Parliamentary oversight and fusion between parlamentarism and presidentialism

It is perfectly possible to compare presidentialism and parlamentarism with regard to controls. Without parliamentary oversight representative democracy does not exist. Constitutional norms and Standing Orders already reflect this tendency in Latin America. This conclusion leads us to a different ap...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: García Roca, Javier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Cuestiones Constitucionales. Revista Mexicana de Derecho Constitucional
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/11452
Acceso en línea:https://revistas.juridicas.unam.mx/index.php/cuestiones-constitucionales/article/view/11452
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:presidentialism
parlamentarism
political control
oversight
presidencialismo
parlamentarismo
control político
Descripción
Sumario:It is perfectly possible to compare presidentialism and parlamentarism with regard to controls. Without parliamentary oversight representative democracy does not exist. Constitutional norms and Standing Orders already reflect this tendency in Latin America. This conclusion leads us to a different approach to the classic controversy on both systems of government. The original US presidential system is somewhat outdated and difficult to export. The binomial presidentialism/parlamentarism is nowadays more a continuum with differences in degree. Three tendencies can be detected: European parliamentarism has evolved towards presidential leadership, Latin American presidentialism has incorporated parliamentary tools, and, finally, cross-fertilization among Parliamentary Standing Orders has developed. Extreme multi-party systems, proportional representation, and an absolutist understanding of presidential separation of powers which makes parliamentary oversight impossible are incompatible features. The easiest solution emerges from abandoning that separatist interpretation. The idea that the President should be directly accountable to the electorate and not to the Parliament make difficult mechanisms of political responsibility, but certain devices of oversight could be enough to achieve checks and balances.