0eb24m ii forms of govt

8/3/2019 0eb24m II Forms of Govt.

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Amity School of Business

1

POLITY AND SOCIETY

Course Code: BBAHU 10101

Credit Units: 03

MODULE- II

Forms of Government


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Types of Government

Democratic Autocratic

Parliamentary Form Presidential Form

Republic Constitutional

Monarchy

Absolute

Monarchy

One-Party

Rule

Military

DictatorshipTheocracy


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DEFINITION OF UNITARY GOVERNMENT :

According to Dr. Garner Where the whole power ofgovernment is conferred by the constitution upon asingle central organ or organs; from which the localgovernments derive whatever authority or autonomythey possess and indeed their very existence, wehave a system ofUnitary Government.

It is a sovereign state governed as one single unit inwhich the central government is supreme and any

administrative divisions (subnational units) exerciseonly powers that the central government chooses todelegate. Many states in the world have a unitarysystem of government.


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In a unitary state, subnational units are created and

abolished and their powers may be broadened and

narrowed, by the central government. Although

political power in unitary states may be delegated

through devolution to local government by statute,

the central government remains supreme; it may

abrogate the acts of devolved governments or

curtail their powers.

The United Kingdom is an example of a unitarystate. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, which

along with England are the constituent countries of

the United Kingdom


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Unitary form of Government-


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Merits of Unitary Government1. Strong government

2. Less expensive

3. Single citizenship

4. Efficient administration

5. Administrative uniformity-

6. Prompt decisions

7. Most suited to the small countries 8. More flexible-


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Demerits of the Unitary Government Apprehension of the Central Government

becoming despotic

The Central Government becomesoverburdened with work

Lack of local autonomy

More influence of Government officials

Not suitable for big states


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FEDERA

LFO

RM

OF

GOVE

RNMEN

T According to Dr. Garner - Federal Government may

be defined as a system of central and local

government combined under a common

sovereignty, both the central and localorganizations being supreme within definite

spheres, marked out for them by the general

constitution or by the act of Parliament which

creates the system Federal Government is not as

is often loosely said the central government alone,

but it is a system composed of the central and local

governments combined.


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Federations may be multi-ethnic, or cover a largearea of territory, although neither is necessarily the

case. Federations are most often founded on anoriginal agreement between a number of sovereignstates based on mutual concerns or interests.

The initial agreements create a stability thatencourages other common interests, brings thedisparate territories closer, and gives them all evenmore common ground. Some time this is recognizedand a movement is organized to merge more

closely. Other times, especially when common cultural

factors are at play such as ethnicity and language,some of these steps in this pattern are expeditedand compressed.


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Federal form of Government.


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MERITS

1. Reconciliation of local autonomy with national unity 2. Division of powers between the Centre and States leads

to administrative efficiency

3. People take more interest in local and regional affairs

4. It gives rise to big states-

5. This system is more advantageous to the smaller states

6. Citizenship of Federal Government is more dignified

than that of its units 7. Distribution of powers checks the despotism of the

Central Government

8. It is a model for the world state


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DEMERITS

1. Federal Government is weaker in comparisonwith the Unitary Government -

2. Federal Government is more expensive than the

unitary type of Government

3. Provincial tendencies are very acute

4. Lack of uniformity in administration

5. Threat to national unity

6. Double citizenship 7. The constitution being rigid cannot be adjusted to

the fast changing conditions


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MERITS

Unitary Federal Confederal

Central govt. is clearly

accountable

A single centre of

power that permits

coordinated and

decisive state action

Best suited to smallstates, or

homogeneous states

with similar regions

Another form of the

separation of powers

Encourages consensus

and compromise

between federal and

state authorities

Best suited to large

states (either population

or geographical area),and/or those with

markedly different

regions

Permits states (or

other autonomous

political units) to

cooperate while

maintaining their

sovereignty

Best suited to

cooperation in one

sector or field of government activity

economic (IMF),

diplomatic (UN),

defense (NATO)


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Unitary Federal Confederal

Can help national integration

by focusing on national

politics

Facilitates the equalisation ofregional resources (through

national tax system, for

example)

It is still possible to grant

some areas special powers

(e.g. Basque Country in Spain)

Helps in the creation of a

system of equal rights and

duties for all citizens

Can protect the rights of

territorially concentrated

minorities

Can maintain the unity ofthe country by containing

regional divisions, so

deflecting and defusing

potentially dangerous

national conflicts

Encourages small-scale

experiment, innovation and

competition between states:

the efficiency argument

May be the

only form of

cooperation

possible

DEMERIT

Unstable

members can

withdraw

easilyCan be

ineffective

when

members

cannot agree


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DEMERITS

Unitary Federal

Can result in an over-

powerful central state

Can result in national

majorities exploiting orrepressing regional minorities

Can result in a rigid and

hierarchical form of

government

Not suitable for big states

Central government may getoverburdened with work

The people dont get much

intrested.

Can result in duplication, overlap and confusion

of responsibilities and accountability

May lead to conflict, inefficiency, or stalemate

between levels of government

Can result in complex, slow and expensive forms

of government

Can be inherently conservative

Can strengthen tendencies towards national

disunity and disintegration by encouraging

breakaway of territorial units

Can deflect political attention from national

groups and interests to geographical interests


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PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT

The relation between the Executive and the

Legislature is the only way to know whether the

government is Parliamentary or Presidential. If

the real executive is responsible to thelegislature or the Parliament, the form of

government is Parliamentary.

It is also called Responsible or Cabinet form ofGovernment because the Cabinet enjoys the

real powers of the government and it is under

the control of the Parliament.


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A parliamentary system is a system of governmentin which the ministers of the executive branch aredrawn from the legislature and are accountable tothat body, such that the executive and legislativebranches are intertwined. In such a system, the

head of government is both de facto chiefexecutive and chief legislator.

Parliamentary systems usually have a cleardifferentiation between the head of government

and the head of state, with the head ofgovernment being the prime minister or premier,and the head of state often being a figurehead,often either a president (elected either popularly or

by the parliament) or a hereditary monarch


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In a parliamentary form of governmentPrime Minister is the Head of the governmentelected by the members of the parliamentfor a specified period usually, leader of the

party that wins the majority seats in theelection.

Parliamentary systems are characterized byno clear-cut separation of powers between

the executive and legislative branches,leading to a different set of checks andbalances compared to those found inpresidential systems.


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A Parliamentary system may consist of twostyles of Chambers of Parliament one with

two chambers (or houses): an elected lower

house, and an upper house or Senatewhich may be appointed or elected by a

different mechanism from the lower house.

This style of two houses is called bicameral

system. Legislatures with only one houseare known as unicameral system


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MERITS

Cooperation between Parliament and theCabinet is generally available in this system

Responsible government

The government does not become autocratic-

Adjustable according to the changingcircumstances

Head of the State gives impartial advice

Parliamentary Government is responsive to the

public opinion It has changed the absolute monarchy into

democracy

This system provides for an alternate

Government


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DEMERITS1. There is the apprehension of the dictatorship of the

cabinet.2. The Government becomes unstable if the ruling party does

not command a clear or absolute majority in the legislature.

3. Frequency in the change of Government leads touncertainty of policy.

4. Formation of the Government becomes difficult in a multiparty system.

5. This system leads to perpetual conflicts.

6. National interest are sacrificed sometimes at the altar ofparty interests.

7. In Parliamentary Government much time is wasted indiscussion during war and emergency.

8. Ministers pay more attention to the politics than theadministration.


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PRESIDENTIAL GOVERNMENT

According to Dr. Garner, PresidentialGovernment is that system in which theExecutive( including both the Head of state

and his ministers ) is constitutionallyindependent of the legislature in respect tothe duration of his or their tenure andirresponsible to it for his or their politicalpolicies.

The President is usually directly elected by amajority vote in a universal generalelection. Examples of presidentialdemocracy include France, Mexico, USA etc.


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Presidential governments make nodistinction between the positions of head ofstate and head of government, both ofwhich are held by the president .

In such a system the chief of state is notmerely the title executive but he is the realexecutive and actually exercises the powerswhich the constitution and Laws confer upon

him. In such a system the Presidentenjoys real powers of the government. He isnot responsible to the legislature for hisadministration and policies .


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Many parliamentary governments have a symbolichead of state in the form of a president or monarch(Again, some Monarchs maintain active ReservePowers). That person is responsible for theformalities of state functions, or in the case of

Monarchs with Reserve Powers, the "hands off"ensuing of a functional Parliament, while theconstitutional prerogatives of head of governmentare generally exercised by the prime minister.

The figurehead presidents tend to be elected in a

much less direct manner than active presidential-system presidents, for example, by a vote of thelegislature. A few nations, such as Ireland andPortugal, do have a popularly elected ceremonialpresident.


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Features of presidential systems

Direct mandate in a presidential system, the presidentis often elected directly by the people. To some, this makesthe president's power more legitimate than that of a leaderappointed indirectly.

Separation of powers a presidential systemestablishes the presidency and the legislature as twoparallel structures. This arrangement allows each structureto supervise the other, preventing abuses.

Speed and decisiveness some argue that a presidentwith strong powers can usually enact changes quickly.However, others argue that the separation of powers slows

the system down. Stability a president, by virtue of a fixed term, may

provide more stability than a prime minister who can bedismissed at any time.


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Merits of the Presidential Government

1. It ensures stable government

2. This system of government is most suitablefor emergencies

3. It leads to the efficiency in administration

4. Less influence of parties

5. This type of government is based on the

theory of Separation of Powers 6. Most suitable for multi party system


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Demerits of Presidential Government

1. In this system of Government the President

enjoys wide powers and he can have his own

way in many matters.2. Since the Constitution is very rigid, it

becomes very difficult to make amendments

in it according to the changing times.


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Presidential Parliamentary Semi-presidential

MERITS

The USA is a model/ ensures

stable govt.

Separation of the

executive and legislative

institutions of government

according to classical

democratic theory

Direct election of the

president means direct

accountability of the

president to the people

Less influence of parties

Responsible govt./Most of

the worlds stable

democracies are

parliamentary systems

Fusion of executive and

legislative can create strong

and effective government

Direct chain of

accountability from votersto parliament to cabinet to

prime minister/ cooperation

Govt. is not autocratic but

democratic

In theory combines the

best of presidential and

parliamentary government

The president can be a

symbol of the nation, and

a focus of national unity,

while the prime minister

can run the day-to-day

business of the

government


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Presidential Parliamentary Semi-presidential

DEMERITS

Conflict between executive

and legislation may be

chronic, leading to

deadlock

Weak and ineffective

presidents have sometimes

tried to make their office

much stronger

Few presidential systems

have survived long

Government not

responsible to the

Parliament

The fusion of the executive

and legislative, and a large

legislative majority,

combined with tight party

discipline, can produce

leaders with too much

Power/Dictatorship

Parliamentary systems

without a legislative

majority can be weak and

Unstable/ uncertain policy

Leads to conflicts/ Bureaucracy

Acquires influence

Party interests supreme/ More

politics than administration

Conflict and power

struggles between prime

minister and cabinet,

and

between prime minister

and president are notunusual

Confusion of

accountability

between president and

prime minister


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