Parliamentary republic
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A parliamentary republic is a republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch (the government) derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature (the parliament). There are a number of variations of parliamentary republics. Most have a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state, with the head of government holding real power, much like constitutional monarchies. Some have combined the roles of head of state and head of government, much like presidential systems, but with a dependency upon parliamentary power.
For the first case mentioned above, the form of executive-branch arrangement is distinct from most other government and semi-presidential republics that separate the head of state (usually designated as the "president") from the head of government (usually designated as "prime minister", "premier" or "chancellor") and subject the latter to the confidence of parliament and a lenient tenure in office while the head of state lacks dependency and investing either office with the majority of executive power.
Powers
In contrast to republics operating under either the presidential system or the semi-presidential system, the head of state usually does not have executive powers as an executive president would, because many of those powers have been granted to a head of government (usually called a prime minister).
However, in a parliamentary republic with a head of state whose tenure is dependent on parliament, the head of government and head of state can form one office (as in Botswana, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, South Africa and Suriname), but the president is still selected in much the same way as the prime minister is in most Westminster systems. This usually means that they are the leader of the largest party or coalition of parties in parliament.
In some cases, the president can legally have executive powers granted to them to undertake the day-to-day running of government (as in Austria and Iceland) but by convention they either do not use these powers or they use them only to give effect to the advice of the parliament or head of government. Some parliamentary republics could therefore be seen as following the semi-presidential system but operating under a parliamentary system.
Historical development
Typically, parliamentary republics are states that were previously constitutional monarchies with a parliamentary system, with the position of head of state given to a monarch.[1]
Following the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War, France once again became a republic – the French Third Republic – in 1870. The President of the Third Republic had significantly less executive powers than those of the previous two republics had. The Third Republic lasted until the invasion of France by Nazi Germany in 1940. Following the end of the war, the French Fourth Republic was constituted along similar lines in 1946. The Fourth Republic saw an era of great economic growth in France and the rebuilding of the nation's social institutions and industry after the war, and played an important part in the development of the process of European integration, which changed the continent permanently. Some attempts were made to strengthen the executive branch of government to prevent the unstable situation that had existed before the war, but the instability remained and the Fourth Republic saw frequent changes in government – there were 20 governments in ten years. Additionally, the government proved unable to make effective decisions regarding decolonization. As a result, the Fourth Republic collapsed and what some critics considered to be a de facto coup d'état, subsequently legitimized by a referendum on 5 October 1958, led to the establishment of the French Fifth Republic in 1959.
Chile became the first parliamentary republic in South America following a civil war in 1891. However, following a coup in 1925 this system was replaced by a Presidential one.
British Commonwealth of Nations
Since the London Declaration of 29 April 1949 (just weeks after Ireland declared itself a republic, and excluded itself from the Commonwealth) republics have been admitted as members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
In the case of many republics in the Commonwealth of Nations, it was common for the Sovereign, formerly represented by a Governor-General, to be replaced by an elected non-executive head of state. This was the case in with South Africa (which left the Commonwealth soon after becoming a republic), Malta, Trinidad and Tobago, India and Vanuatu. In many of these examples, the last Governor-General became the first president. Such was the case with Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Other states became parliamentary republics upon gaining independence.
List of modern parliamentary republics
Parliamentary Republics | ||||
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Country | Head of State Elected By | Cameral Structure | Parliamentary Republic Adopted | Formerly |
Parliament, by majority | Unicameral | 1991 | One-party state | |
Parliament, by absolute majority | Unicameral | 2018[note 1] | Semi-presidential republic | |
Direct election, by second-round system | Bicameral | 1945 | One-party state (as part of Nazi Germany, see Anschluss) | |
Parliament | Unicameral | 1991[note 2] | Presidential republic | |
Direct election of collective head of state, by first-past-the-post vote | Bicameral | 1991 | One-party state (part of Yugoslavia) | |
Direct election, by second-round system | Unicameral | 1991 | One-party state | |
Direct election, by second-round system | Unicameral | 2000 | Semi-presidential republic | |
Direct election, by second-round system (since 2013; previously parliament, by majority) | Bicameral | 1993 | Parliamentary Republic (part of Czechoslovakia) | |
Parliament, by majority | Unicameral | 1978 | Associated state of the United Kingdom | |
Parliament, by two-thirds majority | Unicameral | 1991[note 3] | One-party state (part of Soviet Union) | |
Parliament, by two-thirds majority | Bicameral | 1991 | One-party state | |
Parliament, by majority | Unicameral | 2014 | Military dictatorship | |
Direct election, by second-round system | Unicameral | 2000[note 4] | Semi-presidential republic | |
Federal Assembly (parliament and state delegates), by absolute majority | Bicameral | 1949[note 5] | One-party state | |
Parliament, by majority | Unicameral | 1975 | Military dictatorship; constitutional monarchy | |
Parliament, by absolute majority | Unicameral | 1990 | One-party state | |
Direct election, by first-past-the-post vote | Unicameral | 1944 | Constitutional monarchy (part of Denmark) | |
Parliament and state legislators, by instant-runoff vote | Bicameral | 1950 | Constitutional monarchy (British Dominion) | |
Parliament, by two-thirds majority | Unicameral[note 6] | 2005 | One-party state | |
Direct election, by instant-runoff vote | Bicameral | 1949[note 7] | To 1936: Constitutional monarchy (British Dominion) 1936–1949: ambiguous | |
Parliament, by majority | Unicameral | 2001 | Semi-parliamentary republic | |
Parliament, by absolute majority | Bicameral | 1946 | Constitutional monarchy | |
Parliament, by two-thirds majority; by a simple majority, at the third ballot, if no candidate achieves the aforementioned majority in the first two ballots |
Unicameral | 2008 | UN-administered Kosovo (formally part of Serbia) | |
Direct election, by second-round system | Unicameral | 2010 | Presidential republic | |
Parliament | Unicameral | 1991[note 8] | One-party state (part of Soviet Union) | |
Parliament | Unicameral | 1941 | Protectorate (French mandate of Lebanon) | |
Direct election, by second-round system | Unicameral | 1991 | One-party state (part of the Yugoslavia) | |
Parliament, by majority | Unicameral | 1974 | Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm[2])[3] | |
Parliament, by majority | Unicameral | 1992 | Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm[4][5][6])[3] | |
Direct election, by second-round system (since 2016; previously by parliament, by three-fifths majority) |
Unicameral | 2001 | Semi-presidential republic | |
Direct election, by second-round system | Unicameral | 1992 | One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia, and after Serbia and Montenegro) | |
Parliament and state legislators | Bicameral[7] | 2015[note 9] | Constitutional monarchy | |
Parliament and state legislators, by instant-runoff vote | Bicameral | 2010[8][9] | Semi-presidential republic | |
Parliament | Unicameral | 1960 | Trust Territory of New Zealand | |
Direct election, by second-round system | Unicameral | 1991 | One-party state (part of Yugoslavia, and after Serbia and Montenegro) | |
Direct election (since 1993) | Unicameral | 1965 | State of Malaysia | |
Direct election, by second-round system (since 1999; previously by parliament) | Unicameral | 1993 | Parliamentary Republic (part of Czechoslovakia) | |
Direct election, by second-round system | Bicameral | 1991 | One-party state (part of Yugoslavia) | |
Parliament | Bicameral | 2012[note 10] | One-party state | |
Parliament | Bicameral | 1976 | Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm[10])[3] | |
Parliament and regional council presidents, by majority | Unicameral | 1980 | British–French condominium (New Hebrides) | |
Parliamentary Republics with a "Mixed-Republican" System | ||||
Country | Head of State Elected By | Cameral Structure | Parliamentary Republic Adopted | Formerly |
Parliament, by majority | Unicameral | 1966 | British protectorate (Bechuanaland Protectorate) | |
Direct election, by first-past-the-post vote | Unicameral | 1979 | Protectorate | |
Parliament | Bicameral | 1979 | UN Trust Territory (part of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands) | |
Parliament, by majority | Unicameral | 1986 | UN Trust Territory (Part of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands) | |
Parliament, by an electoral college | Bicameral | 2010 | Military dictatorship | |
Parliament | Unicameral | 1968 | Australian Trust Territory | |
Parliament | Unicameral | 301 | Autocracy (part of the Roman Empire) | |
Parliament, by majority | Bicameral | 1961 | Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm[11][12][13])[3] | |
Parliament, by majority | Unicameral | 1987 | Military dictatorship | |
Federal Assembly (parliament and canton delegates), by absolute majority | Bicameral | 1848 | Confederation |
List of former parliamentary republics
See also
Notes
- ↑ Changed after the 2015 referendum.
- ↑ Was, previously, a parliamentary republic between 1971 and 1975.
- ↑ Estonia was previously a parliamentary republic between 1919 and 1934 when the government was overthrown by a coup d'état. In 1938, Estonia adopted a presidential system and in June 1940 was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union.
- ↑ Formerly a semi-presidential republic, it is now a parliamentary republic according to David Arter, First Chair of Politics at Aberdeen University. In his "Scandinavian Politics Today" (Manchester University Press, revised 2008 ISBN 9780719078538), he quotes Nousiainen, Jaakko (June 2001). "From semi-presidentialism to parliamentary government: political and constitutional developments in Finland". Scandinavian Political Studies. Wiley. 24 (2): 95–109. doi:10.1111/1467-9477.00048. as follows: "There are hardly any grounds for the epithet 'semi-presidential'." Arter's own conclusions are only slightly more nuanced: "The adoption of a new constitution on 1 March 2000 meant that Finland was no longer a case of semi-presidential government other than in the minimalist sense of a situation where a popularly elected fixed-term president exists alongside a prime minister and cabinet who are responsible to parliament (Elgie 2004: 317)". According to the Finnish Constitution, the president has no possibility to rule the government without the ministerial approval, and does not have the power to dissolve the parliament under his or her own desire. Finland is actually represented by its prime minister, and not by its president, in the Council of the Heads of State and Government of the European Union. The 2012 constitutional amendements reduced the powers of the president even further.
- ↑ In the case of the former West German states, including former West Berlin, the previous one-party state is Nazi Germany, but in the case of the New Länder and former East Berlin it is East Germany. Please note that German reunification took place on 3 October 1990, when the five re-established states of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) joined the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin was united into a single city-state. Therefore, this date applies to today's Federal Republic of Germany as a whole, although the area of former East Germany was no part of that parliamentary republic until 1990.
- ↑ Officially bicameral, upper house never entered into functions, to present day.
- ↑ The head of state was ambiguous from 1936 until the Republic of Ireland Act came into force on 18 April 1949. A minority of Irish republicans assert that the Irish Republic proclaimed in 1919 is still extant.
- ↑ Latvia was previously a parliamentary republic between 1921 and 1934 when the then prime minister Kārlis Ulmanis took power in a coup d'état. In June 1940 Latvia was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union.
- ↑ Had a transitional government between 2008 and 2015.
- ↑ Had a transitional government between 1991 and 2012.
- ↑ In June 1940, Lithuania was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union.
- ↑ Post of President of Russia is created, and development of separation of powers is started, some of Supreme Soviet's executive powers is transferred to new post. Before that, Russia was a Soviet republic.
- ↑ Preceded by crisis and armed dissolving of the Supreme Soviet of Russia, then-parliament of the Russian Federation.
References
- ↑ Arend Lijphart, ed. (1992). Parliamentary versus presidential government. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-878044-3.
- ↑ "Malta: Heads of State: 1964-1974". Archontology.org. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 "British Monarch's Titles: 1867-2018". Archontology.org. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ↑ "Mauritius: Heads of State: 1968-1992". Archontology.org. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ↑ Paxton, John (1984). The Statesman's Year-Book 1984-85. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-333-34731-7. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ↑ Cahoon, Ben. "Mauritius". Worldstatesmen.org. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ↑ Constitution of Nepal Archived December 23, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Kiran Khalid, CNN (2010-04-09). "Pakistan lawmakers approve weakening of presidential powers". CNN.com. Retrieved 2010-04-14.
- ↑ "'18th Amendment to restore Constitution' | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online". Nation.com.pk. Archived from the original on 2010-04-14. Retrieved 2010-04-14.
- ↑ "Trinidad and Tobago: Heads of State: 1962-1976". Archontology.org. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ↑ "South Africa: Heads of State: 1910-1961". Archontology.org. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ↑ Carlin, John (31 May 1994). "South Africa returns to the Commonwealth fold". The Independent. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ↑ "Secession Talked by Some Anti-Republicans". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. 11 October 1960. Retrieved 18 February 2018.