8.2.4.3 Semipresidential Systems
France and also other states such as Romania or Russia feature a semipresidential
system. They have a directly elected Head of State who has executive powers (the
presidential aspect), as well as a Prime Minister who is accountable to parliament
and can only remain in office with parliamentary support (the parliamentary
aspect).
Other republics may have presidents and prime ministers too; if these presidents
have only ceremonial roles and no executive powers, the system is still considered
parliamentary. Examples of such systems are Germany, Italy, or Israel, where
executive power is held by the respective Chancellor or Prime Minister.
Main Forms of Government
Parliamentary systems- The head of the executive relies on the confidence or tolerance of Parlia-
ment to enter, or stay in, office.
Presidential systems - The head of the executive is elected independently from Parliament.
Semipresidential systems - A directly elected Head of State and a Prime Minister who is accountable
to Parliament share executive power.
8.2.5 Checks and Balances
Forced Cooperation In its pure form, the Trias Politica doctrine envisages sepa-
ration of powers. An effective way to perpetuate this separation, and to prevent a
concentration and subsequent abuse of state powers, is to partly assign functions to
various institutions jointly. This deliberately allows the powers to interfere in each
other’s domain to a certain extent, keeping each other in check, and it forces them to
collaborate to achieve common goals. The idea is calledchecks and balances.
One example of checks and balances is the ordinary legislative procedure of the European
Union. If European laws are to be made, a proposal must be submitted by the Commission
which has the sole right of initiative. This proposal must then be voted upon by both the
Council of Ministers and the European Parliament (see also Sect.10.3.2).
Under the US Constitution, federal judges are appointed by the President, but this
appointment is subject to the approval of the Senate. In the law-making process, the Senate
and the House of Representatives jointly adopt legislation but the President may veto it,
which may in turn be overruled by super-majorities in the House and the Senate.Judicial Review A very important check on the political institutions of parliament
and government is judicial review, whereby courts would check the legality of acts
of these institutions.
A court exercising judicial review might rule that the collection of a tax by the government
was not covered by the tax code, for example because the tax code provided for a tax8 Constitutional Law 173