Re: OT: For information only !

Christophe Grandsire said:
>
> Well, as Joe said, France is a presidential system and has a parliament.
> My understanding is that "congress" and "parliament" are just two
> different words for the same thing: "a legislative body composed of two
> houses". Unless someone can prove me that the American Congress is not
> composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives (as I've been taught),
>  I will consider those two terms as referring to the same thing. It's not
> the first time Americans feel the way to name things differently from
> other people :) .

Actually, these terms have pretty specific usage in political science.

In a parliamentary system, the head of government (generally called the
Prime Minister) is necessarily a sitting member of the legislative body
(generally called the Parliament).

In a congressional system, the head of government (sometimes called the
Prime Minister if she is not also the head of state, and sometimes called
the President if she is) is not necessarily (and probably almost always is
not) a sitting member of the legislative body (generally called the
Congress).


-- Mark




Polymathix
San Antonio, TX