FORMS OF GOVERNMENT

Parliamentary system of Government

The essential characteristics of a parliamentary system of government  are that under such a system:

(i) the head of the state is merely a constitutional head.

(ii) the Council of Minsters, vested with real and effective powers, is made answerable to the Legislature.

(iii) The Council of Ministers, which is the real Executive, consists of members of the Legislature belonging to the partly in power having support of the  majority in the Legislature. The council of ministers is a part of Legislature and is responsible to it.

(vi) The Prime minister, who is the head of the Council of Ministers occupies a dominant position, having absolute discretion in appointing and dismissing the Ministers and allocating the Government business among them. A minister, in the Council of Ministers, therefore, holds his portfolio during he pleasure of the Prime Minster.

(v) Since the council of ministers is answerable to the Legislature, its tenure is dependent on the will of the Legislature. The Ministers are collectively responsible to the Legislature and on the defeat of the government on a policy matter in the Legislature (if the Legislature is a bi-cameral, in the popular House of the Legislature) leads to the resignation of the whole Council of Ministers.

(vi) Since the Ministers are collectively responsible to the Legislature, they stand and fall together. If there is a disagreement among the Ministers, the dissentient Minister or Ministers must either keep silent or resign. It therefore, requires the Ministers to function as  team. 

Presidential System of Government

The chief characteristics of a Presidential system as adopted under the Constitution of the United States of America are:

(i) Under the Presidential system of government, the President, the Chief Executive, is the real Executive Head of the government. He is the de jure and de facto head of the entire administration and not a nominal head as in a Parliamentary system. 

(ii) The President enjoyed full discretion in selecting he members of his Cabinet. The Ministers hold office during the pleasure of the President and are responsible to the President alone for their functioning . They are neither collectively nor individually responsible to the Legislature.

(iii) Under the Presidential system, the President cannot be removed by a vote of no-confidence in Parliament.

(iv) Under such a system, the Legislature cannot dictate to the President.

(v) The President, under such a system, is not responsible as far initiation of legislation. It is the President who frames the policy and proposals for legislation. 

Merits of Presidential System

1. It enables the President to have best outstanding persons of competence and integrity as Ministers. 
2. Since the Ministers are not elected, they are not motivated to adopt cheap populist measures.
3. The Minsters devote their time for development, instead of wasting their time and potential in endless politicking.
4. It ensures discipline among the party members and stops defections or desertions for thirst of power and hunger for office. 

Indian Parliamentary System

Indian adopted Parliamentary system mainly because, the country had grown familiar with this system during the British regime. It had drawn upon the traditions of the traditions of the British Constitutional Law. Secondly, this system ensures harmony between the Executive and the Legislature. Thirdly, it gives more responsibility, daily as well as periodic.

Experience of the last more than fifty years has shown that they system has not worked well. A debate has been going on as to whether India should switch over to Parliamentary system. Many reasons have been attributed to the failure of this system. The multiplicity of political parties; evil of defections; lack of cohesiveness and leadership in national parties; illiteracy of voters; large growth of regional parties espousing the cause of local issues rather than national issues criminalisation of politics, are some of these.

Many political and legal thinkers of the country have expressed their view for the adoption of Presidential system. But, if India decides for such a change, it will have to evolve a system specially tailored to suit our own requirement. It must be inconformity with the philosophy of freedom and liberalism underlying our constitution and should preserve all fundamental rights. It is, however, correct to sya that a constituion having any kind of system of government,is a mere scrap of paper unless the people who perate the government machinery are competent, sincere, hones and well-meaning. What is, therefore, needed is that instead of dissipating our energies in new experimentation, we should find and plug its loopholes, if any, root our corruption and prevent the degradation of our political life. 

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DEFINATION OF CONSTITUTION

What is Constitution of India

Whenever any society decides to organise itself politically, it is faced with a number of questions. What system of government it would have ? Whether it would be a free or a limited society? What would be its principal organs or institutions? How those organs be constituted? What would be the functions and powers of those organs? Would the society secure to its members basic or fundamental rights? In what form and shape these rights be secured? How much stability it would provide to its laws? Many more questions are to be answers to all such questions, which it has 'Constitution' of society contains the answers to all such questions, which it has for itself.

A Constitution is the vehicle of a Nations's progress. It is a legal and social document. A Constitution may be briefly defined as " a document having a special legal sanctity which sets out he framework and the principal functions f the organs of the Government of a State and declares the principles governing the operation of those organs" It is the basic or fundamental document of a society or a country and contains the basic, the fundamental, the first law of the country. All the laws in this country are enacted under this document and withing this document which is known as the Constitution of the country. 

Traditionally there are three main organs of the government  of a country-

(1) Legislature, where function is to make laws, amend them or repeal them;

(2) Executive, which implements, executes or administers laws; and 

(3) Judiciary, whose function is to interpret and enforce laws and to administer justice.

While these three organs are the principal organs of the government of the country, its Constitution may also provide for the creation of other organs or institutions which it may consider as significant and fit for inclusion in the constitution. For example, the constitution of India provides for the setting up of Finance Commission for the settlement of the distribution of revenue between the centre and the states as a whole and between the states inter se.

Classification of Constitutions

Constitution may be written or unwritten-

A written constitution is one which is written down in the form of a document.

It is the formal, a single source of all constitutional law off the country. As a consequence, it lays down a limited or a controlled government, in the sense that every organ of the government must act in accordance with the constitution and withing the limitations prescribed  by it. The courts are regarded as the final interpreters as well as the guardian of the constitution.

A constitution is called unwritten if it is not embodied in one comprehensive document. It is inter spread in a number of sources. For example, the constitution of Great Britain. It is found in several statutes, in Court's decisions, in common Law principles and in Conventions and usages. There is no single document in England, which can form the starting point of a student's instruction in the Constitutional Law of that country. It is so said that England has no written Constitution,. An important consequence of the absence of a written constitution is that the Legislature, the Parliament, enjoys the sovereignty to make or unmake any law.

Constitution may be Unitary or Federal

A constitution is known as unitary if it sets up one central government in which all powers of government are concentrated. The unit governments, under such powers which may be delegated by the central government to them.

A constitution is federal if it provides for the division of powers between the central and unit governments. The unit governments are not subordinated to the central government but are coordinates with the central government. All kinds of relations, legislative, administrative, financial, arise between the central government and the unit governments. 

Constitution may be Flexible or Rigid

A constitution is known as flexible if it provides a simple procedure for its amendment as is prescribed for making laws. A bill for its amendment, introduced in any House or Legislature and having been passed in each House by the simple majority of members present and voting and on receiving the assent of the President or the Governor, as the case may be,has the effect of amending the Constitution. A rigid Constitution is one which requires a special, complex and more technical procedure for its amendment. For instance, Indian Constitution provides that a bill for the amendment of the Constitution would be presented to the President only when it is passed in each House of Union Parliament by the Majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting. 

Constitutional Law

"Constitutional Law" may be defined as "the rules whihc regulate the structure of the organs of the government of a state and their relationship to each other and determine their principal functions". These rules consist of both 'legal' as well as non-legal rules. The former rules are enforceable by the Courts whole the latter rules are not so enforceable though accepted as binding by all who are concerned in government. It is the basic law relating to the government of the country. 

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