Republic of the Philippines

Cebu Normal University

College of Teacher Education
Osmeña Boulevard, Cebu City Philippines 6000

ABAIGAIL M. LAWAS
MAED- SOCIAL STUDIES
COMPARATIVE POLITICAL SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES

REACTION PAPER #1

The Perils of Presidentialism

The article “The Perils of Presidentialism” by a political scientist Juan J. Linz

talks about which constitutional form of government best serves the growing
number of democratic nations. The author compares Presidentialism as
potentially dangerous and sites fixed terms, the zero-sum game and legitimacy
issues to support his theory. On the other hand, the parliamentary system is the
superior form of democratic government because Prime Minister cannot appeal
to the people without going through the Parliament creating a more cohesive
form of government. By contrast, a President is elected directly by the people and
often presidential elections are often troublesome creating bad blood between
parties.

As I read the article I have discovered a lot of differences between

Parliamentary and Presidentialism. Parliamentary government is a democratic
form of government in which the political party that wins the most seats in the
legislature or parliament during the federal election forms the government. This
majority party chooses a leader to be the Prime Minister or Chancellor, and other
high-ranking members of the party make up the cabinet. The minority party forms
the opposition, and its job is to challenge the majority party. If no party is able to
win a majority in the election, a coalition government will be formed with a few
political parties cooperating together. It's called 'parliamentary government'
because all of the power is vested in the parliament. In a presidential system like
the United States, the executive branch is separate, and the president is popularly
elected by the citizens of the nation. In a parliamentary system, the head of the
government is chosen from the parliament, and is often one of the most senior
members or ministers in parliament, which is where we get the term 'Prime
Minister.' Often in a parliamentary system, the country will have a Head of State,
who is a ceremonial figure like the Queen, but does not engage in legislating or
politics. The author argue that Presidentialism should be blamed for repeated
“failures” of democracy in the countries of Latin America and the Iberian
Peninsula. Presidentialism has its two main characteristics: First is the coexistence of a
“dual democratic legitimacy”, second is the “time factor” (election for a fixed term).
Dual legitimacy automatically arises in presidential systems since particularly in a state of

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crisis both, the president as well as the legislature can claim to speak in the name of the
people and fixed term elections mean that in a presidential system, the president is
usually elected for a period of time that cannot be (easily) modified. Both characteristics,
lead as the term “rigidity” of the presidential system. According to the author, the
problem with this rigidity of presidentialism, , is that rather than providing stability, it
creates a “structural problem” which can lead to “conflict situations and stalemates” .
On the contrary, in parliamentary system, a new head of government can usually
be elected by a majority of parliament at any time throughout the term. Also in a
parliamentary system it is the parliament that has the legitimacy to remedy the situation
by electing a new (head of) government or by calling for new elections, in a presidential
system, these situations are likely to be “solved” by populist presidents governing by
decree or the army taking over.

In my own perspective, I would prefer Presidentialism despite of its perils. I

believe that in Presidentialism through its dual legitimacy design is more capable
to check this thread than a parliamentary system. While in a presidential system
the head of government’s campaign and actions can focus on his capabilities
manage and govern the polity rather than to represent a certain fraction of the
electorate, the separation of powers character of presidentialism in turn frees the
members of the (majority party) of the legislature of having to maintain the
government. The strong separation of powers between branches of government.
In a parliamentary system, the legislature elects the prime minister from
parliament, which is able to remove the prime minister whenever the majority
chooses, especially since he does not have a fixed term in office. This ability is
inexistent in a presidential democracy. In most cases, the prime minister continues
to hold a seat in the legislature; therefore, the executive and legislative branches
do not sufficiently check each other. This concentration of unchecked power can
result in corruption and abuse of power. The prime minister’s cabinet members
come from the legislature too, contrasting with presidential cabinets which are
comprised of professionals in their respective fields, rather than professional
politicians.