Politics Notes Presidential vs Parliamentary Systems Notes
Complete set of notes on the debate as to the relative benefits and disadvantages of presidential and parliamentary systems of government.
Contains:
- Extensive analysis of works by Linz, Ljiphart and their critics
- An essay on the distinctive features of each system
- Book notes on all readings covered
Author is currently studying for Finals at Somerville College, Oxford, and interned for Credit Suisse. Achieved a Distinction (first) in Prelims (first year exams) using these notes....
The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our Presidential vs Parliamentary Systems Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:
The study of power relations within the executive branch of government
Do heads of state, heads of government and government ministers have the power to leave a personal imprint on the decision making process of are they able only to influence policy at the margins?
Do governments take decisions collegially, or is such policy making impractical?
Is policy made by elected and accountable representatives or is it made by unelected and irremovable administrators?
Traditional approach in internal examination and debate of individual countries
UK: Prime ministerial or cabinet government?
France: Respective powers of the President and the Prime Minister?
Germany: Chancellor democracy or co-ordination democracy?
Criticisms of this approach
Too narrow, now more acceptable to use wider models including different core executive stakeholders
Too ethnocentric, in fact has wider implications for other issues in comparative politics
The distribution of power within the executive branch of government in parliamentary and semi-presidential regimes
Dunleavy and Rhodes argued that attention should be switched away from a narrow debate about prime ministerial vs collective cabinet power and focused on a ‘conceptualization of the central policy machinery in British government, namely, the core executive’
Core executive: ‘All those organizations and structures which primarily serve to pull together and integrate central government policies, or act as final arbiters within the executive of conflicts between different elements of the government machine’ (Dunleavy and Rhodes, `Core executive studies in Britain', Public Administration, 68 (1990) p.4)
Officials in co-ordinating departments such as the Treasury and Foreign Office
Argued this led to 6 potential models of core executive operations
Prime Ministerial (2 variants), Cabinet, Ministerial, Segmented Decision Making and Bureaucratic co-ordination
Can include in argument that a simple notion of Prime Ministerial or Presidential is too simplistic and instead a pluralistic approach should be taken
Models of Government
Monocratic Government
The exercise of personal leadership
2 variants: Presidential government (France) and Prime Ministerial government (Britain)
Characterised by a generalized ability for the leader to decide policy in all issue areas in which she or he takes an interest or by defining a governing ethos or ideology
Consistent with individual ministers being agents of the Prime Minister or President’s will, where bureaucrats implement rather than make policy
Collective Government
Baylis: ‘the operation of a set of continuing political leadership structures and practices through which significant decision are taken in common by a small face to face bosdy with no single member dominating their initiation of determination’ (T. A. Baylis, Governing by Committee. Collegial Leadership in Advanced Societies (Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 1989), p. 7.)
Would explain Cabinet government in Britiain as well as Swiss Federal Council
Not limited to Cabinet though, could be extended to Cabinet committees, dependent upon bureaucrats still being limited to policy implementation (QFT: raises issues for feedback mechanisms from grass-roots – are we suggesting that bureaucrats should have no role in policy making? Or is it just they have no authority in the process?)
Ministerial Government
Where individual ministers by virtue of their positions as political heads of major departments are able to have a significant impact on policy in areas under their jurisdiction
Derived from:
Legal responsibility for the affairs of their department i.e. over appointments and policy decisions
Success or failure departmentally makes a career
Again implies no dominant figure in the policy making process and reference to President, Prime Minister and Cabinet only after a strong recommendation has been made in order to achieve the wider approval needed
Bureaucratic Government
Individuals in government departments and agencies are responsible not just for implementing but also making most policy decisions
Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our Presidential vs Parliamentary Systems Notes.
Complete set of notes on the debate as to the relative benefits and disadvantages of presidential and parliamentary systems of government.
Contains:
- Extensive analysis of works by Linz, Ljiphart and their critics
- An essay on the distinctive features of each system
- Book notes on all readings covered
Author is currently studying for Finals at Somerville College, Oxford, and interned for Credit Suisse. Achieved a Distinction (first) in Prelims (first year exams) using these notes....
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