by Thomas E. Foss

Created on: December 17, 2010   Last Updated: December 22, 2010

Two main forms of government have come to dominate the world over the last centuries: the presidential system and the parliamentary system. Both systems contain three branches of government – the executive, the legislative and the judicial – but the relationship between the branches differ depending on the system. In this article, I shall look at the characteristics of the legislative body in presidential and parliamentary systems and discuss the similarities and differences between the two.

The similarities between a congress and a parliament

The legislative bodies of government in a presidential system (like the United States) and a parliamentary system (like most of Europe) are both elected by citizens who holds the right to vote within determined constituencies. The primary tasks of both bodies are also similar: The legislative bodies vote on proposals made by the executive power (including laws), establish national budgets and review the same budgets. In both systems, the legislative branch lacks influence on foreign policy, which is usually the subject of the executive’s prerogatives.

The differences between a congress and a parliament

The primary difference between a congress and a parliament is found in the relationship the two bodies have with the executive body (the government or the president). Whereas a president is elected in separate elections in a presidential democracy, a government in a parliamentary democracy is elected as a bi-product of the election result in the parliament. Depending on the party system and political history, different parties typically compete in blocs and following elections, the bloc that wins the largest percentage of seats in the parliament, gets to form a government.

It is not enough for parties to win the majority of votes in an election, however. The guiding principle for executive governance in parliamentary democracies is the simple rule that governments must always retain support (or at the very least avoid opposition) from a majority of the parliament to remain in power. Whenever a government loses this support, it must leave the governmental duties to another party.

A legislative body in a presidential system has no similar powers. It cannot, as is evident from the fixed periods of the American president, for example, force the replacement of one president with another, unless the president violates some law. This system is in accordance with Montesquieu’s principles: Montesquieu argued that different chambers of government should always be held separate to ensure that one would not influence another. This is commonly referred to as a “checks and balances” system.

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