Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Distinguish the functions of legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.
- Define electoral systems and political parties.
- Determine the implications of political party composition and organization.
Introduction
Aside from considering the varying conceptualizations and operationalizations (measurements) of democracy, we can examine institutions that are common within democracies. Democracies, for example, typically have three branches of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. These branches are akin to building blocks; each block has a distinct function, wields a distinct form of power, and operates within a system of separation of powers with checks and balances. Separation of powers is a system that divides government functions into three branches: the legislative branch, tasked with making laws; the executive branch, tasked with carrying out or enforcing laws; and the judicial branch, tasked with interpreting the constitutionality of laws. These three branches generally operate under a system of checks and balances, which provides the different branches with powers to limit one another in an effort to ensure that no branch becomes too powerful (e.g., the executive may have the power to veto, or reject, a law passed by the legislative branch).
Other hallmark institutions of democracies are their electoral systems and political parties. Electoral systems, simply put, are voting systems; an electoral system provides a set of rules that dictates how elections are conducted and how results are determined and communicated. Political parties are organized groups of people who unite under shared values to get their preferred candidates elected to political office.
This section provides a brief overview of these institutions. When taken together, variations within these institutions allow us to assess the many unique democracies that exist in the world today.
Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches
While some elements and characteristics of democracy vary, one commonality is the separation of powers among the branches of government.
The legislative branch generally performs three main functions: (1) it makes and revises laws; (2) it provides administrative oversight to ensure laws are properly executed; and (3), it represents members' constituents in the government, ideally enacting laws related to citizens' interests. There are three main types of legislatures. The first is a consultative legislature, which is a type of legislative body that advises the leader, or group of leaders, on issues relating to laws and their applications. In the consultative legislature, members may be elected or appointed. The second is the parliamentary legislature, which is a type of legislative body in which members are elected by the people, enact laws, and choose and hold accountable the head of government (typically, a prime minister). We will expand on the parliamentary system in the next section of this chapter. The third type of legislature is the congressional legislature, which is a type of legislative body in which groups of legislators, elected by the people, make laws and share powers with other branches within the government. In comparison to a parliamentary legislature, a congressional legislature does not have the ability to choose the head of government.
Interestingly, while most of the legislatures in North and South America are congressional legislatures (with the exception of Canada), European legislatures tend to be parliamentary. As an example of a congressional legislature, we can consider the United States. The U.S. Congress, a bicameral legislature composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate, enjoys substantial powers through its constitutional mandate; it can levy taxes, borrow money, spend money, regulate interstate commerce, establish a national currency, establish a post office, declare war, raise and support an army and navy, establish courts, and pass all laws "necessary and proper" to complete its work. Congress can also propose amendments to the constitution, call for a constitutional convention, and admit new states to the country. What it cannot do, however, is choose the U.S. President, and each of the other two branches of government has the ability to "check" the legislature's power.
The U.S. President is an example of an official who falls within the executive branch of government. The executive branch is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws made by the legislature. It is typically led by a president or a prime minister, though many systems include a second-ranking position beneath the chief executive (e.g., a vice president); a small group of leaders who have institutional powers (e.g., a cabinet); and numerous agencies, sometimes referred to as "departments" or "ministries" (e.g., Department/Ministry of Defense, Department/Ministry of Education, Department/Ministry of State). The chief executive may serve the role of the head of government and/or the head of state. The head of government runs and manages the day-to-day business of the state. The head of state is the symbolic representative of the state; for example, the head of state may represent the state internationally by attending ceremonial gatherings.
The final branch is the judicial branch, which refers to the part of government that resolves disputes (through courts) and interprets, applies, and determines the constitutionality of laws. Many states provide the courts with the power of judicial review as a "check" on the other branches of government. Judicial review is the ability of courts to interpret the constitutionality of laws and government actions. A state may allow for judicial review within its existing court system, or a state may create a special "Constitutional Court" for this purpose.
Electoral Systems and Political Parties
As defined in the introduction, an electoral system provides a set of rules that dictates how elections are conducted and how results are determined and communicated. In a democracy, an election is the mechanism by which leaders are chosen for political office and, as discussed in 4.1, the election must be conducted in a free and fair manner. An electoral system may include rules about when elections occur, who can vote, who can run as a candidate, how and where voting takes place, how to collect and count ballots, and what constitutes an electoral victory. Voting rules may be enshrined in constitutions, election laws, and/or other legal mandates.
There are many different types of electoral systems, and we will only introduce three here. First, the plurality voting system is one in which the winning candidate simply earns the most votes. In this system, there is no requirement that a candidate attain a majority of votes, and this system is sometimes called the "first-past-the-post" system. Second, the majoritarian voting system is one in which a candidate must win a majority (at least one-half of the votes) in order to win the election. If no candidate wins a majority, there will be a subsequent "runoff election" between the top two vote-earners from the first round. Third, the proportional voting system is one in which the distribution of seats (e.g., in a legislature) reflects the overall distribution of votes by the population. For instance, if 20 percent of the population votes for Political Party A, then the state's legislature will provide Political Party A with (approximately) 20 percent of its seats.
These three systems are common, but they do not represent the entire spectrum of electoral systems. As only a few examples of electoral system complications, some states employ mixed voting systems, in which they utilize different systems in different types of elections (e.g., presidential vs. legislative); some states employ quotas, rules that aim to guarantee a certain amount of representation for historically underrepresented groups (e.g., they allocate specific percentages of seats to women, religious minorities, and/or ethnic minorities); and some states employ election thresholds, rules that require a minimum percentage of votes before a political party can gain any seats in a legislature.
Political parties are therefore another crucial institution within democracies. Political parties are organized groups of people who unite under shared values to get their preferred candidates elected to political office, and political parties also play integral roles in accomplishing their political agendas once in office. In relation to electoral systems, a plurality voting system ("first-past-the-post") generally results in two powerful political parties that vie to control power (e.g., the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in the United States). A proportional representation system, alternatively, generally yields a larger number of political parties. Israel, as one example, often has at least 10 political parties represented in its legislature (the Knesset).
This discussion of branches of government, electoral systems, and political parties leads logically to our next section, in which we combine the information above to identify the three major systems of democratic government: presidential, parliamentary, and semi-presidential.
