Federal vs. Unitary Government

l Why centralize?

– Promote fundamental and general interests

– To assure adherence to common standards

l Why decentralize?

– Efficiency

– Convenience

– Idea of home rule

– Participation in government

l What are the main methods of shifting power away from central government?

– Deconcentration

– Decentralization

– Devolution

l What is federalism?

l What is a confederation?

l How is power divided in a federal system

– Exclusive power

– Concurrent power

– Residual power

l Variations of federal systems

– Coming-together vs. holding-together

– Constitutionally symmetrical vs. asymmetrical

l Federal systems and multinational democracies

– US model not appropriate in multinational settings

l What is a unitary system?

l How great is the difference between a unitary and federal system in practice?

l What are the challenges facing local governments in new democracies?

Legislatures

l Structure

– Size

– Number of chambers

– Why is committee structure so important?

l What are the functions of legislatures?

l Legislation

l Representation

l Debate/deliberation

l Oversight

l Recruitment

l Making/breaking governments

l Authorizing expenditures

Parliamentary and Presidential Systems

l What are the key features of presidential government?

– Popular election of president

– Fixed term

– No overlap between executive and legislature

l What are the key features of parliamentary government?

– Government comes from parliament

– No fixed term

– Cabinet government

Comparing Parliamentary and Presidential Systems

	Presidentialism	Parliamentarism
Democratic Legitimacy	Dual democratic legitimacy	Only parliament has demo legitimacy
Rigidity-flexibility	Fixed term	Flexible terms
Winners vs. losers	Winner take all -losers lose all	Loser can lead opposition
Political style	President has independent power	PM’s power depends on party, parliament
Party system	Favors generally weak parties	Favors stronger, disciplined parties
Identifiability & accountability	Voter’s choices are clear	Choices are less clear to voter

l What are the advantages/disadvantages of each system?

l If you had to recommend either a presidential or a parliamentary system for a new democracy, which would you select and why?

l What is a semi-presidential system?

l Why has the French model proved more exportable than the US pure presidential system or the British pure parliamentary system?