Parliamentary democracy is what?

To date, many countries have chosen democracy for themselves as a form of government. From the ancient Greek language, the word "democracy" is translated as "the power of the people," which means the collective adoption of political decisions and their implementation. This distinguishes it from authoritarianism and totalitarianism, when the management of public affairs is concentrated in the hands of one person - the leader. This article will tell you what parliamentary democracy is.

Democratic system

In order to consider such a form of government as parliamentarism, one should pay attention to the democratic system as a whole, what it is. Democracy itself is of two kinds: direct and representative. The means of expressing direct democracy are a manifestation of civil interests directly, through the holding of referendums, strikes, rallies, signature gatherings, etc. The purpose of these actions is to influence the authorities, the people directly demand fulfillment of their demands. In this case, citizens themselves express their interests, without resorting to the help of these or other intermediaries.

Representative democracy differs from the immediate one in that the people take part in the political life of the state not independently and directly, but with the help of the intermediaries they elect. Legislative bodies elect deputies whose duties include protecting the interests of the civilian population. Parliamentary democracy is one of the classic examples of such a state system.

What is parliamentarism?

Briefly, parliamentarism is a form of government when deputies of legislative assemblies elect and appoint members of the government. They are appointed from party members who have won the majority of votes in the parliamentary elections. This form of government, like parliamentary democracy, is possible not only in states with a democratic system. It can exist in monarchic countries, but in this case the ruler does not have a wide range of powers. We can say that the sovereign reigns, but does not take any state-important decisions, his role is minimal and, more likely, symbolic: it is participation in any ceremonies, a tribute to traditions. It should be noted that an ideal condition for establishing parliamentarism is the existence of a bipartisan system, which is necessary to ensure political stability.

Also such kind of democracy can exist within the framework of the parliamentary republic, which means the possibility of a representative body of power to elect the head of state. But the head of the governmental body can also perform the functions of the head.

Parliamentarism: implementation mechanisms

The essence of the mechanism through which this type of state system, such as parliamentary democracy, is realized, is in elections held in constituencies. An example is the US Congress. In order for an individual representative of the government - the Congressman - to express the interests of an approximately equal number of voters, every decade there is a review of the boundaries of counties to recount the number of citizens eligible to vote.

Candidates for deputies are nominated mainly by parties, which carry out before them a huge amount of work on revealing the political moods of the society, enlisting the support of various social groups. They organize public events, distribute propaganda materials and become an integral part of civil society.

As a result of the voting of voters, the deputies of the parties that have passed to the parliament form the so-called "factions". One of the political organizations that received the largest number of votes has the largest number of deputies. It is from this party that the ruling person is appointed - be it the Prime Minister or other relevant post, as well as members of the government. The ruling party pursues its policy in the state, and those that remain in the minority represent the parliamentary opposition.

What is Presidentialism?

Presidential democracy is an antipode to parliamentarism. The essence of such a state system is that all actions carried out by the government and parliament are under the control of the president. The head of state is elected by the citizens of the country. Some researchers believe that this type of power jeopardizes the idea of democratic values and can move to totalitarianism, since many decisions are made by the president, and the parliament has much less authority.

Advantages of parliamentarism

Parliamentary democracy as a form of government of a modern state has a number of positive sides. First, it is openness and publicity. Every parliamentarian is responsible for his actions and words not only to his party, but also to those who elected him. The deputy's separation from the people is excluded, since his place is not fixed for him forever-meetings with the population, correspondence, reception of appeals and other means of interaction are obligatory. Secondly, the parliamentary type of democracy implies the existence of equal rights not only in the "ruling" party, but also among the opposition parties. Everyone has the right to express their opinions in debates and to make any drafts and proposals. The right of a minority to free will is protected.

Disadvantages of parliamentary democracy

Like any other political system, parliamentarism has a number of weaknesses. Often, political analysts compare this type of democracy with the presidentism. In relation to it, parliamentary democracy has characteristic shortcomings and weaknesses.

1. This type of government is convenient in small states. The fact is that voters need to collect the most information about the candidate in order to be sure of their choice. This is easier to implement in small, stable countries - then knowledge of the applicant will be more complete.
2. Redistribution of responsibility. Voters are appointed by parliamentarians, and those, in turn, form the cabinet of ministers and delegate a number of duties to it. As a result, both deputies and members of the government try to please not only the voters, but also the parties that nominated them. This results in a "two-field game," which sometimes leads to difficulties.

States with parliamentary democracy

To date, a large number of different forms of power are represented in the world, beginning with democratic and liberal ones, ending with totalitarian regimes. A classic example of a country where parliamentary democracy operates is the United Kingdom. The head of the British government is the prime minister, and the royal house reigns, but does not take state decisions and serves as a symbol of the country. Two parties in the UK - conservatives and Laborites - are fighting for the right to form a government body.

Many other European states have chosen parliamentary democracy for themselves as a form of government. This Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, as well as many others.

Parliamentary democracy in Russia

If we talk about Russia, then, according to political scientists, today in our country there is such a form of government as presidentialism. However, some researchers believe that the Russian Federation is a state of a mixed type, where parliamentarism exists in conjunction with presidentialism, the latter dominating. Parliamentary democracy in Russia is expressed in the fact that the State Duma has the right to dissolve the parliament, but only at certain times - within a year after the election.

This type of democracy is the subject of study of political scientists. Scientists write scientific articles and monographs on this topic. An example is the work of the national historian Andrei Borisovich Zubov "Parliamentary democracy and the political tradition of the East." The work is a study of democratic institutions in the eastern countries. He considers an example of specifically seven countries: Japan, Turkey, Lebanon, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.