In a parliamentary system of government immense power lies with the assembly or parliament, in that the government is drawn from and ultimately accountable to the parliament. The parliamentary system, therefore, combines the legislative and executive branches of the government.
Given that the parliament is a representative body and that the government is answerable to it, this system is effective in a variety of ways. Firstly, it can be argued that it helps in the people's voices being heard. Since the assembly is present primarily to form a link between the people and the government, the fact that it retains ultimate power in a parliamentary system is beneficial for the people. If the government acts in an unjust manner, the assembly has the right to remove the government. Thus, those in power are constantly held accountable for their actions and the chances of power being misused, in theory, are very few.
However, the reality of parliamentary systems of government differs from country to country. Overall, parliamentary systems are associated with political instability and weak governments. Taking into account the failure of many parliamentary systems of government, such as that of France in the years 1945-1958, it is evident that political instability does prevail if the different interests of groups conflict.
An alternative to this form of government is the presidential system. This system does not violate the doctrine of the separation of powers and allowing the legislature, executive and judiciary to be separate results in a reliable system which ensures there are checks and balances.
Ultimately, in my opinion, the decision to implement a parliamentary or presidential system depends on how much power one wishes to give to the legislative assembly.
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