In defining parliamentary and presidential systems of government, dictionary explanations may confuse rather than clarify, despite Mr. Webster’s all around good intentions. According to the dictionary, a parliamentary government is one in which a prime minister or premier holds office as long as he or she commands a majority in the parliament, which is the primary legislative body concerned with public affairs. The presidential system refers to the chief executive of a government, which has no prime minister.

One major difference between a parliamentary system and a presidential form of government concerns the elections process. In a presidential government, the president and members of Congress are chosen in separate elections while in a parliamentary process, one size fits all, so to speak. Also in a parliamentary system the parliament can vote a governing body out of office, while the United States Congress, except in extreme cases of impeachment, cannot. Indirectly, this signifies a weak position for the chief executive in a presidential system of government. The president is unable to dissolve government and order a new election, which a British Prime Minister is well within his or her rights to do.

Parliamentary government is always democratic although a presidential system is never parliamentary. Within the parliamentary system, both the legislature and the chief executive must be in agreement on policy, and if they aren’t, they must work at it until they are. A British prime minister is always a member of parliament but in a presidential system, the chief executive of a presidency as well as all members of the executive branch of government, except the vice president, cannot be members of Congress.

The differences between a parliamentary system of government and presidential form of government may be a bit clearer now, but they are still terms that are often misused. In a parliamentary system, the government may introduce legislation, but within a presidential system the chief executive cannot, although he is permitted to veto legislation. There is always, however, within a presidential system, a clear division between the legislative body and the government.

The decision as to whether the parliamentary or the presidential system of government is better for the people is ultimately a matter of opinion, and possibly address as well.