Univerzitetska Misao (Jan 2022)
Parliamentarism and current systems of division of state government
Abstract
Parliamentarism arose as a negation of autocracy and political omnipotence, as a restraint and rejection of the cruelty and greed of charismatic and patrimonial rulers. Monarchist absolutism has long been powerful in suppressing that more complete essential feature of parliamentarism - its emancipatory, humanistic and democratic face. Parliamentary monarchy is, historically, the first state form in which the substance of the power of the traditional state is divided into three divided and redistributed activities in its exercise, three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. The principle of separation of powers is still the most important emancipatory principle of the modern state. From the point of view of parliamentary democracy and political pluralism, the principle of unity and the principle of division of state power are two polarities, two completely opposite values. The application of each of these two principles is strictly dependent on certain historical, socioeconomic and political circumstances and conditions in which a particular society finds itself. Even today, many believe that the application of the principle of unity of government achieves a broader and more complete democracy. This supremacy is reflected in the obligation for the executive and judicial bodies to work according to the law, apropos implementing the general decisions of the legislative body. Certainly, one of the most important reasons in the process of developing democracy and parliamentarism is the principle of separation of powers. It is necessary for each of the three branches of government to exercise its power, so that it stops and inhibits the arbitrariness of others. When we talk about a modern state, then we primarily have in mind the application and realization of the principle of separation of powers.
