File: Government constitutional monarchy. svg |< center > Constitutional monarchies with representative parliamentary systems are shown in green.

The system before Lenin was forced to leave was similar to that of parliamentary systems were the party cabinet, and not the party leadership, were the actual leaders of the country.

In parliamentary systems, the word " government " is used to refer to what in presidential systems would be the executive branch and to the governing party.

Some parallels can be drawn between the general election in parliamentary systems and the biennial elections determining all House seats, although there is no analogue to " calling early elections " in the U. S., and the members of the elected U. S. Senate face elections of only one-third at a time at two year intervals including during a general election.

In parliamentary systems the head of state may be merely the nominal chief executive officer of the state, possessing executive power ( hence the description of the monarch's governments in the UK Commonwealth realms as His / Her Majesty's Government ; a term indicating that all power belongs to the sovereign and the government acts on Her Majesty's behalf, not parliament's ).

The older the constitution, the more constitutional leeway tends to exist for a head of state to exercise greater powers over government, as many older parliamentary system constitutions in fact give heads of state powers and functions akin to presidential or semi-presidential systems, in some cases without containing reference to modern democratic principles of accountability to parliament or even to modern governmental offices.

Some Commonwealth parliamentary systems combine a body of written constitutional law, unwritten constitutional precedent, Orders in Council, letters patent, etc.

Other examples of heads of state in parliamentary systems using greater powers than usual, either because of ambiguous constitutions or unprecedented national emergencies, include the decision by King Léopold III of the Belgians to surrender on behalf of his state to the invading German army in 1940, against the will of his government.

Semi-presidential systems combine features of presidential and parliamentary systems, notably a requirement that the government be answerable to both the president and the legislature.

Under parliamentary systems the executive authority is exercised by the head of state, but in practice is done so on the advice of the cabinet of ministers.

" Examples of parliamentary systems in which the head of state is notional chief executive include Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, India, Italy, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom.

In many parliamentary systems, the head of government is appointed with the consent ( in practice often decisive ) of the legislature, and other figures are appointed on the head of government's advice.

In presidential systems, such as that of the United States, appointments are nominated by the President's sole discretion, but this nomination is often subject to parliamentary confirmation ( in the case of the US, the Senate has to approve cabinet nominees and judicial appointments by simple majority ).

It is usual that the head of state, particularly in parliamentary systems as part of the symbolic role, is the one who opens the annual sessions of the legislature, e. g. the annual State Opening of Parliament with the Speech from the Throne in Britain.

However, in most parliamentary systems, the head of state cannot refuse to sign a bill, and, in granting a bill their assent, indicate that it was passed in accordance with the correct procedures.

In some parliamentary systems, the head of state retains certain powers in relation to bills to be exercised at his or her discretion.

In most parliamentary systems, this is often done on the advice of the head of government.

In some parliamentary systems, and in some presidential systems, however, the head of state may do so on their own initiative.

In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the prime minister is the presiding and actual head of the government and head of the executive branch.

It has been theorised that such is the case in Canada as its parliament is less influential on the executive than in other countries with Westminster parliamentary systems ; particularly, Canada has fewer MPs, a higher turnover rate of MPs after each election, and an Americanised system for selecting political party leaders, leaving them accountable to the party membership rather than caucus, as is the case in the United Kingdom.

In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the prime minister is the presiding and actual head of the government and head of the executive branch.

The Government of Armenia's stated aim is to build a Western-style parliamentary democracy as the basis of its form of government.

Critics of this type of argument have tended to point out that this is just a standard criticism of representative democracy — a democratically elected government will not always act in the direction of greatest current public support — and that, therefore, there is no inconsistency in the leaders ' positions given that these countries are parliamentary democracies.

Politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the head of government, and of a multi-party system.

Politics of Botswana takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Botswana is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system.

Politics of Bulgaria take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system.

In April 1997, the Union of Democratic Forces ( UDF ) government won pre-term parliamentary elections and introduced an IMF currency board system which succeeded in stabilizing the economy.

Understandably, the opposition parties are active in exercising the parliamentary right to scrutinize government actions.

The politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions.

Politics of Cape Verde takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Cape Verde is the head of government, and of a multi-party system.

Politics of the Cayman Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic overseas territory, whereby the Premier is the head of government, and of a two-party system.

Tuđman died in 1999 and in the early 2000 parliamentary elections, the nationalist Croatian Democratic Union ( HDZ ) government was replaced by a center-left coalition under the Social Democratic Party of Croatia, with Ivica Račan as prime minister.

The new Račan government amended the Constitution, changing the political system from a presidential system to a parliamentary system, transferring most executive presidential powers from the president onto the institutions of the Parliament and the Prime Minister.

The politics of Croatia are defined by a parliamentary, representative democratic republic framework, where the Prime Minister of Croatia is the head of government in a multi-party system.

His forecast of the form of government suitable to the modern world may be seen as prophetic: the largely ceremonial offices of president in some modern parliamentary democracies in Europe and e. g. Israel can be perceived as elected or appointed versions of Hegel's constitutional monarch ; the Russian and French presidents, with their stronger powers, may also be regarded in Hegelian terms as wielding powers suitable to the embodiment of the national will.

In the Netherlands, Denmark and in Belgium, for example, the Monarch formally appoints a representative to preside over the creation of a coalition government following a parliamentary election, while in Norway the King chairs special meetings of the cabinet.

Unlike some of their continental European counterparts, the Monarch and her Governors-General in the Commonwealth realms hold significant " reserve " or " prerogative " powers, to be wielded in times of extreme emergency or constitutional crises usually to uphold parliamentary government.

Czech voters returned a split verdict in the June 2002 parliamentary elections, giving Social Democrats ( ČSSD ) and Communists majority, without any possibility to form a functioning government together due to Vladimír Špidla's strong anticommunism.

A coalition government ( known in the United States as a fusion administration ) is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate.

The 2010 general election resulted in a hung parliament ( Britain's first for 36 years ), following which the Conservatives ( led by David Cameron ), which had won the largest number of seats, formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats in order to gain a parliamentary majority, ending 13 years of Labour government.

During the 2008 Canadian parliamentary dispute, two of Canada's opposition parties signed an agreement to form what would become the country's second coalition government since Confederation if the minority Conservative government was defeated on a vote of non-confidence ; unseating Stephen Harper as Prime Minister.

It outlined Canada's system of government, which combines Britain's Westminster model of parliamentary government with division of sovereignty ( federalism ).