ABSTRACT
Compared to the American separation of powers system, the parliamentary democracies of Western Europe regulate the interaction between the representative and executive branches of government in a simple and straightforward way. Departmental ministers, belonging to a fairly united cabinet and presupposing the support of a majority in Parliament, are in charge of ministerial departments. In this capacity their authority is only restricted in two ways: they have to keep within the legal confines of the law and the political constraints imposed by Parliament. But in a short-and medium-term perspective, none of these constraints presents a real challenge. The legal constraints are quite wide and mostly allow considerable discretion, and as the government enjoys majority support, the political constraints are bearable. As departmental executives, ministers can even revoke authority delegated to officers within the departmental hierarchy at any time; this also applies to specific cases involving individual citizens and private firms.
