Presidential v. Parliamentary A comparison between the U.S., Canada, and Japan Hans C. Carnice

Which is more “democratic”? This presentation will discuss the similarities and differences between the Parliamentary and Presidential systems of the U.S., Canada, and Japan.

United States Republic: members of the government are elected or appointed by those elected into office Separation of powers: legislature creates the laws, executive oversees its application and the judiciary checks the constituionality of the law and the actions of the government Checks and balances: powers are separated and they in turn must work together to forge and implement policy

United States (cont.) President:  represents a country and not just the people who voted him in  Head of the government and needs to keep the support of those who voted him into office  Commander-in-chief of the armed forces  Oversees the execution of Congress’ laws  Foreign policy maker  Leader of the economy  Crisis leader  Party leader

United States (cont.) Legislature  Political institution that is closest to the people  Creates laws Judicial  Interprets the constituionality of the legislature and the executive

Canada Uses the British Westminster model for government (most representative countries are parliamentary) Head of state is not a president, it is the Governor General who represents the interests of the Queen of England  Holds significant powers in government Prime Minister  Head of the government

Canada (cont.) More on the parliamentary system:  Power concentrated on the national government  People elect representatives based on the party and not on the individual  The Prime Minister serves only as the Head of Government (the Queen is the Head of State)  The party with the most votes is the government  Parties not in the government often rally to get the government out of power

Japan Liberal democracy like that of the United States and Canada Utilizes a patron-client democracy in where politics is conducted via consensus through exchange of favors, factionalism, bargaining, etc Constitution was forged by the US  Emperor is the symbol of the state and not the head of state  Military and arms were disbanded

Japan (cont.) Has a Prime Minister but is not nearly as well known as most because of the high turnover rate (avg. 17 months in office from ) Diet (the Legislative) functions much like those of most liberal democracies

Key Points US politics was forged with fear that a tyrant would rule over them  Thus the creation of a system of checks and balances and a separation of power Canadian politics was influenced primarily by the British  People are voting on a party’s issue and not on a person that claims that party Japanese politics was created by the Americans and fused with traditional methods  Legislative does not defer power to PM but to the bureacracy

Conclusion The US would have to be the most democratic of the three countries used in this study. In the Canadian system, the losing parties are out of the decision making process and can only criticize the government. Indeed actions under the Westminster model are much faster but can also be more radical. The founding fathers of the US wanted a pluralist government (something relatively conservative) so that no particular branch of government had more power than the other although this can be argued likewise today. The Japanese relies heavily on the bureaucracy and makes it very susceptible to corruption (which it is) and very distant from the people. Within the US system, also, the people are involved via interest groups, their representatives, and protests.

Just to consider… USCanadaJapan Life expectancy

Population (per square mile) USCanadaJapan

Have a nice day!