“It has been said that one of the greatest political problems of the time is to reconcile representative institutions with good government.” With this problem in mind, the cabinet form of government, which is nearly synonymous with the parliamentary form of government, has been established to lessen the gap between representative institutions and good government or, if possible, make them one in the same through its unification of powers. Past forms of representative government have become extinct or severely troubled because of numerous weaknesses. The first problem of representative government that the cabinet system seeks to reconcile is the lack of cooperation between executive powers and legislative powers. This can happen when different parties control each branch of the government. This paralysis of government is seen as a danger to the cabinet system. Lack of cooperation can also occur because people of a country look to the executive as the leader, but he can often not have any power as a result of lack of cooperation from the legislative powers. Overall, there is a lingering inclination in representative government for the powers to become dissonant, thus rendering government unable to take any action. The cabinet system sees this gridlock as an entirely avoidable evil. In representative government, parties are often found. Perhaps the most prevalent danger in a party system is a party split, which paralyzes government just as much as a divergence of executive, legislative, and judicial powers in government. Another danger seen by the cabinet system is making the power of governance too removed from the people. The cabinet system sees taking the powers such as referendum from the citizenry as one of... ... middle of paper ... ...New York: Europa Publications, 2002), s.v. “Parliamentary Government.” Alice Sturgeis, The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, 3rd ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 1993), 4-5. Sir Ivor Jennings, Cabinet Government (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951), 17-19. Ibid. Dormin J. Ettrude, The Reference Shelf: Cabinet Form of Government (New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1923), 21. Sir Ivor Jennings, Cabinet Government (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951), 1. Julia E. Johnsen, Cabinet Form of Government (New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1926), 55. Sir Ivor Jennings, Cabinet Government (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951), 214-5. Ibid., 455-6. Ibid., 29-31 Ibid., 420. Vernon Bogdanor, ed., The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Institutions (New York: Basil Blackwell Inc., 1987), s.v. “Cabinet / Cabinet Government.”
The Second Treatise on Civil Government. Trans. William Popple. N.p., a.k.a . a. 1684.
3. Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, Williams, eds., America Past and Present Volume II: since 1865 sixth edition (New York: Longman 2002).
Debating which constitutional form of government best serves democratic nations is discussed by political scientist Juan Linz in his essay “The Perils of Presidentialism”. Linz compares parliamentary systems with presidential systems as they govern democracies. As the title of Linz’s essay implies, he sees Presidentialism as potentially dangerous. Linz points out the flaws as presidentialism as he sees them and sites rigidity of fixed terms, the zero-sum game and political legitimacy coupled with lack of incentive to form alliances as issues to support his theory that the parliamentary system is superior to presidentialism.
Following the failure of the Articles of Confederation, a debate arose discussing how a centralized government ought to be organized. The prevailing opinion ultimately belonged to the Federalists, whose philosophy was famously outlined in The Federalist Papers. Recognizing that in a free nation, man would naturally divide himself into factions, they chose not to remedy this problem by stopping it at its source; instead, they would limit its effects by placing strict structural safeguards within the government's framework. The Federalists defined a facti...
Wilson, James Q., John J. DiIulio, Jr., and with Meena Bose. American Government: Institutions & Policies. 12th ed. Boston, MA.: Wadsworth Publishing, 2011.
Modern Bureaucracy in the United States serves to administer, gather information, conduct investigations, regulate, and license. Once set up, a bureaucracy is inherently conservative. The reason the bureaucracy was initiated may not continue to exist as a need in the future. The need or reason may change with a change in the times and the culture needs. A bureaucracy tends to make decisions that protect it and further it’s own existence, possibly apart from the wishes of the populace. It may not consistently reflect what might be optimal in terms of the needs and wants of the people. Local governments employ most of the United States civil servants. The 14 cabinet departments in the U.S. are run day-to-day by career civil servants, which have a great deal of discretionary authority.
Throughout the course of American History, the U.S. government has mostly shown to be a reliable and stable pillar during major events happening domestically and internationally. It has displayed leadership, tenacity, and perseverance when making important legislation that would change the lives of all citizens in the United States. However, during the latter half of the 20th century, the government has shown to be susceptible to partisanship. This has been displayed when it is presented with a dilemma regarding decision making; when a political group refuses to negotiate on an issue, the whole U.S. government shuts down. Based on the recent developments in politics, the legislative design of the federal government has been shown to be seriously flawed; only by changing its structure can we guard against the partisanship which prevents our representatives and senators from serving the will of the citizens of the United States through compromise.
Contrary to popular belief, a minority government does not necessarily hinder a governing party. When practiced correctly, a minority government can be an improvement on single-party majority. Instead of one party controlling government, minority governments allow for multi-party governance, which promotes compromise between political parties. On the whole, minority government decreases stability and requires continuous cooperation with opposition parties. Although faced with many challenges, there are several beneficial aspects to a minority government. This paper will argue that a minority government does not hinder a governing party, and in fact can be beneficial in numerous ways. Most importantly a minority government allows the Prime Minister to maintain a range of important resources which allow for an effective government, minority governments deliver a more open and inclusive decision making process, and a minority government guarantees the confidence of the House for a certain amount of time.
The manipulation of the over-powering, federal government has sent our country on the wrong path and has set our country up to fail unintentionally. The national government is shutting down because of the executive branch’s failure to discuss issues and policies with the opposing party, which holds a duly designated majority of one house of Congress. Instead, the branch refers to opponents as “hostage takers’ and hope to succ...
Discussions of which constitutional form of government best serves the growing number of democratic nation’s are being debated around the world. In the essay “The Perils of Presidentialism”, political scientist, Juan Linz compares the parliamentary with presidential systems as they govern democracies. As the title of Linz’s essay implies, he sees Presidentialism as potentially dangerous and sites fixed terms, the zero-sum game and legitimacy issues to support his theory. According to Linz, 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
The other type of political system being analyzed is a parliamentary system. A parliamentary system has its executive branch in ...
The fundamental power of the prime minister is the “power of patronage”, meaning the capability to appoint and sack, encourage and relegate all ministers in the government. This reinforces the power of the prime minister in two approaches: the prime minister can ensure the appointment and promotion of loyal supporters and “especially of politicians who share his or her political or ideological preference”. This suggests that the rivals, critics or political opponents can be circumscribed from the government and put into lower positions. Also as the prime minister regulators their governmental careers, it ensures that the ministers and back benches cooperate together in order to remain loyal and supportive. As they serve under the prime ministers will, this gives the prime ministe...
Frank J. Goodnow’s “Politics and Administration,” infers that politics and administration cannot be divided and are in need of each other to function. However, politics are superior to administration. Goodnow’s further analyzes and identifies three forms of authorities that enforce and implements states will. The first responsibility of authority is to respect the right of the people when conflicts ascend between either private or public matters. The second is judicial authorities also referred to as executive authorities that ensure the needs and policies of the state are executed. The third authority also referred to as “administrative authorities,” focuses on the mechanical, scientific and business authorities pertaining to the government.
Taylor, H. (1910). The constitutional crisis in Great Britain: Bicameral system should be retained with House of Lords reorganized on an elective basis. Concord, N.H: Rumford Press. 6th edition
In a Parliamentary system there is a power concentration instead of division of powers. The Legislature is the greatest power, the government and the executive branch is dependent on Parliament. In contrast to Presidential systems, parliamentary and semi-presidential democracies have Legislative responsibility. Legi...