Indian Parliamentary System of Government

September 25, 2019
Polity, System of Government

The Constitution of India provides for a parliamentary system of government, both at the Union (Article 74 and 75) and States (Article 163 and 164). So, guys, till now we have read,

So, now, its time to understand the Indian Parliamentary System of Government. Modern democratic governments are classified into,

  • Parliamentary and
  • Presidential systems.

The Parliamentary system is the one in which the executive is responsible for the legislature for its policies and acts. But in the Presidential system of government, the executive is not responsible to the legislature for its policies and acts.

The Presidential government is also known as the non-responsible or non-parliamentary or fixed executive system of government. It is prevalent in the USA, Brazil, Russia, Sri Lanka, among others.

The Parliamentary government is also known as cabinet government or responsible government or Westminster model of government. It is prevalent in Britain, Japan, Canada, India, among others.

Features of Parliamentary System

Parliamentary System in India
Parliamentary System in India

Dual Executives

In a parliamentary system, the head of the state may be a monarch or a president. Like, in London, Monarch is head of the state. In India president is the head of the state.

The head of the state holds a ceremonial position. It is the nominal executive (de jure executive) while Prime Minister is the real – executive (de facto executive).

So, one can say, President is the head of state while Prime Minister is head of the government.

Majority Party Rule

The political party which secures majority seats in the Lok Sabha ie lower house forms the government.

So, if no party gets the majority then a coalition of parties may be invited by the president to form the government. Though for a strong democracy coalition government is not suitable.

Coalition government makes things more cumbersome in a democracy like India.

Double Membership

The ministers are members of both the legislature and the executive. This means that a person cannot be a minister without being a member of the Parliament.

So, the Constitution specifies that a minister who is not a member of the Parliament for a period of six consecutive months can not be a minister.

Collective Responsibility

This is the bedrock principle of parliamentary government. The council of ministers is collectively responsible to Parliament in general and Lok sabha in particular (Article 75).

So, passing a vote of confidence in Loksabha can remove the council of ministers. This happened during the reign of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Political Homogeneity

It means that the members of the Cabinet belong to the same political party. Generally, they belong from the majority party in the Legislature.

But in the case of a coalition government, the ministers are bound by consensus.

The leadership of the Prime Minister

The Prime Minister plays a leadership role in this system of government. He is

  • The leader of the council of ministers,
  • leader of the Parliament and
  • The leader of the party in power.

So, he plays a highly crucial role in government.

Dissolution of the Lower House

President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister can dissolve the lower house of the parliament (Lok Sabha).

So, this means, the executive enjoys the right to get the legislature dissolved in a parliamentary system.

Secrecy

The ministers operate on the principle of secrecy of procedure and cannot leak information about their proceedings, policies, and decisions.

The President administers the oath of secrecy to the ministers. So, any violation of this is considered to be a serious violation of discipline. It may penalize Cabinet Minister to lose his seat.

So, in this post, we have read about the parliamentary system. In the upcoming post, we will discuss the difference between parliamentary and presidential government.

Thanks and Stay Civilized. 😊

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