A presidential system is a system of government that features a president as the nation's head of state and active chief executive authority. The term is usually used in contrast to a parliamentary system. .
Differences with a parliamentary system.
A number of key theoretical differences exist between a presidential and a parliamentary system: .
• In a presidential system, the central principle is that the legislative and executive branches of government should be separate. This leads to the separate election by the electorate or an electoral college of the president, who is elected to office for a fixed term of office, and only removable in extreme cases for gross misdeamour by impeachment and dismissal. In addition he or she does not need to choose cabinet members from or commanding the support of, a legislative majority. By contrast, in parliamentary systems, government is usually carried out by a cabinet headed by a Prime Minister who in many instances are members of parliament (legislature), are directly accountable to parliament and may by parliamentary vote be dismissed. .
• As with the President's set term of office, the legislature also exists for a set term of office and cannot be dissolved ahead of schedule. By contrast, in many parliamentary systems, parliament can be dissolved at any stage during its term of office by the head of state, usually on the advice of the Prime Minister, by the Prime Minister and cabinet, or by the cabinet. .
• In a presidential system, the president usually has special privileges in the enactment of legislation, namely the possession of a power of veto over legislation of bills, in some cases subject to the power of the legislature by weighed majority to override the veto. However, it is extremely rare for the president to have the power to directly propose laws, or cast a vote on legislation. The legislature and the president are thus expected to serve as a check on each other's powers.
