Governmental Structures

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 454.

UNIT 6

The study of governmental structures must be approached with great caution, for political systems having the same kind of legal arrange­ments and using the same type of governmental machinery often function very differently. A parliament, for example, may be an im­portant and effective part of a political system, or it may be no more than an institutional facade of little practical significance. A constitu­tion may provide the framework within which the political life of a state is conducted, or it may be no more than a piece of paper, its pro­visions bearing almost no relationship to the facts of political life. Po­litical systems must never be classified in terms of their legal struc­tures alone: the fact that two states have similar constitutions with similar institutional provisions and legal requirements should never, by itself, lead to the conclusion that they represent the same type of political system.

To be useful, the study of governmental structures must always proceed hand in hand with an investigation of the actual facts of the political process: the analyst must exercise the greatest care in distin­guishing between form and reality and between prescription and prac­tice. Approached in this way, an examination of the organizational ar­rangements that governments use for making decisions and exercising power can be a valuable tool of political inquiry.