Advantages and disadvantages of mixed-presidential systems

Advantages and disadvantages of mixed-presidential systems The term semi- presidentialism was developed by Duverger in 1970 to describe the mixed constitutional system that incorporates aspects of presidentialism and parliamentarianism. The three main characteristics of a semi – presidential systems are that â€Å"a popularly elected fixed-term president exists alongside a prime minister and cabinet who are responsible to parliament.† Semi – presidentialism is unique in that it has a â€Å"a twin-headed executive,† unlike presidentialism and parliamentarianism.This â€Å"bipolar executive,† is a core criterion of a semi – presidential system which has many hybrid constitutional forms and is therefore a highly contested concept.It is possible to have a semi-presidentialist system that is dominated by the president, or by the prime minister or what is known as ‘cohabitation’ when two opposing parties have leaders in the double executive. This was the case in France in 1988 when Mitterand (left) was elected president and Chirac (right) was appointed prime minister. Although there are several forms of semi – presidentialism for the purposes of analysis, this essay will maintain the premise that semi – presidential system is one where there is a directly elected president, who appoints a prime minister that is accountable to the parliament because semi – presidentialist systems â€Å"all have presidents who are elected in a direct or direct-like manner and they all have prime ministers and cabinets who are responsible to the legislature.† This essay will discuss the merits and drawbacks of a semi – presidential system, focusing on the French semi – presidential system and comparing it to the Russian model of semi – presidentialism and the America presidential system. An advantage of the French semi – presidential system is that it relies on a chain of mutual dependence. According to the French Constitution of 1958 one of the presidential powers is that they can appoint the prime minister whose role as the head of government is to oversee the everyday running of state affairs such as â€Å"governmental, administrative, and information services.†This means that as the head of state the president needs the cooperation of the prime minister, and the prime minister the cooperation of the president in order for France to achieve an efficient government. Elgie supports this highlighting that â€Å"The nature of the French semi-presidential system is such that the president cannot exercise power without the help of the prime minister.† The French president has the constitutional right to appoint government ministers to the cabinet, however these ministers are chosen from a list that the prime minister has proposed. An effective government therefore is selected by the president and the prime minister. This dependant relationship is mirrored by the prime minister and the National Assembl y. The prime minister â€Å"is closely associated with the work of parliament and with the conduct of legislative elections,† because they are responsible to and accountable the legislature.This chain of mutual dependence is a positive characteristic of a semi – presidential system because it creates a strong and efficient government. France compared to the American presidency, has a system of checks and balances through mutual dependence that is similar to American system. Both France and the United States have a constitutional system that aims to prevent the executive and legislature having too much power. In the United States this is achieved through the separation of powers which â€Å"encourage[s] competition for the share of governing authority.† The fact that both the legislature and executive approve legislation checks and balances political authority and that prevents authoritarian rule forcing compromise. Similarly in France the chain of dependence for ces compromise and prevents one executive from having too much power and becoming autocratic. In France the checks and balances are rooted in the principle that in order to govern efficiently the prime minister and president need mutual support. Mutual reliance creates political stability in the French semi – presidential system which is furthered by the fact that semi – presidentialism prevents authoritarian rule in the dual executive and the legislature.

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Leadership - Essay Example A person’s beliefs, values, character, and ethics play a big role in determining what kind of a leader they will be. Today, we experience both good and bad leadership in different situations. Bad leadership is harmful to the society in many ways, therefore, should be avoided. Good leadership is what the society should adopt, as this is beneficial in many ways. This essay will therefore, address the concept of good leadership, and some of the steps one must follow to ensure good leadership. Knowledge and skills contribute to the leadership process. However, personal attributes such as values, and character, are the ones that make a leader to stand out among all the others. For instance, in order for one to practise good leadership, they must be impartial. This enhances trust and credibility of the leader by the people. These are aspects that are earned by the leader, and do not merely come with the position. However, if a leader acts ethically and professionally, they will be a ble to win trust of the people. Impartiality mainly refers to the treatment of everyone in an equal manner, devoid of favouritism. This improves relationships between the leader and the people, since the people will be sure that their leader does not have hidden outcomes in their position, neither will they question motivation. In this case, a leader must therefore, apply equal standards to all people and perform unbiased evaluation. Good leadership requires strong confidence. A good leader must therefore, be confident in themselves. Confidence includes a leader having an honest understanding of who they are, their skills and knowledge, as well as their capabilities. This is the first step of confidence on the leader’s side. Similarly, the people must have strong confidence in their leader, as this will prove that the leader is effective. The people judge and determine the effectiveness of their leaders. Therefore, if people do not trust their leader or lack confidence in the m, this means the leader is poor. Therefore, a good leader must work toward building their confidence, as well as the confidence of the people they lead. This is because; one must prove to people that they are capable of good leadership. For good leadership, a person must be capable of learning from their mistakes. Normally, it is always hard for people to accept their mistakes and take lessons from them. However, as a leader, one must be ready to accept their mistakes and learn lessons from them. This is an important step in learning, growing, and improving in the leadership position. A good leader must therefore, not blame their mistakes on the people, but admit them, as this is known to accelerate immense progress. If a leader made a few failures in the past, this should not deter them from moving on. They must have the confidence and courage of learning from their failures, and using the failures to produce success. Mistakes and failures are crucial in leadership, as they offer the leader more experience in specific situations. It becomes probable that after making a certain mistake, or failing terribly in a specific situation, a leader might not repeat the same mistakes in the future, and they will not fail if the same situation presents itself in future. Therefore, accepting past mistakes and learning from them, makes a good leader. Good leadership involves putting the needs of others first. This is the virtue of selflessness. True leadership requir

Education Inquiry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Education Inquiry - Essay Example Blalock states that he wrote the book to confront the perennial problems that all social scientists face and it was his desire to ask two questions. Those two questions are, "Why aren't we doing better, and how can we improve" (Blalock, 1984, p 6). In order to answer those two questions, we as social scientists/researchers must understand the background and environment in which we must toil. There are a number of "very tough intellectual challenges stemming from the complexity of the social world we are attempting to study" (Blalock, 1984, p 6). Blalock points out that we need to understand those intellectual challenges and the interplay of our individual intellectual backgrounds, interests and behaviors with those challenges. The answers to these questions are what we consider as we continue the process of research. James M. Black said that "One of the most important features of the training of research scholars is the acquisition of skills required to conduct sound scientific investigations" (Black, 1976, pg 6). We understand that there are a number of pitfalls and bias that w... ntly will encounter as individuals in attempting research projects and that we will need to understand what and who we are in order to be proficient in our jobs and careers.. If we first work at gaining the skills that we need to answer those questions then our projects will be more readily presentable and understood by those we are attempting to influence. One of the understandings that we must address is the characteristics of scientific research. Black says that "sociology has the following characteristics of science; 1. sociology is empirical, 2. sociology is theoretical, 3. sociology is cumulative, 4. sociology is non-ethical" (Black, 1976, p 5). The book goes on to explain that empirical means that it is based on observation and reasoning, theoretical is the attempt to summarize complex observations in abstract, logically related propositions, cumulative shows how sociological theories build upon one another and that by being non-ethical means that sociologists do not ask whether particular social actions are good or bad, they merely seek to explain them. Social Research/ pg 3 The non-ethical statement could be the most important one of the four. As social scientists, a problem that we will almost always (in ourselves) is the urge to judge social actions, and present them as good or bad. That is not our job when conducting a research project. Our job should be conducted along the lines of maintaining the research process with stringent guidelines. As social scientists we must adhere to those guidelines in order for our presentation(s) of the material to be taken seriously. If we advocate the use of the material in certain ways, whatever ways those are, then we are no longer social scientists but could be considered as social advocates.