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Parliamentary government is representative government. Parliamentary government does not come in a single simple form. The crucial feature of a presidential system is that the executive is chosen separately from the legislature, and holds office regardless of the legislature. The relationship between executive and legislature is usually taken as the touchstone of the distinction between pure parliamentary and pure presidential regimes. There are three distinct subtypes of parliamentary government. The first, and historically the most important, focuses on the relationship between legislature and executive. The next emphasises the role of committees in legislation and in scrutiny of the executive. The third looks at the character of politics: is the pattern adversarial, or consensual? Britain stood out among democratic countries for the narrowness of scope, and the powerlessness, of its parliamentary committees. British parliamentary politics is adversary politics.