presidential system
TRANSCRIPT
Presidential System
Presidential System
5 features of a presidential system;• Executive barred from legislature• Separation of powers• Co-equal branches• Centralisation & decentralisation (devolution)• Federal system
Presidential System
DefinitionA presidential system is one in which there is a strict separation of personnel between the executive and the legislature. The president is both head of state and head of government. The president has a fixed term of office. Although the president can be impeached for misconduct, there is no vote of confidence by which the president can be removed for incompetence or unpopularity.
Executive barred from legislature
• By definition, the presidential systems means that the executive (the president) is barred from the legislature.
“When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person…there can be no liberty.”
– Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws (1748)
• The president is elected separately and has no role within the legislative branch of government.
Separation of Powers
Co-equal branches of government
• The Founding Fathers feared tyranny, so ensured that each branch of government was equal.
• Each branch would have checks on its own powers and check the power of the other branches, allowing no one branch of government to become more powerful than the other two.
“ambition counteracting ambition” – James Madison
Centralisation & Decentralisation
Define;a) Centralisationb) Decentralisation
Centralisation & DecentralisationCentralisationThe act of consolidating power under a central control.
DecentralisationThe spread of power away from the centre to local branches or governments
Centralisation & Decentralisation
Advantages of Centralisation• Promotes national unity• Promotes uniformity of
laws, taxation, education etc• Promotes equality e.g.
redistribution of wealth easier
• Single currency and central control of taxation and infrastructure promote prosperity
Advantages of Decentralisation• Provides enhanced
opportunities for democratic participation
• Promotes higher degree of responsiveness (govt ‘closer to the people’) – accountability enhanced
• Legitimacy enhanced• Guards against central govt
tyranny with checks and balances
Federal System
• The US has a federal system of government in which political power is divided between a national government and state governments, each having its own area of substantive jurisdiction.
• Federalism is appropriate to a country as large and as diversified in race, culture, language, economy and climate as the USA.
Federal System
Advantages• Safeguards against over-
strong central govt• Lessen remoteness in
geographically large countries• Maintain national unity
(regional diversity could fracture into different nation states otherwise)
• States as policy incubators and training grounds
Disadvantages• Over-fragmentation can lead
to gridlock e.g. Southern states and civil rights
• Does not overcome centralising tendencies e.g. growth in power of federal govt 1900-1966
• Can breed national divisions and encourage moves towards independence
The Presidential System
How will you remember all of the features of a presidential system?
Create your own rhyme or mnemonic to help you…
ESCCF = Every Student Can Cite Features
In what ways is the US presidential system different to the UK parliamentary system?
Reading/Note taking
• Chapter 1, p14-20- Separation of powers- Checks and balances