Parliamentary republic

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Parliamentary republic

A parliamentary republic or parliamentary constitutional republic is a form of a republic

Republic

A republic is a state or country that is not led by a hereditary monarch but in which the people have an impact on its government. The word originates from the Latin term res publica....
which operates under a parliamentary system

Parliamentary system

Parliamentary systems are characterized by no clear-cut separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches, leading to a different set of checks and balances compared to those found in presidential systems....
of government (a system with no clear-cut separation between the executive and legislative branches, but with a clear differentiation between the head of government

Head of government

The head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet . In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled Prime Minister, President of the Government, Premier, etc....
and the head of state

Head of State

Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state....
).

ontrast to a presidential republic and the Semi-presidential system

Semi-presidential system

The semi-presidential system is a system of government in which a Prime Minister and a president are both active participants in the day-to-day administration of the state....
, the head of state usually does not have broad executive powers as an executive president

Executive president

An executive president is a president who exercises active executive power in a certain system of government. Executive presidents are active in day-to-day governance of a nation, and are usually popularly elected....
would, because many of those powers have been granted to a "head of government" (usually called a prime minister

Prime minister

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Encyclopedia

A parliamentary republic or parliamentary constitutional republic is a form of a republic

Republic

Parliamentary system

Head of government

Head of State

The power of parliament

In contrast to a presidential republic and the Semi-presidential system

Semi-presidential system

Executive president

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of Cabinet in the Executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician....
). However, the head of government and head of state may form one office in a parliamentary republic (such as South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, Botswana

Botswana

The Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" , regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland Protectorate, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth of Nations on 30 September 1966....
and Nauru

Nauru

Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in the Micronesian Pacific Ocean....
), but the president is still selected in much the same way as the prime minister

Prime minister

Westminster System

The Westminster system is a Democracy parliamentary system of government modelled after the British government . The term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the UK Parliament....
s. This usually means that they are the leader of the largest party or coalition of parties in parliament.

In some instances, the President may legally have executive powers granted to them to undertake the day-to-day running of government (as in Finland) but by convention they either do not use these powers or they use them only to give effect to the advice of the parliament and/or head of government. Some parliamentary republics could therefore be seen as following the semi-presidential system but operating under a parliamentary system.

Historical development

Typically, parliamentary republics are states that were previously constitutional monarchies

Constitutional monarchy

A constitutional monarchy is a form of constitutional government, where in either an elected or hereditary monarch is the head of state, unlike in an absolute monarchy, wherein the king or the queen is the sole source of political power, as he or she is not legally bound by the constitution....
, with the position of head of state hitherto a monarch (and, in the case of some Commonwealth republic

Commonwealth republic

A republic in the Commonwealth of Nations is any one of the 31 sovereign states of the Commonwealth of Nations with a republican form of government....
s, formerly represented by a Governor General) being replaced by an elected non-executive president.

List of current Parliamentary republics

Country	Formerly	Parliamentary republic adopted	Head of state elected by
Albania Albania Albania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a country in Balkans. It is bordered by Greece to the south-east, Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, and the Republic of Macedonia to the east....	One-party state	1991	Parliament, by three-fifths majority
Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....	One-party state	1955	Direct, by second-round system
Bangladesh Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....	Presidential republic (Part of Pakistan)	1971	Parliament
Botswana Botswana The Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" , regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland Protectorate, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth of Nations on 30 September 1966....	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm Commonwealth Realm A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch.... )	1966	Parliament
Bulgaria Bulgaria The state of Bulgaria , Scientific transliteration Balgarija, officially the Republic of Bulgaria has played a significant role in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe for over fourteen centuries....	One-party state	1947	Directly, by second-round system
Croatia Croatia Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a Central European country at the crossroads of Pannonian Plain, Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea....	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia File:LocationYugoslavia2.pngYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century.... )	1991	Directly, by second-round system
Czech Republic Czech Republic The Czech Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east....	One-party state (Part of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918 until 1992 . On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolution of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.... )	1993	Parliament, by majority
Dominica Dominica The Commonwealth of Dominica, commonly known as Dominica, is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. To the north/northwest lies Guadeloupe, to the southeast Martinique....	British overseas territory British overseas territories The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories that are under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom, but which do not form part of the United Kingdom itself....	1978	Parliament, by majority
East Timor East Timor East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro Island and Jaco , and Oecussi-Ambeno, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor....	Military junta (Occupied by Indonesia Indonesia The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state.... )	1999	Directly, by second-round system
Estonia Estonia Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Finland across the Gulf of Finland, to the west by Sweden across the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russia ....	One-party state	1992	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Ethiopia Ethiopia Ethiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast....	One-party state	1991	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Russian Empire Russian Empire File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917.... )	1919	Directly, by second-round system
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....	One-party state	1949	Federal assembly (Parliament and state delegates), by absolute majority
Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....	Military junta; Constitutional monarchy	1975	Parliament, by majority
Hungary Hungary Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....	One-party state	1990	Parliament, by absolute majority
Iceland Iceland Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland , is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland....	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Denmark)	1944	Direct, by transferable vote
	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm Commonwealth Realm A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch.... )	1950	Parliament and state legislators, by single transferable vote
Iraq Iraq Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....	One-party state	2005	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Ireland Republic of Ireland Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm Commonwealth Realm A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch.... )	1936	Direct, by single transferable vote
Israel Israel Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....	Protectorate (Part of British Mandate of Palestine)	1948	Parliament, by majority
Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....	Constitutional monarchy	1946	Parliament, by majority
Kiribati Kiribati Kiribati , officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. It is composed of List of islands belonging to Kiribati and one Tectonic uplift island, dispersed over 3,500,000 square kilometres, straddling the equator, and bordering the International Date Line to the east....	Protectorate	1979	Citizens
Latvia Latvia Latvia The Latvians are a Baltic peoples culturally related to the Estonians and Lithuanians, with the Latvian language having many similarities with Lithuanian language, but not with the Estonian language....	One-party state	1991	Parliament
Lebanon Lebanon Lebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic , is a country in Western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea....	Protectorate (French mandate of Lebanon French Mandate of Lebanon The French Mandate of Lebanon was a League of Nations League of Nations Mandate created at the end of World War I. When the Ottoman Empire was formally split up by the Treaty of S?vres in 1920, it was decided that four of its territories in the Middle East should be League of Nations mandates temporarily governed by the United Kingdom and Fra... )	1941	Parliament
Lithuania Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest....	One-party state	1990	Direct, by second-round system
Macedonia Republic of Macedonia The Republic of Macedonia , , often referred to simply as Macedonia, is a landlocked country on the Balkans in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west....	One-party state (Part of the Yugoslavia Yugoslavia File:LocationYugoslavia2.pngYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century.... )	1991	Directly, by second-round system
Malta Malta Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm Commonwealth Realm A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch.... )	1974	Parliament, by majority
Marshall Islands Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands , officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands , is a Micronesian island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator....	UN Trust Territory (Part of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from July 18, 1947, comprising the former South Pacific Mandate, a League of Nations Mandate administered by Empire of Japan and taken by the U.S.... )	1979	Parliament
	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm Commonwealth Realm A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch.... )	1992	Parliament, by majority
Federated States of Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia is an island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, north of Papua New Guinea. The country is a sovereign state in Associated state with the United States....	UN Trust Territory (Part of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from July 18, 1947, comprising the former South Pacific Mandate, a League of Nations Mandate administered by Empire of Japan and taken by the U.S.... )	1986	Parliament
Mongolia Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and People's Republic of China to the south, east and west....	One-party state	1949	Parliament
Montenegro Montenegro Montenegro , Montenegrin language/Serbian language: ???? ????, Crna Gora , ) is a country located in Balkans. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Kosovo to the east and Albania to the south....	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia File:LocationYugoslavia2.pngYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century.... )	1992	Directly, by second-round system
Nauru Nauru Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in the Micronesian Pacific Ocean....	Australian Trust Territory	1968	Parliament
Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....	One-party state	1990	Directly, by second-round system
Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....	One-party state (Military junta transition)	1976	Directly, by second-round system
Samoa Samoa Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa , is a country governing the western part of the Samoan Islands archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean....	Territory of New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....	2007	Parliament
Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government.... )	1965	Directly, by second-round system
Slovakia Slovakia Slovakia . It was amended in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president and again in February 2001 due to EU admission requirements....	One-party state (Part of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918 until 1992 . On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolution of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.... )	1993	Parliament (before 1999) Directly, by second-round system (since 1999)
Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north....	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm Commonwealth Realm A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch.... )	1961	Parliament, majority
Suriname Suriname Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname is a country in northern South America. Originally, the country was spelled Surinam by English settlers who founded the first colony at Marshall's Creek, along the Suriname River, and was Geographical renaming Nederlands Guyana, Netherlands Guiana or Dutch Guiana....	One party Military Dictatorship	1987	Parliament
Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....	Military junta (Occupied by France)	1802	Parliament
	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm Commonwealth Realm A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch.... )	1976	Parliament
Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....	Constitutional monarchy (Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923.... )	1923	Direct (since 2007, previously by parliament)
Vanuatu Vanuatu Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, north-east of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and south of the Solomon Islands, near New Zealand....	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm Commonwealth Realm A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch.... )	1980	Parliament and regional council presidents, by majority
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....	Presidential republic	2008	Directly, by second-round system

List of former Parliamentary republics

Country	Year became a Parliamentary republic	Year status changed	Changed to	Status changed due to
	1961	1963	Presidential system Presidential system A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not wikt:accountable and which cannot, in normal circumstances, wikt:dismiss it....	Referendum
	1891	1925	Presidential system Presidential system A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not wikt:accountable and which cannot, in normal circumstances, wikt:dismiss it....	Referendum
French Third Republic French Third Republic The French Third Republic was the political regime of France between the Second French Empire and the Vichy France. It was a republican parliamentary democracy that was created on 4 September 1870 following the collapse of the Empire of Napoleon III of France in the Franco-Prussian War....	1870	1940	Vichy France Vichy France Vichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the French Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal of France Philippe P?tain pro... and Free France	German invasion (World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers.... )
French Fourth Republic French Fourth Republic The Fourth Republic was the republicanism government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican Constitution of France. It was in many ways a revival of the French Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems....	1946	1958	Semi Presidential republic Semi-presidential system The semi-presidential system is a system of government in which a Prime Minister and a president are both active participants in the day-to-day administration of the state.... (French Fifth Republic French Fifth Republic The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current Republicanism Constitution of France of France, which was introduced on October 5, 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing a parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system.... )	Political instability
	1987	2006	Military junta	Military coup (2006) 2006 Fijian coup d'état The Fijian coup d'?tat of December 2006 occurred as a continuation of the pressure which had been building since the military unrest of the 2000 Fijian coup d'?tat and 2005-2006 Fijian political crisis....
	1970	1980	Semi Presidential republic Semi-presidential system The semi-presidential system is a system of government in which a Prime Minister and a president are both active participants in the day-to-day administration of the state....	Constitutional amendment
	1945	1959	Presidential system Presidential system A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not wikt:accountable and which cannot, in normal circumstances, wikt:dismiss it....	Constitutional amendment
	1956		Presidential system Presidential system A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not wikt:accountable and which cannot, in normal circumstances, wikt:dismiss it....	Constitutional amendment
	1963	1979	Presidential system Presidential system A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not wikt:accountable and which cannot, in normal circumstances, wikt:dismiss it....	Constitutional amendment
	1972	1978	Presidential system Presidential system A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not wikt:accountable and which cannot, in normal circumstances, wikt:dismiss it....	Constitutional amendment
	1963	1966	Presidential system Presidential system A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not wikt:accountable and which cannot, in normal circumstances, wikt:dismiss it....	Suspension of the constitution

Parliamentary republic

The power of parliament

Historical development

List of current Parliamentary republics

List of former Parliamentary republics

See also