CHAPTER3
CHAPTER3
CHAPTER3
(FOL)
PGP 0022
Introduction to Politics & Governance
Foundation in Law
ONLINE NOTES
Chapter 3
1) NATURE OF DEMOCRACY
• For a society to be democratic-a large number of its people must enjoy the
right to have some say over important decisions that affect their lives
“ the government of the people, by the people and for the people”.
• Democracy-characterized by 4 features:
a) Each adult citizen has the same opportunity to participate in the decision
making process. This means “one person one vote”
a) Public policies are made only after ascertaining the wishes of the people
a) All political decisions must be made according to the wishes of the majority
2) TYPES OF DEMOCRACY
iii- Others :Canada, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh & ors adopted this system.
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i- The one where the 2 branches (Executive & Legislature) are separated from each
other.
Iii- Others:
Indonesia & Philippines.
a) Parliamentary System
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• “Dignified/ceremonial leadership”
- centers upon the HOS
• “Efficient leadership”
- rest with a team of ministers
- headed by a PM and accountable to Parliament
• The monarch still appoints the PM after general election –though in reality he
is always a leader of the majority party in the Parliament.
2) “Executive is drawn from the national assembly & ultimately responsible to it.”
• Gov. holds office – as long as it retains the confidence of the assembly.
• If that confidence is withdrawn, the gov. is expected to resign.
• Procedure:
-The Executive consists of the PM & a Cabinet –which responsible for policy
formation & for the administration of the various gov. departments.
“Collective responsibility”
-The decision taken in Cabinet are potrayed as collective decision which all members
support and agree with.
-All the ministers collectively share responsibility for the decision agreed by the
Cabinet.
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b) Presidential System
5. The system is based on the principle of Separation of Powers i.e the division
of government power among coequal executive, legislative and judicial branches.
• He selects his Cabinet officers, and in turn they are accountable to him and
not to the legislature.
• The legislature cannot dismiss the government, except under the unusual
circumstances of conviction of the president following impeachment by the
legislative branch.
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3) UNITARY SYSTEM
• A unitary state is one in which all the sovereign power resides in the central
or national government.
• There are smaller units of government such as states or provinces but they do
not have the authority to make independent decisions.
• In other words, all units of government below the national level are merely its
subdivisions.
• The features of the unitary government are as follows:
a) Formal power and authority is located at the national centre and sub-
national government and other local units do not exercise any political powers
independently of the central authority.
b) The local or regional units of government exercise powers and authority
that are delegated to them by the centre and may also be withdrawn by it.
c) The central government may at any time re-draw or abolish the boundaries
of local or regional units.
d) The actions and policies of the central government control and override the
policies and actions of sub-national levels of government.
4) FEDERAL SYSTEM
• The word “federal’ comes from the Latin foedris, meaning “league”. It implies
an alliance of various units and people of a state.
• A federal state is one in which there exists at least two sets of government,
and there is a division of governmental powers between the national
government and constituent units (states, provinces, republics, regions or
cantons).
• Federalism has the following features:
a) Two sets of government, one is called central or national government while
the other is provincial, regional or unit government. Each government is
independent of the other within their own jurisdiction.
b) There is a division of power between the central and regional governments.
This division of power is clearly spelled out in the Constitution.
c) The Constitution is the supreme law of the land and any legislation no in
conformity with the provisions of the Constitution is deemed invalid. It,
therefore, follows that the Constitution must almost necessarily be a written
and a rigid Constitution.
d) The Court has the power of Judicial Review. The courts should have the
authority to interpret the constitution. In this respect, the courts will decide
disputes of jurisdiction arising between the central government and regional
governments or among regional governments and will keep different
governments within their limits so that none may encroach upon the
jurisdiction of the other.
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