Why American government does not work very well [2 views]:
• politicians are
corrupt,
incompetent, or
otherwise unwilling
to exercise
leadership
• the American
system is designed
to be inefficient
and ineffective
Major Differences Between the American
System and the Parliamentary Model
American
Parliamentary
[Separation of Powers] Model
chief executive
President
Prime Minister
• selection
• removal
• cabinet
separate election
impeachment
patronage
legislative majority
vote of confidence
“coalition government”
structural designation
federal
unitary
• relationship/authority
pattern
interdependence
hierarchy
sovereign power
Constitution
House of Commons
personalities
weak/competitive
proliferate
incremental
issues
strong/competitive
limited
dramatic change in
“critical elections”
Other important differences:
• orientation of elections
• parties
• interest groups
• policy-making style
British Parliamentary System
Prime Minister
and Cabinet
Cabinet
serves at
pleasure of
Prime
Minister
unless
House of
Commons
is dissolved
Majority
The
Monarchy
Judges (Life term)
House of Commons
[Five Year Terms
unless dissolved by
Prime Minister]
Party
Minority Party
Voters
House of Lords (Life
term/Little Power)
American System of Separation of Powers
confirms
Congress
House of
Representatives
[2-Year Terms]
nominates
Judges (Life term)
Senate
President (4-year term)
Electoral
College
[6-Year
Terms]
Voters
How Israel Forms Its Government
[modified from the Dallas Morning News]
Here is how the Israelis elect their 120-seat Knesset and how a government is formed:
The vote: Israelis vote for a party, not individual candidates. The leader of each party is, in effect, a
candidate for prime minister, although their names do not appear on the ballot. Voters are aware that
a vote for a particular party is, in effect, a vote for that party’s candidate for prime minister. To be
more accurate, voters are casting their ballots for the party (and its leader) that they want to take over
control of the government. Besides having a prime minister, Israel also has a president who is elected
by Parliament and holds a largely ceremonial post. Voters cast paper ballots. The minimum voting
age is 18. About 3.5 million Israelis are eligible to vote, with about 11% being Arabs.
Division of seats in the Knesset: As many as 28 parties may be running candidates on the ballot,
but usually fewer than one-half pass the threshold of 1.5% of the vote needed to win a seat in the
parliament. The votes for parties short of the minimum are subtracted, and the remaining ballots are
divided by 120. That establishes the number of votes for each seat. For example, if the amount was
21,000, a party receiving 210,000 votes would gain 10 seats.
Each party’s candidates are numbered from 1 to 120. In our example, the party with 210,000 votes
would get its first 10 candidates into the Knessett.
How a government is formed: No party has ever won a majority of seats in the Knesset, therefore,
Israel has been governed by coalitions. The party leader with the best chances of putting together a
government (usually the party receiving the most votes) is assigned the task by the president. A party
leader may have up to six weeks to form a coalition. If he fails, the president may choose another
party’s leader to form a government. To form a governing coalition, the party leader must make deals
(concessions) with other party leaders in the form of government ministerial posts or policy issues.
Learn more about the Israeli Knesset @ http://www.knesset.gov.il/index.html.