A parliamentary vote is a way to formally show support for a motion. This is different from a roll call vote, where persons raise their hands or stand to indicate their support for a motion. A parliamentary vote must be seconded and cannot be amended. It is used in many parliaments, including the United States House of Representatives.
Parliamentary systems are often found in countries derived from the British political tradition or that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. In a typical parliamentary system, people vote for candidates to represent electoral districts. The winner is the candidate whose party gets the most votes. In a few parliamentary systems, the voters use a proportional representation system to elect their representatives. This allows minority parties to have some representation in the parliament.
The leader of the majority party, or coalition of parties, selects a prime minister and department ministers. The head of state (or monarch in a constitutional monarchy, or president or chancellor in a republic) has ceremonial executive powers and can withhold royal assent from a bill, although this is rarely used.
Advocates of the parliamentary system claim that it is more responsive to popular influence than the presidential alternative. However, both parliamentary and presidential systems can be true democracies, provided they are governed by the essential characteristics of democracy: constitutionalism, representation based on democratic elections and guaranteed rights to liberty for all citizens.
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