Parliamentary, Presidential, and Semi-Presidential Democracies - Classifying democracies

4 important questions on Parliamentary, Presidential, and Semi-Presidential Democracies - Classifying democracies

Whether a democracy is parliamentary, presidential or semi-presidential depends on the relationship between:

a) The government (comprises the political chief executive and the ministers that head the various government departments)
b) The legislature
c) the president (if there is one)

We can classify the three basic types of democracy in the following way:

  • Presidential democracy: one in which the government does not depend on a legislative majority to exist
  • Parliamentary democracy: one in which the governments depends on a legislative majority to exist and the head of state is not popularly elected
  • Semi-presidential democracy: one in which the government depends on a legislative majority to exist and the head of state is popularly elected for a fixed term

A constructive vote of no confidence must:

Indicate who will replace the government if the incumbent loses a vote of no confidence. It tends to reduce government instability.
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A vote of confidence is initiated by:

The government; if the government does not obtain a legislative majority in this vote, it must resign.

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