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The Advantages And Disadvantages Of A Parliamentary Government

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Parliamentarism, or a parliamentary government, is defined “as a system of government in which the executive, the government, is chosen by and is responsible to…the legislature.” (Gerring, Thacker and Moreno, 2005, p. 15) With this form of governmental control, many advantages and disadvantages arise, especially when this system is compared to the likes of ‘Presidential systems’ or even that of ‘Semi-presidential systems’. However, my aim within this essay is to, both, highlight to advantages of parliamentarism, and to also give my opinion as to why this system is better when compared and contrasted with the aforementioned systems.

According to Hague and Harrop (2007, p. 336), there are three different branches relating to the parliamentary system. Firstly, the legislature and the executive are “originally linked”. Secondly, the parliamentary executives, the cabinet minister and the Prime Minister, share responsibilities. Therefore, the parliament is “jointly responsible for the actions of the government…primus inter pares (first among equals)”. (Haywood, 2007, p. 95) Lastly, a typical feature of the parliamentary system is that the offices of the Head of State and the Head of the Government remain separate from each other.

Union is a key feature of the parliamentary governments worldwide. Bagehot once described this feature “as the close union…of the executive and legislative powers.” Unlike the presidential system, which is in operation in the USA, the parliamentary
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