Checks and Balances: Parliamentary Government

Checks and Balances: Parliamentary Government

The principle of checks and balances is not well developed under the cabinet system of government largely because the three branches of government perform overlapping functions, and are so interconnected that it is diflicult to separate one from the other. As said before, the Lord Chancellor in Britain straddles the three arms of government. As such, the three arms of government are more or less one, and cannot, in reality, exercise effective control over one another.

The Prime Minister and Cabinet in a Parliamentary Government

In a parliamentary system, a clear distinction is made between the head of  state and the head of government (Prime Minister), a executive and the executive. Here, the head of the state, King or Queen in Britain or President in India, possesses nominal or titular authority whereas the real authority rests with the government of which the Prime Minister is the head.