Presidential systems and democracy

Some of the most oft-stated reasons for opposing a New Zealand republic from the general public relate to the semi-presidential and presidential system. Our own research shows that there is little support for such a model in New Zealand.

The first problem with presidential systems is that they lag behind both constitutional monarchies and parliamentary republics when it comes to democracy. The most complete data we have on how democratic a country is can be found in The Economist's Democracy Index.

How to presidential systems compare?

First, here's the 24 constitutional monarchies:

The average Democracy Index rating is 6.99. Note that we've excluded the absolute monarchies Saudi Arabia, the Vatican and Oman, three states that are certainly not constitutional monarchies, and do not have elected assemblies (unlike Morocco or Jordan).

Now for Parliamentary republics, a system of government in 41 countries around the world:

The average rating for Parliamentary republics is 7.03.

Now, Semi-presidential systems, which are followed by 22 countries around the world:

Semi-presidential systems have an average of 4.76

And finally, Presidential systems:

Presidential systems have an average of 5.04

So as you can see, presidential systems are clearly less democratic.