The parliamentary vote is the electoral system used by most of the world’s democracies. The defining characteristics of this system include supremacy of the legislature through a unicameral or bicameral parliament made up of representatives accountable to their constituents, and blurring or merging of the executive and legislative functions with the Prime Minister heading both.
Parliamentary democracies may be constitutional monarchies, where a monarch is head of state but the head of government is elected by parliament, or they may be a republic with a mostly ceremonial president as head of state and the head of government chosen from members of parliament. Parliamentary systems are favored by advocates of democracy because they purport to respond more readily to the will of the people.
Most parliamentary votes are conducted through proportional representation, although there are other voting methods, including first-past-the-post and single-member district plurality systems, that are sometimes used. The voters choose a political party to represent them and the candidates for each constituency are chosen by their party from a field of nominees. Often the party with the most votes in a constituency is elected.
Some countries also employ additional mechanisms to ensure that the elections are genuinely democratic, for example requiring a motion of no confidence by parliament or a supermajority in favour of an early election. These rules are not foolproof, however. As demonstrated by Greece, when these rules are bypassed an opportunistic opposition party can trigger a snap election and oust the incumbent government.
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