Leaders and Parties in Parliamentary Government
The prime minister is not only the head of the government but he or she is also the leader of the party and consequently leader of the parliamentary majority. His cabinet ministers are likely to have substantial experience in party politics and parliamentary debates and they too are recognized party leaders.
Indeed, they may spend an important part of their time maneuvering against one another for positions of successor to the top party leader. But the close relationship between members of the party, parliament and the executive government in the parliamentary system helps to improve the chances of government action in an age when government inaction may be tantamount to catastrophe or less dramatically widespread economic distress among the population.
It is also important to note the relative openness of political conflicts in the parliamentary system. The head of the government and his ministers would sit in the legislature and must frequently undergo intensive questioning by the parliamentary opposition.
Most government leaders in the parliamentary system are able to articulate their points of view and defend their positions with convictions and intelligence. And the more notable chief executives of parliamentary history, instead of avoiding open political confrontation seem to have thrived on it.
The contrast with the presidential system of government is all the more vivid when a president of the United States (for example) prefers uncontested communication with citizens through public media to undergoing the rigors of an open and unrestricted press conference.
Even when it is operative, however the press conference in the presidential system is no substitute for the institutionalized challenge to an existing government and its policies that is represented by an opposition party in parliament.
Indeed, they may spend an important part of their time maneuvering against one another for positions of successor to the top party leader. But the close relationship between members of the party, parliament and the executive government in the parliamentary system helps to improve the chances of government action in an age when government inaction may be tantamount to catastrophe or less dramatically widespread economic distress among the population.
It is also important to note the relative openness of political conflicts in the parliamentary system. The head of the government and his ministers would sit in the legislature and must frequently undergo intensive questioning by the parliamentary opposition.
Most government leaders in the parliamentary system are able to articulate their points of view and defend their positions with convictions and intelligence. And the more notable chief executives of parliamentary history, instead of avoiding open political confrontation seem to have thrived on it.
The contrast with the presidential system of government is all the more vivid when a president of the United States (for example) prefers uncontested communication with citizens through public media to undergoing the rigors of an open and unrestricted press conference.
Even when it is operative, however the press conference in the presidential system is no substitute for the institutionalized challenge to an existing government and its policies that is represented by an opposition party in parliament.
