POLI 2053 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Virtual Network Computing, Clement Attlee, Joachim Gauck
Document Summary
According to the text there are 56 parliamentary democracies in the world, of which 31 are constitutional monarchies (e. g. , the united kingdom and sweden) and 25 are republics. With but a few exceptions (e. g. , france) all western european states are parliamentary democracies. In britain, only those who are members of the house of commons (mps) can become. Government ministers (i. e. , they are members of both the legislative branch and the executive at the same time). This is prohibited in presidential regimes (5) the terms of office for prime minister, cabinet members, and the lower chamber of the national legislature are not fixed terms; they are variable, but have a maximum life span. In britain, the house of commons can sit for a period of time not to exceed 5 years between election; elections may be called any time within that 5 year period.
