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Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law [MPECCoL]

Presidential Systems

Kevin YL Tan

Content type:
Encyclopedia entries
Product:
Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law [MPECCoL]
Article last updated:
February 2017

From: Oxford Constitutions (http://oxcon.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved.date: 11 December 2024

Subject(s):
Constitutional processes — Legal system — Executive power — Heads of state and government — Structure of the Executive — Presidential systems — Checks and balances

General Editors: Rainer Grote, Frauke Lachenmann, Rüdiger Wolfrum
Managing Editor: Martina Mantovani

1. Of the world’s political systems, the presidential system of government is the most common and popular (forms of government). This system of government has its origins in the American presidential system of government and its Constitution of 1787, which created the office of ‘president’ as head of state. The word ‘president’ is derived from the Latin praesidens meaning ‘governor’ (Chambers 835). The word was first used to describe the highest official in a government branch in 1532, when Alexander Mylne, Abbot of Cambuskenneth became the first Lord President of...
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