Transcript Comparing Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Parliaments

Comparing Presidents, Prime
Ministers, and Parliaments
Problem:
• How can we tell whether one political
executive (president or prime minister) is
more powerful than another?
• How can we tell whether one parliament
or legislative assembly has more influence
or power than another?
The difficulty of measuring power
• Power over what?
– Power of Actor A to make Actor B do
something different than he or she would
otherwise do?
– Power to determine the alternatives – keep
questions or issues off the agenda?
– Power to get what he or she wants without
recourse to others?
Political executives:
• Which of the following political executives
has the most power within his or her
political system?
– The British Prime Minister
– The German Chancellor
– The French President
– The French Premier
– The American President
Legislative assemblies
• Which of the following has the most
control over the content of legislation?
– The British Parliament
– The German Parliament
– The French Parliament
– The United States Congress
Parliament and governments
• Which of the following has the most
control over the composition of the
cabinet?
– The British Parliament
– The German Parliament
– The French Parliament
– The United States Congress
The power of legislative
assemblies:
• Working v. debating parliaments?
• What difference does debate make?
• What difference does the number of
parties make?
• What difference do specialized
committees make?
– The cumulation of expertise in
• The United States Congress
• The German Parliament
THE POWER OF THE EXECUTIVE
High
5
5Most authoritarian systems
5
5Most semi-democracies
5
5
5France
5
5UK
5
5Canada
5
5
5Federal Republic of Germany
5
5
5United States
5
5
5
5
Low
ASSEMBLY POWER
High
5
5United States
5
5
5Federal Republic of Germany
5
5
5
5UK
5
5Canada
5
5
5France
5
5
5
5Most semi-democracies
5
5Most authoritarian systems
5
Low