Executives and legislatures

Monarchical systems

Although the institution of monarchy is as old as recorded history, since the beginning of the modern era many monarchies have been replaced with republics. Of the monarchies that remain—such as those in the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, the Scandinavian countries, and the Low Countries—many are best described as “constitutional monarchies”: the monarchs are primarily titular heads of state and do not in fact possess important powers of government. Most of the executive powers are in the hands of ministers—headed by a prime minister—who are politically responsible to the parliament and not to the monarch. The executive powers of government in the United Kingdom, for example, are exercised by ministers who hold their offices by virtue of the fact that they command the support of a majority in the popularly elected House of Commons. A constitutional monarch can act only on the advice of the ministers. The position of the monarchs in Scandinavia and the Low Countries is similar to that of the monarch in Britain: they reign but do not rule. In countries where no political party has a majority of its own in the parliament, the monarch may exercise some discretion in deciding whom to invite to form a government. Even where they have this discretion, however, monarchs must first consult with the various party leaders, a requirement that severely limits their freedom of action. In countries with stable two-party systems, all the monarch can do is offer the prime ministership to the leader of the majority party. Since 1975 the Swedish king has not even possessed this formal power; it is the president of the legislative assembly who chooses and appoints the prime minister. A constitutional monarch is the head of the state, not of the government. Standing above the political controversies of the moment, the sovereign is an object of national pride and loyalty and a symbol of the nation’s unity and its continuity with the past.

In a few monarchies, however—for example, those of Jordan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia—the king exercises real powers of government. The ministers are chosen by and are responsible only to the king rather than to an elective parliamentary body. Hereditary rulers with this degree of personal power were quite common in the 18th century but are rare today. Although Jordan and Morocco have augmented the powers of their elected parliaments, the monarchs retain ultimate authority in those countries. In Thailand the constitution promulgated in 1932 greatly reduced the powers of the monarch, relegating him to a role similar to that of the European monarchs. Although he retained considerable formal powers, he could exercise them only upon the advice of elected leaders. His most important function was to serve as a living symbol of the country and as a focus of national unity.

Presidential systems

By definition, presidential systems must possess three basic features. First, the president originates from outside the legislative authority. In most countries such presidents are elected directly by the citizens, though separation of origin can also be ensured through an electoral college (as in the United States—see electoral college—or in Argentina before constitutional reforms were adopted in the mid-1990s), provided that legislators cannot also serve as electors. Second, the president serves simultaneously as head of government and head of state; he is empowered to select cabinet ministers, who are responsible to him and not to the legislative majority. And third, the president has some constitutionally guaranteed legislative authority.

The U.S. system is based on a strict concept of separation of powers: the executive, legislative, and judicial powers of government are vested by the Constitution in three separate branches. The president is neither selected by nor a member of the Congress. He is elected indirectly by the public through an electoral college for a fixed term of four years, and he holds office no matter how his legislative program fares in Congress and whether or not his political party controls either or both houses of Congress. (A president may be removed from office only for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”; removal requires impeachment by a majority of the House of Representatives followed by conviction by two-thirds of the Senate.) The members of the cabinet, as noted above, are chosen by the president and are politically responsible to him (though they must be confirmed by the Senate). The Constitution prohibits cabinet officials from serving simultaneously in Congress. Moreover, the president shares legislative powers with Congress: all bills passed by Congress are signed into law or vetoed by the president, though Congress may override a presidential veto by a two-thirds vote in each chamber. (For further discussion, see presidency of the United States of America.)

Presidential systems may differ in important respects from the U.S. model. In terms of constitutional provisions, the most important variation is in the powers that the constitution delegates to the president. In contrast to the requirement that Congress need a supermajority to override a presidential veto in the United States, for example, in some countries (e.g., Brazil and Colombia), a presidential veto may be overridden by a simple majority. Many presidential constitutions (e.g., those in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Russia) explicitly give the president the authority to introduce new laws by decree, thereby bypassing the legislature, though typically the legislature can rescind such laws after the fact.

Some countries with presidential systems require that cabinet appointments be approved by the legislature. Thus, in the United States the president’s cabinet appointments must be confirmed by a majority vote of the Senate. In the Philippines appointments of cabinet ministers must be approved by a Commission on Appointments, which consists of members of both houses of the legislature. Once appointed, however, cabinet secretaries or ministers cannot be removed by the legislature, except by impeachment.