Classification Elements

Four significant elements of classification were retained: the form of state, the form of government, control of constitutionality and, finally, voting systems and forms of composition of parliamentary bodies.

Forms of State

We distinguish between two forms of State:

1. Unitary State : A State which is characterized by the existence of a single sovereign government having complete competence over all its territory and population. Such a state may present varying degrees of administrative or political decentralization.
2. Federal State : A state in which the major competences are shared between two or more levels of government, according to principles and modalities clearly reflecting a general federal intention going beyond (more or less strong) decentralization.

The Forms of Government

The identification of the holders of the executive power and the nature of their relations with parliamentary institutions allow us to retain six general types of forms of government

1. In presidential systems : executive power is held by a sole person, who is elected directly or by an electoral college and is not a member of parliament. The president is both head of state and head of government. He or she is not subject to a vote of parliamentary confidence, except in isolated cases.
2. In parliamentary systems : the totality of executive power is held by a government which must hold the parliament’s confidence.
3. In semi-presidential systems : the president is elected directly or by an electoral college, is head of state and holds significant constitutional powers (varying by state), but is not head of government. Only the government is subject to a vote of parliamentary confidence.
4. In monarchical systems : all powers are held by only one person. The government and parliament (if there is one) are subordinated to the Monarch’s powers. Some monarchies are hereditary, others are elective.
5. In directorial systems : executive power is held by a college composed of a more or less limited number of members who jointly exercise this power. The only current example is Switzerland, where the seven members of the Federal Council are individually elected by the United Federal Assembly for a specific term, but are not responsible before it.

Control of Constitutionality

Control of constitutionality refers to any control exercised following a direct appeal, by way of exception or by preliminary ruling reference by an authorized body and which has the effect of rendering any law deemed not to be in conformity with the constitution void or inapplicable. Depending on the state, the control of constitutionality can be centralized, diffuse or mixed.

1. Centralized control : Exercised exclusively by a specialized body, such as a constitutional council or constitutional court.
2. Diffuse control : Exercised by the ordinary courts of the judicial order.
3. Mixed control : Exercised by a specialized body or by the ordinary courts of the judicial order, due to the distribution of exclusive competences to one or the others, depending on the nature of the questions involved

Voting Systems and Other Methods of Composition of Parliamentary Bodies

The states’ laws reveal the existence of three prominent voting systems:

1. The majoritarian system : allocates seats to the candidates with the highest number of votes in a given electoral district. The required majority may be absolute or relative.
2. The proportional system : gives political parties a number of seats proportional to the number of votes obtained on the overall electoral results. The proportionality is established in a variety of ways.
3. Mixed systems : consist in a combination between the majoritarian and proportional voting models. To these three direct or indirect elective models are to be added other models of designation of parliamentary bodies, such as appointments or co-optation, particularly in the case of Senates.

Index of States and Corresponding Legal and Constitutional Systems

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