Presidential vs Parliamentary Democracy

Two Types of Democracy

Most democracies fall into one of two types, parliamentary or

presidential. The primary difference between them is how

each type organizes the three main branches of government:

the legislative branch that makes the laws, the executive
branch that carries out the laws, and the judicial branch

(courts) which interprets the laws.

We are going to work on sorting it all out.

Three Branches of Government

Executive -

Enforce Laws

Legislative -
Make Laws

Judicial -
Test Laws
(Courts)

Match

Match the Branch of Government with the job is does

• Executive Branch

• Legislative Branch

• Judicial Branch

Enforces laws

Creates laws

Interprets laws

• Enforces laws

• Creates laws

• Interprets laws

Dropdown

The​

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enforces laws. This means that this branch makes sure the any law made by the​

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is carried out. The​

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interprets laws. This means that it is responsible for making sure that any law that is created is fair.

Parliamentary Democracy

Voters

Legislative Branch

Parliament

Prime Minister
Chief Executive
Head of Government

ELECT

APPOINTS

Parliamentary Democracy

The Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch are together.

Step 1: Citizens elect members of the Legislative Branch - These people are
known as members of Parliament

Step 2: Members of Parliament meet and decide who from among them would
be the best leader & that person becomes the one who runs their meetings

Step 3: The leader of Parliament becomes known as the Prime Minister and
is responsible for the job of the Executive Branch & being part of the
Legislative branch

Parliamentary Democracy

Legislative Branch = Parliament

Head of Executive Branch = Prime Minister

Although not chosen directly by the people the Prime
Minister was elected for office and then other elected

officials gave him/her more responsibilities.

Presidential Democracy

Voters

Legislative Branch

Executive Branch

President

Chief Executive

Head of Government

ELECT

ELECT

Presidential Democracy

Step 1: Citizens elect members of the Legislative Branch - these
people are know as Members of Congress (United States)

Step 2: Citizens elect a man or woman in a separate election to be
head of the executive branch- President

Step 3: The 2 separate branches keep tabs on one another while
working together to get their jobs done - called checks and balances

Presidential Democracy

Legislative Branch = Congress

The Congress of the United States has 2 branches:
House of Representatives and the Senate

Members of Congress called - Senator or Representative

Head of the Executive branch = President

Checks and Balances = Way to make sure neither branch gets too
powerful

Categorize

Options (12)

Has a separate Legislative and Executive branch

Has a Legislative and Executive branch that are put together

Has checks and balances to keep the branches from abusing power

Does not allow citizens to directly choose the leader

Allows citizens to directly choose their leader

Gives citizens a lot of power through voting

People who live in this system have few rights and freedoms

Typically has a leader known as the President

Typically has a leader known as a Prime Minister

Typically has a leader known as a dictator

Is the style of democracy we have in the United States

Is the style of democracy often found in Europe

Organize these options into the right categories

Presidential

Parliamentary

Both

Neither

After WWII we wanted to see the other countries of the world using this style of government. We felt that we could trust and work with countries that agreed with us about how a country should be run.

If you look at the countries in the world that the United States gets along with and considers allies, most of them are democracies. We have a hard time trusting or having a good relationship with a country that is AUTOCRATIC -(One person has absolute power). We want citizens to have rights and freedoms.

Dropdown

The United States finds it​

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to trust and get along with countries that are​

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. We value​

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and feel that ​

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should be in control of making decisions about who rules them. We find it hard to trust ​

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governments because the freedoms of citizens are so limited.