Political Institutions

Presentation Outline 1) Presidential Systems 2) Parliamentary Systems 3) Mixed Systems 4) Authoritarian Systems 5) Party Systems 6) Electoral Systems 7) Legal Systems Democracies

1) Presidential Systems Power is evenly divided between three branches (executive, legislative, and judicial) There are separate elections for the legislative and executive branches The President is both head of the government and head of the state and is directly accountable to the citizens who voted for him/her

Checks and Balances Presidents can veto laws passed by the legislative branch The legislative branch can overturn these vetoes and even impeach or remove a president with a 66% majority vote

States which use presidential systems United States MexicoNigeria Brazil ArgentinaPhilippines

2) Parliamentary Systems There are three branches (executive, legislative, and judicial) However, the executive and legislative branches are fused together Unlike presidential systems, there is only one election for the legislative branch The executive branch is chosen by the legislative branch

Executive A Fused System Legislative Prime Minister Monarch Civil Service Cabinet Members of Parliament

The Prime Minister is only the head of government The Monarch is the head of state The Prime Minister is NOT directly accountable to the citizens Rather, the Prime Minister is accountable to Parliament which has the power the defeat his/her government with a vote of confidence

States which use parliamentary systems: The ones colored orange have a president as figurehead and head of state. The ones colored red have a monarch as figurehead and head of state.

3) Mixed Systems Semi-presidential or mixed presidential- parliamentary systems have a president and a prime minister The president is more powerful and appoints the prime minister in this system The president is the head of state and is considered the chief of government The prime minister is only the head of the parliament The president is directly elected by citizens

States which use mixed systems RussiaSouth Korea France

4) Authoritarian systems Authoritarian systems may have president, chairman, or general Elections are NOT competitive and the head of state and head of government is NOT accountable to his/her citizens Normally only one party is permitted This includes: communist, fascist, and military dictatorships; theocracies and absolute monarchies

States which currently use authoritarian systems ChinaNorth Korea Vietnam Saudi Arabia

5) Party Systems Democratic states have either two party or multi-party systems States which use proportional representation tend to have more political parties Parties are generally organized and established around a common political ideology

Political Spectrum Left Right Traditional spectrum

A more accurate way to understand political ideology

U.K. Parties

6)Electoral Systems Democratic systems elect leaders and representatives using either a single-member- district (SMD) system or a proportional representation (PR) system Some states such as Mexico use both

Single Member District (SMD) Candidates must be elected in districts across the state Only the candidate with the most votes (plurality) wins the district and goes to the national parliament Candidates finishing in second or third place do not go to parliament CandidatesParty% Vote Libby DaviesNew Democratic Party 36 (winner) Terry CollinsLiberal Party28 Isabel ValdezGreen Party20 Susan ChongConservative16 Vancouver-East District in Canada

Less parties tend to be elected to parliament The largest party tends to have an exaggerated victory Majority governments are more common PartyPopular Vote %Seats won in the Commons % of seats held in the Commons Conservatives Labour Liberal Democrats * Based on a 650 seat House of Commons 326 seats needed to form a majority government 2010 UK Election Results

Proportional Representation (PR) Voters normally choose political parties rather than candidates Seats are determined proportionally A party which receives 25% of the vote will get 25% of the seats in parliament Parties determine which candidates will fill the seats in parliament Results in many more parties elected to parliament

2011 Canadian Election Results

7) Legal systems Most states use civil code legal systems (China, Iran, Mexico, Russia) where all laws are written down In the U.K. and other former British colonies common law is used where laws are based on precedents or previous decisions of judges

Judicial Review Many democratic states have judicial review Judicial review gives the supreme court the power to overturn decisions made by the president or legislature which are unconstitutional Judicial review is seen as another way to ensure that leaders do not abuse their political power

The United States Russia Nigeria Mexico States with the powers of judicial review: States without the powers of judicial review: The U.K. China Iran