Features of Parliamentary System of Government

3.2.1 It might be appropriate here to examine the differences between the  presidential system, which we have discussed in the previous unit (Unit 1.) and the  parliamentary (cabinet) system which we are examining presently. This will also help to bring out vividly the major characteristics of the parliamentary system of government. The two systems differ in a number of ways which we shall examine below.
i) DUAL EXECUTIVE
In the cabinet system of government, the head to state is different from the head of government; the Queen performs the ceremonial functions while the Prime Minister performs the executive functions (as it operates in Great Britain). However in the presidential system of government, the head of state is also the head of government, as it obtains in Nigeria presently where President Goodluck Jonathan combines both the ceremonial functions and the executive duties.

ii) FUSION OF POWERS
The theory of separation of power is not strictly observed in the cabinet system of government, since there is no separation of powers between the executive and legislature, the cabinet members are also members of the legislature; they both take part in drafting bills (The minister in Britain is also a member of the legislature which makes it possible for him to combine an executive and legislature functions), but in the presidential system of government, there is clear cut separation of powers, the president and the member of the executive are not member of the legislature and if any member of the executive wants to join the legislature, such a person would have to resign his position and contest election, and vice versa. In the cabinet system of government, the executive depends on the legislature for its existence since there is fusion of power but in the presidential system of government no organ of government depends on the other for its existence since they have distinct functions to carry out, and also acts as watch dogs over one another.

iii) TENURE NOT GUARRANTTEED
In the cabinet system of government the head of government Prime Minster will loose his position while the government he heads will resign when a vote of no confidence is passed against him in parliament. This implies that the Prime Minister can only remain in office for as long as his party still control majority of seats in parliament. This is unlike the presidential system of government where there is a stated tenure during which a president would remain in office, except if he willingly resigns or if he is removed from office through the rigorous process of impeachment (the stated tenure in Nigeria is four years).

iv) POWER OF ATTAINMENT
Another difference between these two systems of government is the power of attainment, which can throw up an elected member of the legislature into the position of a prime minister, on the strength of his ability to command the loyalty of his former colleagues. In Britain today, the Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron initially an elected member of House of Commons on the ticket of the Conservative

Party before he rose to become the British prime minister. His party presently leads a coalition government with the Liberal Democratic Party while the Labour Party becomes the official opposition party. This is not the case in a presidential system of government where the president is elected through popular votes and the candidate from the party that has the highest number of votes and a nation wide spread becomes the president.

v) OFFICIAL OPOSITION
In the parliamentary system of government the opposition party is officially recognized, i.e. the party that is strongly recognized with the majority seats in the legislature forms the government while the other party constitutes the opposition. The leader of the opposition party forms the shadow cabinet and is ever ready to form a new government on the collapse of the ruling party. However in the presidential system of government no party is officially recognized as the opposition party in the legislature. Indeed members of the ruling or the president’s party can form a cluster of opposition against their party’s position or even combine with members of the opposition parties to defeat programmes sponsored by their party.

 vi) PARLIAMENTARY SUPREMACY
In the parliamentary system of government, the constitution is not supreme, rather the primacy lies with the legislature, or the parliament as it is called in Britain. The legislature can re-write or edit the written parts of the constitution and also dissolve the cabinet at anytime. In Great Britain the Queen can dissolve the parliament when advised to do so by the Prime Minister. The situation is different in the president system government where the constitution is supreme since all the three organs of government derive their power from it. Here, the president has no power to dissolve the legislature.

vii) PARTY DISCIPLINE
In the parliamentary system of government there is existence of party discipline (adherence to party ideals and proposal) if the party discipline is weak the party in power would find it difficult to maintain a majority in the legislature and so some of  its policies may be defeated. It is also essential that ministers must come from the same party with the prime minister in the cabinet. However in the presidential system of government ministers may belong or may not belong to the same party with the president. This gives a president a free hand in appointing his ministers. 

Self-Assessment Exercise 3.2
Analyse major characteristics of the parliamentary system of government