2.5 Parliamentary and Presidential Constitution

Parliamentary: fusion of executive and legislature — the head of government (Prime Minister) and cabinet are drawn from, and responsible to, the elected house; a separate (usually ceremonial) head of state; the government falls when it loses confidence; dissolution lets the electorate arbitrate. Exemplars: UK, India, Japan, Nepal. Merits: responsiveness, executive- legislative coordination, flexible removal of a failed government. Demerits: executive dominance of the legislature, coalition instability, blurred accountability. Presidential: separation of origin and survival — a popularly elected President is both head of state and head of government for a fixed term; no mutual confidence and no dissolution; checks operate through veto, ratification, impeachment and judicial review. Exemplars: USA, Brazil, Indonesia; semi-presidential systems (France) add a premier responsible to the legislature. Merits: stability, energy, a direct national mandate. Demerits: gridlock, personalisation, rigidity between elections. Nepal under the 2015 Constitution: parliamentary — the President is head of state (Article 61); executive power vests in the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister, which must command the House of Representatives' confidence (Articles 74–76); collective responsibility to the Federal Parliament (Article 76(10)); confidence and no-confidence under Article 100; a bicameral Federal Parliament (House of Representatives + National Assembly, Article 83). Historical note: the 1959 Constitution was parliamentary; the 1962 panchayat system was neither (a guided monarchy with a nominally elected legislature…