Comparison of President and Parliamentary Governments

On the Comparison of Presidential and Parliamentary Governments ELIJAH BEN-ZION KAMINSKY - Professor Emeritus of Political Science - Arizona State University Comparison of the French and American presidencies has been made more difficult than it needs to be by confusion over the essential differences between presidential and parliamentary government. Classic textbook definitions, such as the aphorism that in parliamentary government the executive must be supported by a parliamentary majority while presidents are chosen through national …

…happened in the French presidency to provide abundant material for comparison with the American chief executive. The last thing needed for such comparison is semi-presidential confusion. This is not to say that France or other countries should adopt presidential government. That's their business. As students of politics, we need to be able to recognize authentic presidential government when and if it should occur, as well as compare the parliamentary presidencies with our own presidential regime.