explain the important characteristics of the parliamentary form of government in India
please answer in points
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Answer:
What are the Main Characteristics of Parliamentary System?
Parliamentary system has been taken from the United Kingdom because U.K. constitution is
the mother constitution of parliamentarianism. It is also called ministerial or cabinet system.
Cabinet or parliamentary form of government is that in which;
Legislature and executive are closely related and share powers with each other.
Cabinet is formed by the parliament and parliament is the superior organ.
There are two executives i.e. the elected president or king and the Prime Minister.
President represents state and Prime Minister represents government.
Cabinet is responsible before the legislature.
Features of Parliamentary System
Following are the features and characteristics of parliamentary system;
Formation of Cabinet
When general election is over and prime minister is elected, then prime minister nominates
his council of ministers or cabinet. This responsibility of the prime minister is of prime
significance. The list of ministers is presented before head of state for his approval. They are
commonly taken from the party's ring leadership. Well experienced, alert and learned
members are given preference because of the sensitive nature of parliamentary System.
Team Work Spirit
In parliamentary system all ministers work in a. team spirit. They must agree on an issue in
cabinet meeting and because of different opinion, the minister concerned must resign or he is
expelled from the cabinet. All differences must be kept secret. The cabinet members are in
the one boat and they either swim together or sink together.
Supremacy of Premier
In Ministerial or parliamentary system, Prime Minister is very important and has too many
powers. In legislature, he is leader of the house while in executive he is leader of the council
of ministers. Prime Minister is to appoint, remove, allot portfolios and supervises the
activities of his ministers. He acts as a bridge between cabinet and president. On his
resignation, the council of ministers must resign. Prime Minister is like a shining moon in the
galaxy of stars.
Coordination of Powers
It is the basic principle of this system that two organs, legislature and executive share their
powers. In this system, both the organs (legislature and executive) are dependent upon each
other. In different constitutional ways, they interfere in each other affairs. For example,
Maximum bills are presented in the legislature by the ministers, they can take part in
legislation, address legislature, to call its meetings and even to dissolve the lower house etc.
On contrary, parliament can question the activities of the cabinet members, present various
motions and to remove cabinet through no confidence. Both government organs have strong
check upon each other.
Political Collective Responsibility
It is another significant attribute of parliamentary system that cabinet is collectively
responsible before legislature. Activities of the cabinet can be questioned and. checked by
legislature through various constitutional means. Ministers remain in office as long as they
enjoy confidence in legislature. In case of no confidence in a single minister, the whole
cabinet must resign. A bill presented by a minister must be supported by all ministers because
its defeat means no-confidence in the whole cabinet. Cabinet members (ministers) are
responsible before people through their elected representatives. People can present their
grievances through their representatives and ministers are accountable before people,
Term
Term of cabinet is fixed by the constitution but not in rigid sense. A minister may be removed
or changed any time. Parliament can be dissolved during the national emergencies. If
parliament is dissolved, government no longer remains in office. Parliament, through no-
confidence movement against any particular minister, Prime Minister or against the whole
cabinet, can remove government. Therefore life of parliamentary government is uncertain.
Two Executives
Another characteristic of parliamentary system is, that there are two types of executive i.e.
titular executive and real executive. Titular executive is head of the state for example the
President of Pakistan. This type executive is mere a symbolic or constitutional head of state.
On the other side, real executive is to exercise real powers of the state and is head of
government for example, the Prime Minister of Pakistan.