Today, many countries have chosen democracy as a form of government. From the ancient Greek language, the word "democracy" is translated as "power of the people", which means the collective adoption of political decisions and their implementation. This distinguishes it from authoritarianism and totalitarianism, when the management of state affairs is concentrated in the hands of one person - the leader. This article will talk about what parliamentary democracy is.
Democratic order
In order to consider such a form of government as parliamentarism, one should pay attention to the democratic system as a whole, what it is. Democracy itself is of two kinds: direct and representative. The means of expressing direct democracy is the manifestation of civic interests directly, through referendums, strikes, rallies, signature collection, etc. The purpose of these actions is to influence the authorities, the people directly demand the fulfillment of their demands. In this case, citizens themselves express their interests, notresorting to the help of various intermediaries.
Representative democracy differs from direct democracy in that the people take part in the political life of the state not independently and directly, but with the help of their chosen intermediaries. Deputies are elected to the legislature, whose duties include protecting the interests of the civilian population. Parliamentary democracy is one of the classic examples of such a state system.
What is parliamentarism
In short, parliamentarism is a form of government when deputies of legislative assemblies themselves elect and appoint members of the government. They are appointed from among the members of the party that won the most votes in parliamentary elections. Such a form of government as parliamentary democracy is possible not only in states with a democratic system. It can also exist in monarchical countries, but in this case the ruler does not have a wide range of powers. We can say that the sovereign reigns, but does not make any state-important decisions, his role is minimal and rather symbolic: it is participation in any ceremonies, a tribute to traditions. It should be noted that the ideal condition for the establishment of parliamentarism is the presence of a two-party system, which is necessary to ensure political stability.
Also, this type of democracy can exist within the framework of a parliamentary republic, which means the possibility of a representative body of power to elect the headstates. But also the functions of the head can be performed directly by the chairman of the government authority.
Parliamentarism: implementation mechanisms
The essence of the mechanism by which such a type of state system as parliamentary democracy is implemented lies in elections held in constituencies. An example is the US Congress. In order for a single representative of power - a congressman - to represent the interests of an approximately equal number of voters, every decade there is a revision of the district boundaries to recalculate the number of citizens eligible to vote.
Candidates for deputies are nominated mainly by parties that do a lot of work to identify the political mood of society, enlisting the support of various social groups. They organize public events, distribute campaign materials and become an integral part of civil society.
As a result of the vote of the voters, the deputies of the parties that entered the parliament form the so-called "fractions". One of the political organizations with the largest number of votes has the largest number of deputies. It is from this party that the ruling person is appointed - whether it be the prime minister or other relevant position, as well as members of the government. The ruling party pursues its policy in the state, and those that remained in the minority represent the parliamentary opposition.
What ispresidentialism?
Presidential democracy is the opposite of parliamentarism. The essence of such a state system is that all actions carried out by the government and parliament are under the control of the president. The head of state is elected by the citizens of the country. Some researchers believe that this type of power jeopardizes the idea of democratic values and can move towards totalitarianism, since many decisions are made by the president, and the parliament has much less power.
Virtues of parliamentarism
Parliamentary democracy as a form of government of a modern state has a number of positive aspects. First, it is openness and publicity. Each parliamentarian is responsible for his actions and words not only to his party, but also to the citizens who elected him. The separation of the deputy from the people is excluded, since his place is not assigned to him forever - meetings with the population, correspondence, receiving appeals and other ways of interaction are obligatory. Secondly, the parliamentary type of democracy implies equal rights not only for the "ruling" party, but also for the opposition. Everyone has the right to express their opinion in debates and to submit any projects and proposals. The minority's right to free will is protected.
Flaws of parliamentary democracy
Like any other political system, parliamentarism has a number of weaknesses. Political scientists often comparethis type of democracy with presidentialism. In relation to him, parliamentary democracy has characteristic shortcomings and weaknesses.
- This type of government is convenient in small states. The fact is that voters need to collect as much information about the candidate as possible in order to be confident in their choice. This is easier to do in small, stable countries - then the knowledge about the applicant will be more complete.
- Redistribution of responsibility. Voters appoint parliamentarians, who, in turn, form the cabinet of ministers and delegate a number of duties to it. As a result, both deputies and members of the government try to please not only the voters, but also the parties that nominated them. This results in a "two-field game", which sometimes leads to difficulties.
States with parliamentary democracy
Today, a large number of different forms of power are represented in the world, from democratic and liberal to totalitarian regimes. The classic example of a country with a parliamentary democracy is Great Britain. The head of the English government is the prime minister, and the royal house reigns, but does not make government decisions and serves as a symbol of the country. Two parties in the UK - the Conservatives and Labor - are fighting for the right to form a government body.
Many other European states have chosen parliamentary democracy as their form of government. These are Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and alsomany more.
Parliamentary democracy in Russia
If we talk about Russia, then, according to political scientists, today in our country there is such a form of government as presidentialism. However, some researchers believe that the Russian Federation is a state of a mixed type, where parliamentarism exists together with presidentialism, the latter dominating. Parliamentary democracy in Russia is expressed in the fact that the State Duma has the right to dissolve the parliament, but only within a certain period of time - within a year after the elections.
This type of democracy is the subject of study by political scientists. Scientists write scientific articles and monographs on this topic. An example is the work of the Russian historian Andrei Borisovich Zubov "Parliamentary Democracy and the Political Tradition of the East". The work is a study of democratic institutions in Eastern countries. He considers the example of seven specific countries: Japan, Turkey, Lebanon, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
