Abstract
Our research is based on an observation. There is an overestimation, particularly doctrinal, of the real influence that the popular election of the President of the Republic is likely to exert on the functioning of parliamentary regimes in the European space. If the importance of the designation of the Head of State through universal suffrage cannot be denied, it is however possible to attenuate the expectations surrounding this legal mechanism. To demonstrate this, the research proposes to establish a ternary classification of parliamentary regimes. Its use will make it possible to qualify the considerable influence which is most often granted to the direct presidential election. It effectively underlines that the establishment of the role played by the presidents directly elected by the people, as well as the functioning of the parliamentary systems in which they are part, are not only determined by their mode of appointment. Many other factors are likely to come into play. The popular election therefore appears as one element among others and not as the unique element determining the true face of the parliamentary system.