The Parliamentary Vote
Parliamentary vote refers to the voting system used in parliamentary democracy. The majority of countries worldwide that are governed by a democratically elected government use the parliamentary form of democracy. Parliamentary systems have a legislature (Parliament) that is made up of representatives that are elected through a plurality electoral system in each constituency. The party that receives the most votes in a particular election wins a majority of seats. This type of electoral system is also referred to as first past the post.
Lawmaking is a key function of Parliamentary democracy. The legislative body votes for laws which are then ratified by the head of state. Typically, the head of state has a veto power over legislation but it is usually overridden by a simple majority vote in Parliament.
A parliamentary government is led by the Prime Minister who is selected either by a majority of voters in the legislative branch or by members of parliament from a ruling coalition. In addition, some ceremonial executive functions are carried out by a hereditary monarch in a constitutional monarchy or by an elected president or chancellor in a republic.
In a parliamentary system, the roles of the legislative and executive branches are blurred or merged. In contrast, a presidential system has separate branches of the government that check each other’s powers, which often leads to paralyzing political gridlocks. Many parliamentary systems have a special constitutional court that has the right to conduct judicial review and declare a law unconstitutional if it violates the supreme law of the land, or constitution.
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