Title: Presidential system - Wikipedia
Headings: Presidential system
Presidential system
Contents
Characteristics
Subnational governments of the world
Advantages
Direct elections
Separation of powers
Speed and decisiveness
Stability
Criticism and disadvantages
Tendency towards authoritarianism
Political gridlock
Lack of accountability
Impediments to leadership change
Differences from a parliamentary system
Overlapping elements
States with a presidential system of government
Presidential systems
Presidential systems with a prime minister
Countries with a Supreme Leader
Presidential System in Administrative Divisions
Dependencies of United States
Special Administrative Regions of China
Former presidential republics
See also
Notes and references
External links

Content: Stability — a president, by virtue of a fixed term, may provide more stability than a prime minister, who can be dismissed at any time. Direct elections
In most presidential systems, the president is elected by popular vote, although some such as the United States use an electoral college or some other method. By this method, the president receives a personal mandate to lead the country, whereas in a parliamentary system a candidate might only receive a personal mandate to represent a constituency. That means a president can only be elected independently of the legislative branch. Separation of powers
A presidential system's separation of the executive from the legislature is sometimes held up as an advantage, in that each branch may scrutinize the actions of the other. In a parliamentary system, the executive is drawn from the legislature, making criticism of one by the other considerably less likely. A formal condemnation of the executive by the legislature is often considered a vote of no confidence. According to supporters of the presidential system, the lack of checks and balances means that misconduct by a prime minister may never be discovered. Writing about Watergate, Woodrow Wyatt, a former MP in the UK, said "don't think a Watergate couldn't happen here, you just wouldn't hear about it." ( ibid)
Critics respond that if a presidential system's legislature is controlled by the president's party, the same situation exists.