This document summarizes the key features of a parliamentary form of government. It notes that in a parliamentary system, the executive (prime minister and cabinet) is responsible to the legislative body (parliament). Some key features discussed include: the prime minister is the real executive while the president is nominal head of state; the political party with majority control forms the government; ministers must be members of parliament; the prime minister plays a leadership role; and the legislature can be dissolved earlier than its term by the prime minister on advice to the president. The document concludes that India adopted this model as it was familiar under British rule and ensures representation of its diverse population.

1. FEATURES OF
PARLIAMENTARY FORM OF
GOVERNMENT
BY ABHISHEK YADAV

2. INTRODUCTION
• Modern democratic governments are classified into parliamentary and
presidential on the basis of nature of relationship between their executive
and legislative organs . In parliamentary system of government the
executives are responsible for their acts and policies to the legislature on the
other hand in presidential form of government the executives are not
responsible to legislature for their acts and policies and is constitutionally
independent of the legislature in respects of its term of office .

3. INTRODUCTION
• Parliamentary system of government is known as cabinet government or
responsible government because the cabinet is the nucleus of power in
parliamentary government and cabinet is accountable to the parliament and
stays as long as in office as it enjoys the parliament confidence
. Parliamentary form of government is prevalent in countries like Britain
, Canada , Japan and India .
• The Indian constitution provides for parliamentary form of government for
both Centre and state and it is incorporated in article 74 and 75 for Centre
and in article 163 and 164 for states.

4. FEATURES OF PARLIAMENTARY FORM OF
GOVERNMENT ARE IN FOLLOWING WAYS
• 1) nominal and real executive :
In parliamentary form of government the prime minister is real executive or
de facto executive while the president is nominal or de jure executive thus the
president is head of the state , while the prime minister is head of
the government , article 74 of the Indian constitution connotes there shall be
a council of minister headed by prime minister to aid and advice the president
in exercise of his functions and advice of prime minster and council of
ministers is binding on president .

5. 2) MAJORITY PARTY RULES
• The political party which wins the most of the seats in Lok Sabha elections forms the
government and the leader of that party (any person whom the party wants to be
prime minister) is appointed as the prime minster by the president and the council
of minister is appointed by the president on the advice of prime minister , however
when no party gets majority , a coalition of parties may be invited by president to
form the government and leader of the coalition is appointed as the prime minister
by the president and on his advice council of ministers .

6. 3) DOUBLE MEMBERSHIP
In parliamentary form of government the ministers are members of both the
legislature and executive this means that a person cannot be minister without
being the member of any houses of the parliament. However, according to article
75(5) of Indian constitution a person can be minister for period of six
consecutive months even if he is not a member of either houses of parliament but
after six months he ceases to be minister unless he got elected for either
houses of parliament .

7. 4) LEADERSHIP OF PRIME MINISTER
The prime minister plays the leadership role in parliamentary form of government.
he is the leader of council of ministers , leader of parliament and leader of the
party in power . In these capacities prime minister plays a very significant and
highly crucial role in the functioning of the government . In the past the
, British political and constitutional experts described the prime minister as primus
inter pares ( first among equals ) in relation of cabinet. In the recent period the
powers of prime minister increased significantly vis a vis cabinet .

8. 5) DISSOLUTION OF LOK SABHA
In Indian parliamentary system Lok Sabha or lower house has a tenure of five
years but it can be dissolved earlier by president on the advice of prime minister
. Article 83(2) of Indian constitution deals with the dissolution of Lok Sabha and it
provides that Lok Sabha is to be dissolved after the completion of five years from
the first day of its meeting . In this case a new election is held to elect new
members of parliament . This means that executives enjoy the right to dissolve the
legislature even before their expiration of term .

9. CONCLUSION
• Framers of Indian constitution choses parliamentary form of government as
Indians are more familiar to this type of government because Britishers too follow
this type of government in colonial India and parliamentary form of government
fits perfectly for a multiethnic , multilingual and multireligious population of India
as it ensures representation to all sections of Indians .

10. THANK YOU