A new democracy will face many difficulties in deciding its new Governmental structure.

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Power and Leadership – M11003                By David Weinberg 4020504

The presidential model of government exists in a republic, where all the branches of government are separate. It is based on the premise that the power sharing bodies are clearly separated from one another in order that one may not exercise extraordinary powers over any other. The best example of this is the United States where the three branches of government; the Judiciary, the Legislature, and the Executive all have reserved powers and all can keep a check on the actions of any other. In this case the executive is elected completely separately that from any other branch of government, which is in contrast to a parliamentary system of government when the executive is drawn directly from the legislature; such as in Britain.

The Presidential system works by making the process of legislation difficult and specifically needs approval by different branches of government. For example, for legislation to be passed in the United States, a Congressman, (Not the president) must propose the legislation; then it must be voted on in both houses; it must then go to committee stage in each house; it must further have the amended versions of this legislation passed by both houses; and only then can it be put in front of the President to sign. He can then veto the legislation or pass it; if he decides to veto it, Congress, if it has big enough majorities in both houses, can bypass the President and the legislation becomes law. In all this time, the Supreme Court, i.e. the Judiciary, can stop any piece of legislation as being unconstitutional. This is a timely and unresponsive system, which can be detrimental to the ability for the country to be responsive in times when it needs to be strong and unified. In Parliament, only a simple majority is needed, and Parliament can prove ineffective at being able to hold the Executive accountable.

There are other checks and balances which distinguishes this system from a parliamentary system. For example, the top appointments in the judiciary, the civil service, and the US Cabinet all have to be ratified by Congress, whereas in a Parliamentary system of government, none of these appointments have to be ratified. The Prime Minister can appoint and dismiss members of his Cabinet without Parliaments permission, as well as appointing members of the Judiciary through his power of patronage. This power, although levied by the Prime Minister, is as a proxy for a higher authority; in Britain this is the Monarch.

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On the face of it therefore the Prime Minister seems to have a lot more flexibility in terms of power than the President does. In fact, Richard Newstadt, in this thesis, posed the question as to whether the President had any power other than to persuade. This thus has its advantages and disadvantages; whether or not the President has his hand tied too much, or whether in fact his power is underestimated.

The first major advantage with the Presidential system is that it seems to be more democratic. As the passage of Legislation is so difficult, it ...

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