Westminster System

The Westminster System is a democratic system of government modelled after that of the United Kingdom system, as used in the Palace of Westminster, the location of the UK parliament. The system is a series of procedures for operating a legislature. It is used, or was once also used, in most Commonwealth and ex-Commonwealth nations, beginning with the Canadian provinces in the mid-19th century. It is also used in Australia, India, the Republic of Ireland, Jamaica, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. There are other parliamentary systems, for example those of Germany and Italy, whose procedures differ considerably from the Westminster system.

Operation

In a Westminster system, the members of parliament are elected by popular vote. The head of government is usually chosen by being invited to form a government (that is, an administration), by the head of state or the representative of the head of state (that is, the governor-general), not by parliamentary vote. (See Kiss Hands.) There are notable exceptions to the above in the Republic of Ireland, where the President of Ireland has a mandate through direct election, and the Taoiseach (prime minister) prior to appointment by the President of Ireland is nominated by the democratically elected lower house, Dáil Éireann.

Related Topics:
Administration - Head of state - Governor-general - Kiss Hands - President of Ireland - Mandate - Direct election - Taoiseach - Dáil Éireann

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Because of the mandate and the potentially significant constitutional powers of the Irish president, some authorities believe the Irish constitution is as similar to semi-presidential systems, as it is to Westminster. Similarly, under the constitutions of some Commonwealth countries, a president or Governor-General may possess clearly significant reserve powers. One example is the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975, in which the Governor-General dismissed the Prime Minister, who held a majority in the Australian House of Representatives. Because of constitutional differences, the formal powers of presidents and Governors-General vary greatly from one country to another. However, as Governors-General are not directly elected, they lack the popular mandate held, for example, by an Irish president. Because of this, Governors-General rarely risk the public disapproval which would result from them making unilateral and/or controversial uses of their powers.

Related Topics:
Semi-presidential system - Reserve powers - Australian constitutional crisis of 1975 - Australian House of Representatives

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The head of government, usually called the Prime Minister, must be able either (a) to control a majority of seats within the lower house, (b) to ensure the existence of no absolute majority against them. If the parliament passes a resolution of no confidence or if the government fails to pass a major bill such as the budget, then the government must either resign so that a different government can be appointed or seek a parliamentary dissolution so that new public elections may be held in order to re-confirm or deny their mandate.

Related Topics:
Head of government - Prime Minister - Absolute majority - Resolution of no confidence - Bill - Budget - Dissolution - Mandate

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In addition to a majority in the Australian House of Representatives, an Australian prime minister must also secure a Senate which is willing to pass budgets. Many political scientists have held that the Australian system of government was consciously devised as a blend or hybrid of the Westminster and the United States systems of government, especially since the Australian Senate is a very powerful upper house. This notion is expressed in the nickname "Washminster system". For example, the Australian Senate maintains similar powers to those held by the US Senate or the British House of Lords, prior to 1911, to block supply to a party with a majority in the House of Representatives.

Related Topics:
Australian House of Representatives - Australian system of government - United States systems of government - Australian Senate

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Although the dissolution of the legislature and the call for new elections is formally done by the head of state, by convention the head of state acts according to the wishes of the head of government.

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In exceptional circumstances the head of state may either refuse a dissolution request, as in the King-Byng Affair, or dismiss the government, as in the Australian crisis of 1975. Either action is likely to bend or break existing conventions. The Lascelles Principles were an attempt to create a convention to cover similar situations, but have not been tested in practice.

Related Topics:
King-Byng Affair - Dismiss - Lascelles Principles

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Cabinet government

In his book "The English Constitution" which was published in 1876, Walter Bagehot emphasised the divide of the constitution into two components: the Dignified (that part which is symbolic) and the Efficient (the way things actually work and get done) and called the Efficient "Cabinet Government".{{ref|cabinet}} Although there have been many works since emphasising different aspects of the "Efficient", no one has seriously questioned Bagehot's premise that the divide exists in the Westminster system.

Related Topics:
1876 - Walter Bagehot - Cabinet Government

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Members of the Cabinet are collectively seen as responsible for government policy. All Cabinet decisions are made by consensus, a vote is never taken in a Cabinet meeting. All ministers, whether senior and in the Cabinet, or junior ministers, must support the policy of the government publicly regardless of any private reservations. When a Cabinet reshuffle is imminent, a lot of time is taken up in the conversations of politicians and in the new media, speculating on who will, or will not, be moved in and out of the Cabinet by the Prime Minster, because the appointment of minsters to the Cabinet and threat of dismissal from the Cabinet, is the single most powerful constitutional power which a Prime Minister has in the political control of the Government in the Westminster system.

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Linked to Cabinet government is the idea, at least in theory, that ministers are responsible for the actions of their departments. However, because many government departments are huge bureaucracies with powerful senior staff, the ministers in charge of departments are now held accountable only for the implementation of policy decisions and any misconduct of themselves and those civil servants over whom they have direct control. It is no longer considered to be an issue of resignation if the actions of members of their department, over whom the minister has no direct control, make mistakes or formulate procedures which are not in accordance with agreed policy decisions. One of the major powers of the Prime Minister under the Westminster system is to be the arbitrator of when a fellow minister is accountable for the actions of his or her department.

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The Official Opposition and other major political parties not in the Government, will mirror the governmental organisation with their own Shadow Cabinet made up of Shadow Ministers.

Related Topics:
Official Opposition - Shadow Cabinet - Shadow Minister

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Consequences

The Westminster system tends to have extremely well-disciplined legislative parties in which it is highly unusual for a legislator to vote against their party, and in which no-confidence votes are very rare. Also, Westminster systems tend to have strong cabinets in which cabinet members are politicians with independent bases of support. Conversely, legislative committees in Westminster systems tend to be weak.

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