Politics: The Basics, 4th Edition

1967/8), but in most West European states as well (Smith, 1989:
Chs. 5, 7, 8). Derbyshire and Derbyshire (1996: 40) classified fifty-five
states as having parliamentary executives, most of which were
Commonwealth members. Presidential systems, in this sense, are
those like the United States of America with an executive presi-
dent; they are the most common form of constitutional government,
with seventy-seven states classified as limited presidential executives
by the Derbyshires. They are found chiefly in the Americas and Africa.
The main differences between the systems may be expressed in
terms of the separation and balance of powers. Following Montes-
quieu’s interpretation of the eighteenth-century British constitution,
presidential systems not only divide the powers of government
into legislative (law making), executive (law enforcing) and judicial
(law interpreting) institutions, but seek to separate these in terms
of personnel and balance them against each other. Democratic
government is seen in terms of a refusal to concentrate potentially
tyrannical power so that it cannot be used to take away individual
rights. Federalism is seen as a further expression of the same approach.
In parliamentary systems the main expression of democracy is
seen in the enforcement of the responsibility of the executive to the
people through Parliament – in practice the independence of the

STATES 143

Table 6.2 Parliamentary versus presidential systems

Parliamentary system Presidential system

Assembly ‘Parliament’ Assembly only

Executive Separate heads of state Popularly elected president

and government

Head of government Appointed by head of state Also head of state

Appointment of Head of government President appoints

government appoints ministry departmental heads

Responsibility Government is collectively President is responsible to

responsible to Assembly people

Personnel Ministers usually Executive/legislative

parliamentarians separation

Dissolution of By head of state on advice Not possible

assembly of head of government

Source: Verney (1959)