presidentialism

The Presidentialism is a system of government created in the United States in 1787 to be used as a model in Democratic Republics.

In it, each of the branches (Executive, Legislative and Judiciary) must supervise and balance the others, without any preponderance of any of them over the others. All this, according to Montesquieu's principle of separation of powers (1689 -1755).

Key Features

The main characteristic of the presidential political system is the separation between the Legislative, Judiciary and Executive powers, which maintain an effective functional interdependence for the reciprocal control of the powers, despite the evident freedom that they enjoy among themselves.

In Presidentialism, representatives are elected by the people through direct voting (Brazil) or by indirect representation of the electoral colleges (United States) to fulfill mandates with a period predetermined by the Constitution.

With regard to the Executive Power, it is materialized in the figure of the President of the Republic, who is, at the same time, Head of Government and Head of State, that is, a legal entity governed by external public law (to represent his country in international affairs). ) and domestic public law (maximum administrative authority).

In short, the President's functions are:to lead national political life, head the armed forces, submit bills to Congress, choose Ministers of State, who can be freely appointed and dismissed by the executive branch; in addition to signing international treaties.

Despite all his autonomy to execute his government plan, the presidential candidate must still be responsible for public administration and executive decisions, as in the case of accountability.

Representing the Legislative Power, we have the Parliament or National Congress, an assembly of elected representatives with the function of legislating, representing, as well as controlling the Executive Power.

On the other hand, the Judiciary, embodied in the Supreme Court or Supreme Court, is responsible for all judicial matters.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that despite the President's insubordination to Parliament, it is possible to dismiss the Head of State in extreme cases through an impeachment process. However, the opposite cannot occur, that is, the leader of the Republic can never dissolve the Legislative Assembly, or he runs the risk of transforming the Presidential Republic into a Dictatorship.

Presidentialism and Parliamentarism

It is very common to have confusion between Parliamentarianism and Presidentialism, since they are governments based on Democracy. However, they are different forms of government.

In such a way, in Presidentialism the president is the most important figure, while in Parliamentarism, the Head of Government is called Prime Minister, however the powers are in charge of Parliamentarians (deputies).

Another striking difference is that in Parliamentarianism, the government leader receives an investiture to govern and can be easily replaced in moments of crisis, which, in turn, does not occur in Presidentialism, as the president receives a constitutional mandate and cannot be removed. with ease.

Furthermore, Parliamentarianism is compatible with any democratic system and Presidentialism is seen only in democratic republics.

Presidential Countries

Below are some presidential countries:

• Argentina;
• Brazil;
• Chile;
• United States;
• Mexico.

Presidentialism in Brazil

In Brazil, Presidentialism was instituted by the republican constitution of 1891, being composed of the National Congress, Legislative Assemblies, District Chamber and City Councils.

Among the forms of government instituted in the country, we have the period of the Monarchy (1882-1889), where the King was the most important figure. Note that Brazil has already experienced a period of Parliamentary Presidentialism between September 7, 1961 and January 24, 1963, during the presidency of João Goulart.

See further :

• Monarchy
• Three Powers