The difference between presidentialism and parliamentarianism

SS1 GOVERNMENT

2nd Term

The difference between presidentialism and parliamentarianism

Presidential system	Cabinet system
The executive president is both head of state and head of government	The Queen or president is the head of state while the prime minister is the head of government
The people elect the president in a general election	the leader of the party that won the election is appointed the Prime minister
There is separation of power	There is fusion of power
Individual responsibility applies	Collective responsibility applies
Non-party members can be appointed ministers	Ministers can only be party members in the parliament
The president and the ministers are not part of the legislature	The prime minister and his ministers are part of the legislature
The president can be removed by the legislative through the process of Impeachment	The parliament can remove the prime minister by passing a vote of no confidence in the cabinet
There is supremacy of the constitution	There is supremacy of the parliament
There are effective checks and balances among the three organs of government	Fusion of power in the legislature does not allow effective checks and balance

The prime minister

SS1 GOVERNMENT

2nd Term

The prime minister

(1)He is the head of government and the chief executive of the state.
(2) he is the leader of the of the party that won the highest number of seats in parliament.
(3) He chairs every cabinet meeting.
(4) he appoints his ministers from his party members in the parliament.
(5) He can dismiss a minister from his cabinet.
(6)he represents his country in international conferences
(7) He supervises the ministers and the ministries and other government departments

Collective responsibility and individual responsibility

SS1 GOVERNMENT

2nd Term

Collective responsibility and individual responsibility

Both principles refer to the cabinet of ministers, but they are features of two different systems of government: collective responsibility is applied in parliamentary system while individual responsibility is applied in presidential system. Collective responsibility implies that for each decision reached in the cabinet, all its members are responsible. If the prime minister dies or resigns, the whole members of the cabinet must also resign, and that government ceases to be in power. The Queen or President formally dissolves the parliament for a fresh election. Collective responsibility also implies that when the parliament casts a vote of no confidence on the cabinet, all the members are removed at once.

On the other hand, individual responsibility implies that each minister is held individually responsible for any decision he makes in his department or ministry if he is found wanting, he is dismissed and his dismissal doesn’t affect the other ministers.

Functions of the cabinet in parliamentary system of government

SS1 GOVERNMENT

2nd Term

Functions of the cabinet in parliamentary system of government

(1) As part of the legislature, they also make laws.
(2) Since they constitute the executive, they are involved in the general control and administration of the several departments of the government.
(3) Implementation of the law.
(4) The cabinet initiates government bills to the parliament.

Merits and Demerits of Parliamentary system of Government

SS1 GOVERNMENT

2nd Term

Merits 
(1) fusion of both legislative and executive functions make the implementation of decisions to be faster.
(2) separating the ceremonial functions of head of state from the head of government makes the prime minister to concentrate strictly on the serious business of governing the state, not on frivolous ceremonies.
(3) the fear of being collectively voted out of power makes them always come up with their best ideas.

Demerits 
(1) Restriction of ministerial appointment to members of the parliament derives the country of better hands outside the parliament 
(2) collective responsibility can make other hardworking ministers to suffer removal due to the poor performance of a particular minister. 
(3) the fusion of both executive and legislative powers creates room for oligarchy and dictatorship.