The vast majority of democracies in the world today are parliamentary rather than presidential. Examples include Canada, Great Britain, India, Japan, Ireland and New Zealand. Parliamentary systems use a variety of electoral methods. In some, like the United States, a plurality system (also known as first-past-the-post or winner-takes-all) is used where voters choose one candidate in each electoral district. In others, such as Germany and France, a proportional representation system called Single Transferable Vote (or SNTV) is used. Voters place a number of preferences, from 1 to as many as 10, and the candidate with the highest total is elected in each constituency. In multi-member districts, a threshold of between 2 and 5 percent of the vote is often applied which significantly restricts the number of parties represented in parliament.
Once members of parliament have been elected, the leader of the largest political party is asked to form a government. The cabinet of executive ministers is then selected from the members of parliament who are part of the ruling coalition. Parliamentary governments are usually formed by a majority of the members of parliament and, as such, are more responsive to popular influence than a presidential system.
Although parliamentary systems do not typically feature two independent branches of government as in the presidential system, many have a constitutional court that can review laws and declare them unconstitutional. Also, a parliamentary system may allow for a motion to “lay on the table” which halts discussion of an item immediately without debate and requires a majority vote to resume consideration.
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