Advantages And Disadvantages Of Semi-Presidentialism

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Given recent geopolitical history and the circumstances under which you have decided to form your government, I believe that there are 4 plausible democratic systems of government that you can adopt: Westminster-style parliamentary governance with plurality elections, parliamentary governance with proportional representation, presidential government (i.e. separation of powers), or semi-presidentialism. These forms of governance, although quite different, all aim to provide stability and democratic rule; in this sense, you cannot choose incorrectly. However, what you will need to consider is that in choosing a system you are choosing a specific relationship between the Executive and Legislative that will dictate how your government operates. …show more content…
Depending on who is the president and who is the prime minister, there are three iterations that can occur: presidency with a figure head, presidentially dominated system, and true dualism. The true advantage to Semi-Presidentialism is this true dualism: when the president and prime minister carry out executive functions parallel to each other. However, this works only if the two leaders are politically aligned. If we find that the PM and president are of opposing political views, the system of governance is thrust into what the French term “Cohabitación.” We find this to be a period when the two leaders are forced to work with each other, but this is difficult to do. What ultimately ends up happening is that the Executive duties are split between the two and they lead according to their political views. This only serves to split the Executive and weaken it as a governing entity. While we might think “Cohabitación” is similar to the split between the Executive and Legislative in Presidentialism (and would therefore question why it’s a disadvantage) we must recognize that in Semi-Presidentialism the prime minister and president are not separated so their opposition is detrimental, especially if the roles they take on are not defined by a

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