The form of government is an important issue of such a discipline as "Theory of State and Law." There are two of them. It's about the monarchy and the republic. In this case, we are interested in the republic. What is its main difference from the monarchy? Yes, in that type of government, the highest bodies of state power are elected. That is, power is not inherited.
The head of state belongs to the highest bodies of state power, which means that under the republican form of government he is also elected for a certain term. It is important to note that it is not always the people who elect him - often the election is carried out by a representative body.
In general, the signs of the republican form of government include the dependence of the authorities on voters, its electivity, and the limited terms of office of elected persons.
A republic, in turn, may be presidential, mixed, or parliamentary. Note that mixed is divided into several subspecies. We will not disassemble them, since we are interested in the signs of a presidential republic.
Presidential republic
She is characterized by the important role of the president in the system of public authorities. A presidential republic is a republic in which the president is not only the head of state, but also the head of government.
Such a republic is often called dualistic. In this case, the emphasis is on the fact that the executive branch, which is wholly and completely owned by the head of state, opposes the strong legislative power of the representative body.
In the presidential republic, the election of the president is carried out by the voters themselves or by representatives of the electoral college. After the election, the head of state appoints members of the government. He has the right to include in the composition of the executive body precisely those people whom he wants. In such a republic there is no such position as the head of government (federal chancellor, prime minister, and so on).
Its peculiarity also lies in the fact that the parliament cannot be dissolved by the head of state, and the parliament itself cannot limit the actions of the government and the president. However, in exceptional cases, parliament can still limit the actions of the latter.
The head of state has the right to impose a suspensive veto on the decision of the representative body. A vote of no confidence is passed by parliament by vote. It can be submitted to the government. This procedure is complex and has a lot of its nuances. In a parliamentary republic, all this is made much simpler.
In general, the presidential republic can be distinguished by the following signs:
- the head of government is elected by extra-parliamentary means;
- the government is solely responsible to the head of state. In this case, it is not accountable to the representative body;
- the head of state has the broadest powers.
The presidential republic is characterized in that the head of state:
- he has the right to disperse by himself the created government;
- takes direct part in the appointment of members of the Supreme Court;
- is the supreme commander;
- presides over the government;
- signs laws.
The presidential republic is Poland, France, Austria and many other countries. Many still mistakenly believe that Russia is a presidential republic. Why is this not so? Firstly, because in our country there is such a position as the head of government. In our country, he is called the Prime Minister. It is this man, not the president, who runs the government. He is appointed, of course, by the head of state, but only with the approval of the parliament. What republic is Russia? Our country is a mixed republic. To be more precise - the presidential-parliamentary.