Westminster system

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The Houses of Parliament in Westminster
The Westminster system is named after the Palace of Westminster, the home of the UK Parliament.
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The Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of

semi-presidential system, based on the government of France
.

The Westminster system is used, or was once used, in the national and

Canadian provinces in 1848 and the six Australian colonies between 1855 and 1890.[4][5][6] It is the form of government bequeathed to New Zealand,[4] and former British Hong Kong.[7][8]Israel adopted a largely Westminster-inspired system of government upon declaring independence from the British Mandate of Palestine. However, some former colonies have since adopted either the presidential system (Nigeria for example) or a hybrid system (like South Africa
) as their form of government.

Characteristics

The Westminster system of government may include some of the following features:[9]

Most of the procedures of the Westminster system originated with the conventions, practices, and precedents of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which form a part of what is known as the Constitution of the United Kingdom. Unlike the uncodified British constitution, most countries that use the Westminster system have codified the system, at least in part, in a written constitution.

However, uncodified conventions, practices, and precedents continue to play a significant role in most countries, as many constitutions do not specify important elements of procedure. For example, some older constitutions using the Westminster system do not mention the existence of the cabinet or the prime minister, because these offices were taken for granted by the authors of these constitutions. Sometimes these conventions,

Sir John Kerr, dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and replaced him with opposition leader Malcolm Fraser
.

Summary of the typical structure of the Westminster model

Type Bicameral (unicameral in some circumstances) Upper house (approves laws)
Lower house (represents the people)
Leadership Head of state Monarch (sometimes represented by a
vice-regal
representative, such as a governor or governor-general) or ceremonial president.
Head of government

Prime minister (sovereign state/country)
Premier/chief minister (provinces, states, territories)

Other titles include first minister, chief executive, president of the council of ministers.

Presiding officers of legislative chambers Speaker of the upper house
Speaker of the lower house
General Government

Led by the head of government.
A cabinet is formed (normally) from members of the largest party or coalition in the legislature, chosen by the head of government.
In parliaments without political parties, cabinet members are either chosen by the prime minister or elected by members at large.
It is also responsible to the parliament, to which it reports and is accountable (in particular, to the lower house, if bicameral).

Opposition Led by the leader of the opposition. A shadow cabinet is formed out of the elected members of the largest party or coalition in the legislature not in government, chosen by the party leader (the leader of the opposition).
Public service Politically independent and available to the people of the state, that will work for various government organisations (health, housing, education, defence).
Armed forces Defensive organisation of the state/country.

Operation

The pattern of executive functions within a Westminster system is quite complex. In essence, the

head of state, usually a monarch or president, is a ceremonial figurehead who is the theoretical, nominal or de jure
source of executive power within the system. In practice, such a figure does not actively exercise executive powers, even though executive authority is nominally exercised in their name.

The head of government, usually called the prime minister or premier, will ideally have the support of a majority in the responsible house, and must, in any case, be able to ensure the existence of no absolute majority against the government. If the parliament passes a motion of no confidence, or refuses to pass an important 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 general elections may be held in order to re-confirm or deny the government's mandate.

Executive authority within a Westminster system is de jure exercised by the cabinet as a whole, along with more junior

executive power, including the appointment and dismissal of cabinet members. This results in the situation where individual cabinet members in effect serve at the pleasure of the prime minister. Thus the cabinet is strongly subordinate to the prime minister as they can be replaced at any time, or can be moved ("demoted") to a different portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle
for "underperforming".

In the United Kingdom, the sovereign theoretically holds executive authority, even though the

Council of Ministers. In Israel, however, executive power is vested de jure and de facto in the cabinet and the president
is de jure and de facto a ceremonial figurehead.

As an example, the prime minister and cabinet (as the

advice
of the Prime Minister.

This custom also occurs in other countries are regions around the world using the Westminster System, as a legacy of

British colonial rule. In Commonwealth realms such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the day-to-day functions that would be exercised by the sovereign personally in the United Kingdom are instead exercised by the governor-general. In such nations, the prime minister is obligated to formally seek permission from the governor-general
when implementing executive decisions, in a manner similar to the British system.

An analogous scenario also exists in republics in the Commonwealth of Nations, such as India or Trinidad and Tobago, where there is a president who functions similarly to a governor-general.

An unusual case lies in Israel and Japan, where the respective prime ministers have the full legal power to implement executive decisions, and presidential (in Israel) or imperial (in Japan) approval is not required; the prime ministers of these nations are fully the de jure source of executive authority, and not the head of state.

The head of state will often hold meetings with the head of government and cabinet, as a means of keeping abreast of governmental policy and as a means of advising, consulting and warning ministers in their actions. Such a practice takes place in the United Kingdom and India. In the UK, the sovereign holds confidential weekly meetings with the prime minister to discuss governmental policy and to offer his or her opinions and advice on issues of the day. In India, the prime minister is constitutionally bound to hold regular sessions with the president, in a similar manner to the aforementioned British practice. In essence, the head of state, as the theoretical executive authority, "reigns but does not rule". This phrase means that the head of state's role in government is generally ceremonial and as a result does not directly institute executive powers. The

reserve powers
of the head of state are sufficient to ensure compliance with some of their wishes. However, the extent of such powers varies from one country to another and is often a matter of controversy.

Such an executive arrangement first emerged in the United Kingdom. Historically, the

British sovereign held and directly exercised all executive authority. George I of Great Britain (reigned 1714 to 1727) was the first British monarch to delegate some executive powers to a prime minister and a cabinet of the ministers,[citation needed] largely because he was also the monarch of Hanover in Germany and did not speak English fluently. Over time, further arrangements continued to allow the execution of executive authority on the sovereign's behalf and more and more de facto power ended up lying in the Prime Minister's hands. Such a concept was reinforced in The English Constitution (1876) by Walter Bagehot, who distinguished between the separate "dignified" and "efficient" functions of government. The sovereign should be a focal point for the nation ("dignified"), while the PM and cabinet actually undertook executive decisions ("efficient").[13]

Electoral system, ministers and officials

The electoral system is often set out in a Representation of the People Act.[14][15] Common ministerial titles include parliamentary secretary and under-secretary. Ministers are supported by private secretaries and government departments are run by permanent secretaries, principal secretaries or chief secretaries.

Role of the head of state

The

head of state or their representative (such as a governor-general) formally appoints as the head of government whoever commands the confidence of the lower or sole house of the legislature and invites him or her to form a government. In the UK, this is known as kissing hands
. Although the dissolution of the legislature and the call for new elections is formally performed by the head of state, the head of state, by convention, acts according to the wishes of the head of government.

A president, monarch, or governor-general might possess clearly significant

Australian constitutional crisis of 1975 and the Canadian King–Byng affair in 1926. The Lascelles Principles
were an attempt to create a convention to cover similar situations, but have not been tested in practice. Because of differences in their written constitutions, the formal powers of monarchs, governors-general, and presidents vary greatly from one country to another. However, as sovereigns and governors-general are not elected, and some presidents may not be directly elected by the people, they are often shielded from any public disapproval stemming from unilateral or controversial use of their powers.

In many

Commonwealth realms a governor-general formally represents the monarch, who is usually absent from the realm. In such countries, the identity of the "head of state" may be unclear.[16]

Cabinet government

Main article: Cabinet collective responsibility

In the book

Cabinet Government".[13]

Members of the Cabinet are collectively seen as responsible for government policy, a policy termed cabinet collective responsibility. All Cabinet decisions are made by consensus, a vote is rarely 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.

The

Shadow Ministers
.

Bicameral and unicameral parliaments

Canadian Parliament at night
New Delhi, India
Knesset Building, Jerusalem

In a Westminster system, some members of parliament are elected by popular vote, while others are appointed. Nearly all Westminster-based parliaments have a

House of Commons (under various names), comprising local, elected representatives of the people (with the only exception
being elected entirely by nationwide Proportional Representation). Most also have a smaller upper house, which is made up of members chosen by various methods:

In the UK, the lower house is the de facto legislative body, while the upper house practices restraint in exercising its constitutional powers and serves as a consultative body. In other Westminster countries, however, the upper house can sometimes exercise considerable power, as is the case for the Australian Senate.

Some Westminster-derived parliaments are

unicameral
for two reasons:

Chief Executive. Secretaries had remained to be chosen by the Chief Executive not from the Legislative Council, and their appointments need not be approved by the Legislative Council. Although essentially more presidential than parliamentary, the Legislative Council had inherited many elements of the Westminster system, including parliamentary powers, privileges and immunity, and the right to conduct inquiries, amongst others. Minutes are known as Hansards, and the theme colour of the meeting chamber is red as in other upper houses. Government secretaries and other officials are seated on the right hand side of the President
in the chamber. The Chief Executive may dissolve the Legislative Council under certain conditions, and is obliged to resign, e.g., when a re-elected Legislative Council passes again a bill that he or she had refused to sign.

"Washminster system"

The Australian Senate

The waters of the Thames and of the Potomac both flow into Lake Burley Griffin.

— James Killen, Farewell Parliament House - Sunday May 8, 1988

United States Constitution as well as from the traditions and conventions of the Westminster system and some indigenous features. Australia is exceptional because the government faces a fully elected upper house, the Senate, which must be willing to pass all its legislation. Although government is formed in the lower house, the House of Representatives, the support of the Senate is necessary in order to govern.[18][19][20][21][22][23]

The Australian Senate is unusual in that it maintains an ability to

United States systems of government, especially since the Australian Senate is a powerful upper house like the US Senate; this notion is expressed in the nickname "the Washminster mutation".[24] The ability of upper houses to block supply also features in the parliaments of most Australian states
.

The Australian system has also been referred to as a semi-parliamentary system.[25]

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. Many chambers connect the opposing rows, either with a perpendicular row of seats and desks at the furthermost point from the Speaker's Chair at the opposite end of the chamber (e.g. UK House of Lords or Israel Knesset) or the rows of chairs and desks are rounded at the end, opposite to the Speaker's Chair (e.g. Australian chambers, Ireland, South Africa, India). The chairs in which both the government and opposition sit, are positioned so that the two rows are facing each other. This arrangement is said to have derived from an early Parliament which was held in a church choir. Traditionally, the opposition parties will sit in one row of seats, and the government party will sit in the other. In some countries, the mace will face the government’s side whilst lying on the table of the House. In most majority governments, the number of government-party MPs is so large that it must use the "opposition" seats as well. In the lower house at Westminster (the UK's 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.

At one end of the room sits a large chair, for the

wig. Robed parliamentary clerks
often sit at narrow tables between the two rows of seats, as well. These narrow tables in the centre of the chamber, is usually where ministers or members of the house come to speak.

Other ceremonies sometimes associated with the Westminster system include an annual

Speech from the Throne (or equivalent thereof) 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 legislatures retain Westminster's colour-coded chambers, with the upper houses associated with the colour red (after the House of Lords) and the lower with green (after the House of Commons). This is the case in India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Barbados.

Current countries

Countries that use variations on the theme of the Westminster system, as of 2023, include the following:

Country Legislature System of govt. Notes/Differences from the standard Westminster model
Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda Parliament:
Senate
House of Representatives 		Monarchy
Australia Australia Parliament:
Senate
House of Representatives 		Monarchy Federated nation, meaning that the power to govern the country and its people is shared and divided between national and state governments.
Lower house is elected using instant-runoff voting. Upper house is elected by single transferable vote (a form of proportional representation) with each state and territory treated as individual electorates. Queensland has a unicameral state parliament while all other states have bicameral parliaments. The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory have unicameral legislatures.
The Bahamas The Bahamas Parliament:
Senate
House of Assembly
Monarchy
Bangladesh Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad Republic
Barbados Barbados Parliament:
Senate
House of Assembly 		Republic
Belize Belize National Assembly:
Senate
House of Assembly 		Monarchy
Canada Canada Parliament:
Senate
House of Commons 		Monarchy Federated nation, meaning that the power to govern the country and its people is shared and divided between national and provincial governments.
Caucuses require official party status for some parliamentary privileges.
Two of its territorial parliaments operate without any caucuses other than cabinet, and therefore have no leader of the opposition.
Cayman Islands Cayman Islands Parliament Monarchy British Overseas Territory, meaning ultimate authority for its government resides with the UK Parliament in Westminster
Denmark Denmark Folketing Monarchy Essentially identical to the Westminster system in function, but developed independently, though with inspiration from the UK. Proportional representation is used to elect the Folketing.

One of five countries other than the UK to use a Westminster system with a native monarch, along with Japan, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Dominica Dominica House of Assembly Republic
Fiji Fiji Parliament Republic
Grenada Grenada Parliament:
Senate
House of Representatives 		Monarchy
India India Parliament:
Rajya Sabha
Lok Sabha 		Republic Federated nation, meaning that the power to govern the country and its people is shared and divided between national and state governments. The Lok Sabha (lower house) is popularly elected via first past the post. The Rajya Sabha (upper house) is mostly elected by the members of state/union territory legislatures using single transferable vote with a handful of members being appointed by the President of India.
Republic of Ireland Ireland Oireachtas:
Seanad Éireann
Dáil Éireann 		Republic Dáil Éireann (the lower house) is elected by universal suffrage by single transferable vote from constituencies of 3 to 5 members. President is directly elected using instant-runoff voting. The prime minister has the title of Taoiseach (in the Irish language meaning roughly "captain" or "leader") and is appointed by the president on the nomination of the Dáil.
Italy Italy Italian Parliament:
Senate of the Republic
Chamber of Deputies 		Republic Very similar to the Westminster system but developed independently, though with inspiration from the UK. Notably, the
perfect bicameralism, with the Senate of the Republic and Chamber of Deputies exercising identical powers; thus, a government must maintain majorities in both. The Chamber of Deputies and most of the Senate are directly elected through parallel voting. Five people appointed by the President of Italy, as well as previous Presidents of Italy, serve as senators for life
.
Israel Israel Knesset Republic Modified Westminster system: Powers which would have been exercised by the President of Israel are divided between the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and the speaker of the legislature.
The Prime Minister was directly elected from 1996 to 2001.[26] Closed list party-list proportional representation is used to elect members to the Knesset.
Japan Japan
House of Councillors
House of Representatives
 Monarchy Modified Westminster system: many non-
reserve powers do not exist. Both houses are elected using parallel voting. Parallel voting is used for both houses of the National Diet
.

One of five countries other than the UK to use a Westminster system with a native monarch, along with Denmark, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Jamaica Jamaica Parliament:
Senate
House of Representatives 		Monarchy
Kuwait Kuwait
National Assembly
 Monarchy In principle; in practice, the monarchy exercises executive power.
Lesotho Lesotho Parliament:
Senate
National Assembly 		Monarchy Constitutional monarchy that operates under a Westminster system.

One of five countries other than the UK to use a Westminster system with a native monarch, along with Denmark, Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Malaysia Malaysia Parliament:
Dewan Negara
Dewan Rakyat 		Monarchy (elective) Federated nation, meaning that the power to govern the country and its people is shared and divided between national and state governments.
The Yang-di-Pertuan Agong shares characteristics of heads of state in both monarchies and republics.
Malta Malta Parliament Republic
Mauritius Mauritius National Assembly Republic
Nepal Nepal Parliament:
National Assembly
House of Representatives 		Republic[27] Federated nation, meaning that the power to govern the country and its people is shared and divided between national and state governments.
New Zealand New Zealand Parliament Monarchy Uses
Several seats in NZ Parliament are reserved for election by Indigenous Māori
voters.
Pakistan Pakistan
National Assembly
 Republic Federated nation, meaning that the power to govern the country and its people is shared and divided between national and provincial governments.
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Parliament Monarchy One significant deviation it has from the traditional Westminster model is that a person is nominated for the position of Governor-General not by the Prime Minister but by a majority vote in Parliament, then they are appointed by the monarch. Members are elected to the Parliament by instant-runoff voting.
Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis National Assembly Monarchy
Saint Lucia Saint Lucia Parliament:
Senate
House of Assembly 		Monarchy
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines House of Assembly Monarchy
Samoa Samoa Legislative Assembly Republic
Singapore Singapore Parliament Republic
first-past-the-post
voting.
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands Parliament of the Solomon Islands
Monarchy
 One significant deviation it has from the traditional Westminster model is that a person is nominated for the position of
Prime Minister
but by a majority vote in Parliament, then they are appointed by the monarch, similar to neighboring Papua New Guinea.
Thailand Thailand
House of Representatives
 Monarchy One of five countries other than the UK to use a Westminster system with a native monarch, along with Denmark, Japan, Lesotho, and Malaysia.
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Parliament:
Senate
House of Representatives 		Republic
Tuvalu Tuvalu Parliament Monarchy
United Kingdom United Kingdom Parliament:
House of Lords
House of Commons 		Monarchy Between 2011 (Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011) and 2022 (Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022), the Prime Minister did not have the ability to call early elections.
Vanuatu Vanuatu Parliament Republic

Former countries

The Westminster system was adopted by a number of countries which subsequently evolved or reformed their system of government departing from the original model. In some cases, certain aspects of the Westminster system were retained or codified in their constitutions. For instance South Africa and Botswana, unlike Commonwealth realms or parliamentary republics such as India, have a combined head of state and head of government but the President remains responsible to the lower house of parliament; it elects the President at the beginning of a new Parliament, or when there is a vacancy in the office, or when the sitting President is defeated on a vote of confidence. If the Parliament cannot elect a new President within a short period of time (a week to a month) the lower house is dissolved and new elections are called.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-0521128650
    .
  2. ISBN 978-9004151741
    .
  3. ^ "How the Westminster Parliamentary System was exported around the World". University of Cambridge. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9780773525085
    .
  5. ISBN 978-9047423935
    .
  6. ISBN 9780313273261
    .
  7. ISBN 9789403518213
    .
  8. ISBN 9789004276284
    .
  9. ^ "The Westminster System – Public Service Commission". www.psc.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  10. ^ a b "OBA.org – Articles". www.oba.org.
  11. ^ "Reinvigorating The Westminster Tradition". Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  12. ^ "The Role of the Opposition". academic.oup.com. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  13. ^ a b Bagehot, Walter (1876). The English Constitution (1st ed.). London: Chapman & Hall.
  14. ^ Alder and Syrett. Constitutional and Administrative Law. (Palgrave Law Masters). 11th Edition. 2017. p 294. Birch. The British System of Government. 10th Edition. Routledge. 1998. Taylor & Francis e-Library. 2006. p 17.
  15. ^ See, for example, the definition in section 8(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1884, read with the definition of the Registration Acts in section 8(2)
  16. ISSN 1323-5664. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 17 January 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  17. ^ "Chapter 2: The development of the Westminster system". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  18. OCLC 774393122
    .
  19. ISBN 978-1-86287-918-8
    .
  20. ISSN 0190-8286
    . Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  21. ^ James A. Thomson, American and Australian Constitutions: Continuing Adventures in Comparative Constitutional Law, 30 J. Marshall L. Rev. 627 (1997)
  22. ^ Zelman Cowan, A Comparison of the Constitutions of Australia and the United States, 4 Buff. L. Rev. 155 (1955).
  23. ^ Evans, Harry (December 2009). "The Other Metropolis: The Australian Founders' Knowledge of America". Papers on Parliament No. 52. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  24. doi:10.1080/00323268008401755
    .
  25. doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12224
    .
  26. S2CID 144231226
    .
  27. ^ "CONSTITUTION OF NEPAL 2015" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  28. ISBN 978-3643100856
    .
  29. ISBN 978-0195171761.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  30. ISBN 978-0415364980
    .
  31. ^ "Special Issue Constitutional Law in Japan and the United Kingdom". King's Law Journal. 2 (2). 2015.

Bibliography

External links
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