Presidential Government
The presidential system of government tends to isolate the chief executive from the legislature and that the chief executive, if he chooses may in turn isolate himself from the people. Unlike the parliamentary system, presidential government is characterized by very few institutional channels for communication between the legislative and the executive branches.
Much of the story of the constitutional development of presidential system hinges on the informal procedures that are established by successive administrations for bridging the communication gaps between the several branches of the government: private meetings between the president and the legislative leaders and the building of a network of personal loyalties between legislators and the administrators.
Such informal liaisons are all the more important when one political party controls the presidency and another (or a coalition of opposition parties) controls the legislature. Under these circumstances, policy making is very definitely a function of political compromise and bargaining and the formal specifications of the constitution may have little to do with the actual conduct of politics.
Much of the story of the constitutional development of presidential system hinges on the informal procedures that are established by successive administrations for bridging the communication gaps between the several branches of the government: private meetings between the president and the legislative leaders and the building of a network of personal loyalties between legislators and the administrators.
Such informal liaisons are all the more important when one political party controls the presidency and another (or a coalition of opposition parties) controls the legislature. Under these circumstances, policy making is very definitely a function of political compromise and bargaining and the formal specifications of the constitution may have little to do with the actual conduct of politics.
