Different systems differ greatly in how roles are distributed
amongst the executive, and indeed how large the executive is and,
therefore, how many people control the levers of power. As we have
seen, formal head of state duties such as convening and dissolving the
legislature, receiving distinguished visitors, presenting honours and
decorations, signing legislation into law, opening new buildings and
the like may be reserved to a hereditary sovereign or a retired dis-
tinguished ‘statesman’. Such kings, queens, presidents or governors
customarily lead uneventful (if comfortable) lives. In times of crisis,
however, they may have to arbitrate on which leading politician is
most likely to command a parliamentary majority if the current
prime minister loses the confidence of the legislature.
Alternatively such largely symbolic roles may be combined with
the job of leading the day-to-day government of the country. Where
the symbolic and real leadership are combined (as in the US
presidency) this may give the head of government a boost in his or
her relationships with other national politicians. However, placing a
practising politician in such a powerful position may increase the
possibility of misbehaviour by the head of state and disillusioning the
citizenry, as the problems of presidents Nixon and Clinton suggest.
As we saw in the previous chapter, another important difference
between executives is in the mechanisms whereby their responsi-
bility to the nation is expressed and how they are selected. The
presidential model with the direct selection by popular vote of the
head of government increases the democratic legitimacy of the
executive and helps to ensure that each head of government con-
structs a majority national coalition of supporters. The ‘down-side’
of such an arrangement is that such figures cannot be easily removed
should they lose touch with their constituencies. In the USA,
Congress can only impeach the president with great legal difficulty
in the event of gross misconduct. In parliamentary systems the prime
ministers may be less well known and supported but can only retain
office for so long as they command a legislative majority. If no
obvious national majority exists then a process of bargaining between
parties in the legislature can produce one.
The number of political posts (that is jobs to which politicians are
appointed by the head of government) in the national executive may
vary from something like 5,000 posts in the United States to only a
few hundred in Britain. (This excludes appointments to QUANGOs –176 DEMOCRACY