head of the government and the head of the state are one and the same. Also, a key feature is that the executive is not responsible to the legislature.
Features of the Presidential System
The executive (President) can veto acts by the legislature.
The President has a fixed tenure and cannot be removed by a vote of no-confidence in the legislature.
Generally, the President has the power to pardon or commute judicial sentences awarded to criminals.
The President is elected directly by the people or by an electoral college.
Merits of Presidential System
The advantages of the presidential system are given below:
Separation of powers: Efficiency of administration is greatly enhanced since the three arms of the government are independent of each other.
Expert government: Since the executive need not be legislators, the President can choose experts in various fields to head relevant departments or ministries. This will make sure that people who are capable and knowledgeable form part of the government.
Stability: This type of government is stable. Since the term of the president is fixed and not subject to majority support in the legislative, he need not worry about losing the government. There is no danger of a sudden fall of the government. There is no political pressure on the president to make decisions.
Less influence of the party system: Political parties do not attempt to dislodge the government since the tenure is fixed.