Parliamentary Form of Democracy – Indian Polity Notes

Democracy can be direct or indirect/representative democracy. Indirect democracy is further divided into three types – Parliamentary democracy, Presidential democracy and Semi- Presidential democracy. These are nothing but different forms of government.

Parliamentary Form of Government:

Features:

• The executive is part of the legislature. There exists no clear separation of powers between executive and legislature.
• The most significant feature of the parliamentary form of government is, the executive is responsible to the legislature.
• The leadership of the Prime Minister.
• No fixed tenure. The government’s survival depends upon the confidence of the parliament (majority in the parliament).
• Bicameral Legislature. Most parliamentary systems around the world follow a two-house legislature. i.e. the lower house is the house of people and the upper house is the house of states/senate.
• It ensures better coordination between the executive and legislature.

Difference between Parliamentary & Presidential forms of government:

• The difference between Parliamentary & Presidential forms of government is based on the relationship between executive and legislature.
• In the presidential system, there is strict separation of power between the legislature and the executive. 
• In the parliamentary system, it is based on fusion of power. Executive is part of legislature.
• Stability is virtue of the presidential system and parliamentary system is more representative.
• In the presidential system there is single executive. There is no difference between head of state and head of government. The President holds both positions.
• In the parliamentary system there are plural executive(also known as cabinet form of government). The President is nominal head of state while the Prime Minister is head of government.
• In the Parliamentary system, the nature of the executive is accountable to the parliament. 
• In the Parliamentary form, the government is based on the principle of collective responsibility.

The debate around Parliamentary or Presidential form of government

Reasons for adopting parliamentary democracy:

• Familiarity with the working of parliamentary form. It was introduced in India by the Govt of India Act 1919. Indian leaders were accustomed to working with the parliamentary form of government.
• More democratic and representative. It gives opportunities to wide sections to present their views.
• Power is not concentrated in the hands of one person. It is given to the Council of Ministers.
• Since the executive is part of the legislature, the executive is more accountable.
• More representative thus was more suited to India’s diversity.

Why there have been demands for introducing the Presidential system in India:

• India has faced an era of coalition politics. Coalition politics in absence of healthy conditions led to many problems:
  • Unstable government
  • Policy paralysis
  • The defection of MPs/MLAs
  • Corruption
• Since the government in the Presidential form is not based on the confidence of the legislature, it never faces a problem of instability.

Advantages of Parliamentary Form and Presidential form of government

Sr. No.	Parliamentary Form	Presidential System
1	Wider representation	More stable than parliamentary form
2.	Decisions are taken after deliberations in the parliament.	Quick decision making
3	Effective check on executive action	Strict separation of power. No dependency on legislature for stability of the government.
4	Better coordination between executive and legislature	Merit based cabinet selection is possible.
5	Responsible Government. Executive is responsible to the parliament	Single executive. No duality of control. President is head of state as well as head of government.

Disadvantages of Parliamentary and Presidential form of government:

Parliamentary System	Presidential System
Instability. Mostly due to coalition compulsions	Rigid government
Council of ministers have to be chosen from elected MPs. Domain experts are not selected as ministers.	Concentration of power in hands of the President, which might turn into dictatorship.
Policy paralysis due to coalition.	Less responsible Government
No separation of powers among executive and legislature.	In case of conflict between legislature and executive, deadlock arises.
Failure to take prompt decisions.	Favouritism by President.
Influence of party politics in policy formation

Conclusion

Every system whether Parliamentary or Presidential has its own pros and cons. Reasons which were in mind of the constituent assembly at the time of formation of government are still relevant. Institutions will not make difference until and unless political culture changes.

As suggested by Dr B R Ambedkar, “the constitution will work or not depends upon persons holding these positions”.

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