How is the UK Parliamentary System Different from India's Parliamentary System?
Discover how the UK Parliamentary System differs from India's Parliamentary System. Learn the key differences in parliamentary sovereignty, constitutional supremacy, the role of the head of state, and the powers of Parliament in both democracies.
India has borrowed its parliamentary system from the United Kingdom, but the working of the parliamentary system is different in both countries.
They both follow this system, as this system was derived from the British colonial era, and both countries have approaches to parliamentary sovereignty to evolve.
So, let’s see what the parliamentary system is and how the UK parliamentary system differs from India parliamentary system.
What is Parliamentary Form of System?
The Parliamentary form of system is a type of democracy in which the political party that wins the most seats in the national election forms the ruling government. In this type of system, the executive is drawn from the legislative.
In the parliamentary system, the executive and legislative are very close, and the executive depends on the confidence of the legislative.
What are the similarities in the UK Parliamentary system and the Indian Parliamentary System?
There are many similarities in the UK Parliamentary system and the Indian parliamentary system, which are:
-
Both countries have a head of state who is responsible for their country: the Monarchy in the UK and the president in India.
-
Both countries have a bicameral parliamentary system, which consists of an upper house (the House of Lords in the UK, and the Rajya Sabha in India), and the lower house (the House of Commons in the UK, and the Lok Sabha in India).
-
In both the countries, governance is based on majority rule, where the Prime Minister is serving as the leader of the party.
-
In the coalition government, all the leaders are binds together to form the government. Both he system are made dependent and responsible for each other to make them accountable and transparent.
UK Parliamentary System vs India's Parliamentary System
Above, we have seen many similarities in the UK's parliamentary and India’s parliamentary systems, but how is the UK Parliamentary system different from India’s Parliamentary system? Let’s see the differences.
-
While in the UK, Parliamentary sovereignty is the principle, and it has supreme legal authority to create or end any law.
-
But India follows the constitutional law, and the Constitution of India limits the powers of the legislature.
-
The President of India is the Head of State, who is indirectly elected for a term of five years, whereas in the UK, the Monarch hold the hereditary position.
-
In India, if the Prime Minister or other ministers are not members of parliament at the time of appointment, they all need to secure a seat within six months, but in the UK, the Prime Minister is traditionally a member of the House of Commons, who is already accountable to direct election.
So, now we come to know that India’s parliamentary system is borrowed from the UK, but with the similarity, there are many differences as well.
Prabhat Mishra is a Subject Matter Expert and digital journalist with an extensive background in the competitive exam landscape and over 4 years of experience in education, national and international news, and current affairs. Over his tenure with top knowledge platforms like Mentorship India, IAS BABA, IAS SARTHI, and now Jagran Josh, he has a deep understanding of government exams like UPSC and State PCS, including UP and Bihar, as he has already qualified for the UPPCS 2022 Mains and Bihar 68th Mains. With his core expertise in history, polity, geography & current affairs, he specialises in creating well-researched, aspirant-centric content and simplifying complex topics for competitive examinations.
