7) Parliamentary and presidential republic: common and specific features

A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch is led by a president who serves as both head of state and head of government. In such a system, this branch exists separately from the legislature, to which it is not responsible and which it cannot, in normal circumstances, dismiss.

Presidents take more direct personal charge of policy than the cabinet does in a parliamentary system. The majority party and the cabinet are a team in a parliamentary system. But the president is directly elected by the people. Unlike parliamentary cabinets, the presidential cabinet does not contain party notables. The president is also the head of the army and directly responsible for foreign policy.

Presidential systems possess several defining features including the separation of power between the executive and the legislative branches of government, weak party discipline, and a powerful committee system. Presidential systems, first devised in the United States as an alternative to the monarchical system, are characterized by a separation of powers. Not only do the executive and the legislature exist independently of one another, but they are also elected independently of one another.

Presidential Republic is the form of government in which sovereignty is vested in the people and their elected or nominated representative (president). A presidential republic may also be understood to be a state in which all segments of society are enfranchised and the power of the state is limited.

Differences from a parliamentary system [edit]

A number of key theoretical differences exist between a presidential and a parliamentary system:

• In a presidential system, the central principle is that the legislative  and  executive  branches of government are separate. This leads to the separate election of president, who is elected to office for a fixed term, and only removable for gross misdemeanor by impeachment and dismissal. In addition he or she does not need to choose cabinet members commanding the support of the legislature. By contrast, in parliamentarianism, the executive branch is led by a council of ministers, headed by a Prime Minister, who are directly accountable to the legislature and often have their background in the legislature (regardless of whether it is called a "parliament", assembly, a "diet", or a "chamber").

• As with the president's set term of office, the legislature also exists for a set term of office and cannot be dissolved ahead of schedule. By contrast, in parliamentary systems, the prime minister needs to survive a vote of confidence otherwise a new election must be called. The legislature can typically be dissolved at any stage during its life by the head of state, usually on the advice of either Prime Minister alone, by the Prime Minister and cabinet, or by the cabinet.

• In a presidential system, the president usually has special privileges in the enactment of legislation, namely the possession of a power of veto over legislation of bills, in some cases subject to the power of the legislature by weighted majority to override the veto. The legislature and the president are thus expected to serve as checks and balances on each other's powers.

• Presidential system presidents may also be given a great deal of constitutional authority in the exercise of the office of Commander in Chief, a constitutional title given to most presidents. In addition, the presidential power to receive ambassadors as head of state is usually interpreted as giving the president broad powers to conduct foreign policy. Though semi-presidential systems may reduce a president's power over day-to-day government affairs, semi-presidential systems commonly give the president power over foreign policy.