Government vs Parliament
The difference between government and parliament has to be understood carefully as they are easily confused due to the appearing similarity between their meanings. Actually the words, government and parliament, mean two different things. The word parliament represents the people. On the other hand, the word government is used in the sense of ‘that which runs the country.’ A government is elected by people too. This is the basic difference between the two words. Let us inquire more about each term to see what differences exist between them so that we can understand each term better.
What is Parliament?
Parliament is one of the highest legislative bodies where the decisions of the country are made. It is interesting to note that someone who is a member of parliament need not be associated with the government. His position of being in the parliament is not the same as being in the government. This is an important difference between the two words. Whether a member of the parliament belongs to the government or not, he or she has the power to participate actively in the decision-making process of the country by voting the suggestions that come to the parliament. Also, they have the power to bring important subjects into the parliament’s attention. Parliament is the highest place in the country where the representatives of the normal people come together to take decisions to make a better tomorrow for the country.
What is Government?
As a matter of fact, any political party that wins the elections, and has the majority of seats in the parliament runs the country and forms the government. This is the basic principle underlying the formation of a government.
By getting a majority in the election, the largely voted party forms the government outvoting all the other parties and thus, runs the country. The leader of a given government is either the president or the prime minister. On the other hand, some of the people in the parliament are chosen by the prime minister to run the country. Thus, it is understood that all the members of the parliament are not chosen to form the government.
It is important to understand that a government is different not only from the parliament, but also from the rest of the party that won the general election. It only means that each and every member of the party that has won the election is not chosen to form the government and run the country. Not all of them are given ministries to manage. However, they all actively participate in the parliament when there is voting to pass a bill or if there is some debate taking place. There is only a limited number of people in a government.
What is the difference between Government and Parliament?
• Meaning:
• Parliament is a legislative assembly in certain countries. This is the place that represents the common people of a country.
• The word government is used in the sense of ‘that which runs the country.’
• Election:
• Member of the Parliament (MP) are chosen by the people through voting in a general election.
• The party that has the highest number of members in the parliament forms the government.
• Formation:
• Not every member of the parliament is a member of the government. Only the members of the party with the majority power form the government.
• Head:
• The person who has the chair in the parliament is known as the Speaker of the Parliament. He is there to hold sessions, not to lead any party.
• The head of a government is either a prime minister or a president. They are there to lead the government.
• People’s Power:
• People of the country choose the members of the parliament through the general election.
• The party that gets the highest votes will be declared as the victorious party. The members of the government belong to the victorious party. From them, some are chosen to be ministers of the cabinet. This is the work of the prime minister or the president.
• So, from this you can see that the people in the country directly select the members of the parliament and indirectly select the members of the government.
These are the major differences between government and parliament.
Images Courtesy:
- The Australian Senate chamber by JJ Harrison (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Shanghai municipal government building by Baycrest (CC BY-SA 2.5)
