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Westminster System

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   The Houses of Parliament in London
   Enlarge
   The Houses of Parliament in London

   The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of
   government modelled after that of the United Kingdom system, as used in
   the Palace of Westminster, the location of the Parliament of the United
   Kingdom. The system is a series of procedures for operating a
   legislature. It is also used, or was once 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, Ireland,
   Jamaica, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malta. There are other
   parliamentary systems, for example those of Germany and Italy, whose
   procedures differ considerably from the Westminster system.

Key characteristics

   Important features of the Westminster system include:
     * A head of state who is the nominal or theoretical source of
       executive power, holds numerous reserve powers, but in practice is
       a ceremonial figurehead. Such examples include the British
       Sovereign or the President of India.
     * A de facto executive branch usually made up of members of the
       legislature with the senior members of the executive in a Cabinet;
       such members execute executive authority on behalf of the nominal
       or theoretical executive authority.
     * The presence of opposition parties;
     * An elected legislature, or a system in which one of two houses is
       elected and the other appointed;
     * The ability of the lower house of parliament to, by default,
       dismiss a government by "withholding (or blocking) Supply"
       (rejecting a budget), passing a no-confidence motion, or defeating
       a confidence motion. The Westminster system enables a government to
       be defeated, or forced into a general election, independently of a
       new government being chosen.
     * The ability for a parliament to be dissolved and elections called
       at any time.

   Most of the procedures of the Westminster system have originated with
   the conventions, practices and precedents of the UK parliament, which
   are a part of what is known as the British constitution. Unlike the UK,
   most countries that use the Westminster system have codified the system
   in a written constitution. However convention, practices and precedents
   continue to play a significant role in these countries, as many
   constitutions do not specify important elements of procedure: for
   example, older constitutions using the Westminster system, such as the
   Canadian constitution and the Australian constitution, may not even
   mention the existence of the Cabinet and the title of the head of the
   government ( Prime Minister), because these offices' existence and role
   evolved outside the primary constitutional text.

Operation

   In a Westminster system, some members of parliament are elected by
   popular vote, while others are appointed. All Westminster-based
   parliaments have a House of Commons, comprised of local, elected
   representatives of the people, and a smaller upper house, which can
   come in a variety of different forms, such as the british House of
   Lords (with membership previously determined only by heredity, but
   changed to a mixed election-heredity system), or the Canadian Senate
   (appointed by the Prime Minister). In Britan, the Commons is the de
   facto legislative body, while the House of Lords practices restraint in
   exercizing its constitutional powers and serves as a consultative body.
   In other Westminster countries, however, the equivalent upper house of
   parliament can sometimes exercize considerable power. 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 Kissing 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.

   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.

   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.

   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. This is a practical matter to allow the government to
   govern, and the support of the Senate is in no way required to form
   government; government is formed in the lower house alone. 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.

   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.

   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.

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". 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.

   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 news media, speculating on who
   will, or will not, be moved in and out of the Cabinet by the Prime
   Minister, because the appointment of ministers 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.

   Linked to Cabinet government is the idea, at least in theory, that
   ministers are responsible for the actions of their departments. 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.

   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.

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, though they often have the ability to force a government to
   reveal certain pieces of information.

Ceremonies

   The Westminster system has a very distinct appearance when functioning,
   with many British customs incorporated into day-to-day government
   function. A Westminster-style parliament is usually a long, rectangular
   room, with two rows of seats and desks on either side. The chairs are
   positioned so that the two rows are facing each other. The intended
   purpose of this arrangement is to create a visual representation of the
   adversarial nature of parliamentary government. Traditionally, the
   opposition parties will sit in one row of seats, and the government
   party will sit in the other. Of course, sometimes a majority government
   is so large that it must use the "opposition" seats as well. In the
   lower house at Westminster (the House of Commons) there are lines on
   the floor in front of the government and opposition benches that
   members may cross only when exiting the chamber. The distance between
   the lines is the length of two swords.

   At one end of the room sits a large chair, for the Speaker of the
   House. The speaker usually wears a black robe, and in many countries, a
   wig. Robed parliamentary clerks often sit at narrow tables between the
   two rows of seats, as well.

   Other ceremonies sometimes associated with the Westminster system
   include an annual Speech from the Throne (or equivalent) in which the
   Head of State gives a special address (written by the government) to
   parliament about what kind of policies to expect in the coming year,
   and lengthy State Opening of Parliament ceremonies that often involve
   the presentation of a large ceremonial mace.

Some countries under the Westminster system

   The Malaysian Parliament is modelled after the Westminster system.
   Enlarge
   The Malaysian Parliament is modelled after the Westminster system.
     * Australia
     * Barbados
     * Canada
     * Commonwealth of Dominica
     * Guyana
     * India
     * Republic of Ireland
     * Jamaica
     * Malaysia
     * Malta
     * New Zealand
     * Singapore
     * The Republic of South Africa (partially)
     * Trinidad and Tobago
     * The United Kingdom

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_System"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
