A parliamentary republic, unlike a direct democracy or constitutional republic, is a system of representative government in which the people elect their representatives in a national legislature, and the legislature then chooses its own executive from the dominant political party.
Generally, political parties in parliamentary republics are very popular. The government may have a constitution, but generally, parliamentary republics pattern themselves on the Westminster model under which the government is bound by Common Law, rather than an enumerated legal document.
Ireland is a parliamentary republic; citizens vote for their members of the Dáil (Parliament), and the political party or coalition with the largest percentage hold of the Dáil then selects its leader to be Taoiseach (Prime Minister).
List of Parliamentary Republics (2008)
- Albania
- Austria
- Bangladesh
- Botswana
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Dominica
- East Timor
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Finland
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Montenegro
- Poland
- Portugal
- Samoa
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- Switzerland
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turkey
- Vanuatu
References
- Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy