Westminster system
The Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary government modelled on that of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Key aspects of the system include an executive branch made up of members of the legislature which is responsible to the legislature; the presence of parliamentary opposition parties; and a ceremonial head of state who is separate from the head of government. The term derives from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the British parliament. The Westminster system can be contrasted with the presidential system, which originated in the United States, and with the semi-presidential system based on the government of France.
The Westminster system is used, or was once used, in the national and subnational legislatures of most former colonies of the British Empire upon gaining self-government, beginning with the Province of Canada in 1848. However, many former colonies have since adopted other forms of government.
Characteristics
The Westminster system of government may include some of the following features:- A sovereign or head of state who functions as the nominal or legal and constitutional holder of executive power, and holds numerous reserve powers, but whose daily duties mainly consist of performing ceremonial functions. Examples include King Charles III, the governors-general in the Commonwealth realms, or the presidents of many countries, and state or provincial governors in federal systems. Exceptions to this are Ireland and Israel, whose presidents are both de jure and de facto ceremonial, and the latter possesses no reserve powers whatsoever.
- A head of government, known as the prime minister, premier, chief minister or first minister. While the head of state appoints the head of government, constitutional convention suggests that a majority of elected members of parliament must support the person appointed. If more than half of elected parliamentarians belong to the same political party, then the parliamentary leader of that party typically is appointed.
- An executive branch led by the head of government usually made up of members of the legislature with the senior members of the executive in a cabinet adhering to the principle of cabinet collective responsibility; such members wield authority on behalf of the nominal or theoretical executive.
- An independent, non-partisan civil service that advises on, and implements, decisions of the elected government. Civil servants hold permanent appointments and can expect merit-based selection processes and continuity of employment when governments change.
- A parliamentary opposition with an official leader of the opposition, which generally takes on an adversarial role, presenting arguments against the government's policies. In certain countries, the leader of the opposition is expected to be ready to form a government if the office of head of government becomes vacant.
- A legislature, often bicameral, with at least one elected house — although unicameral systems also exist. Traditionally, the lower house is elected using first-past-the-post from single-member districts, which is still more common, although some use a system of proportional representation, parallel voting, or preferential voting.
- A lower house of parliament with the ability to dismiss a government by "withholding (or blocking) supply", passing a motion of no confidence, or defeating a confidence motion.
- A parliament that can be dissolved, allowing snap elections to be called at any time.
- Parliamentary privilege, which allows the legislature to discuss any issue it deems relevant without fear of consequences stemming from defamatory statements or records thereof.
- Minutes of meetings, often known as Hansard, including an ability for the legislature to strike discussion from these minutes.
- The ability of courts to address silence or ambiguity in the statutory law through the development of common law. Another parallel system of legal principles also exists known as equity. Exceptions to this include India, Quebec in Canada, and Scotland in the UK, among other countries who mix common law with other legal systems.
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, reserve powers, and other influences collide in times of crisis and in such times the weaknesses of the unwritten aspects of the Westminster system, as well as the strengths of the Westminster system's flexibility, are put to the test. As an illustrative example, in the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975, the Governor-General of Australia, 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 | Elected or appointed upper house to approve and/or scrutinise laws. |
| Type | Bicameral | Elected lower house to represent the people and initiate legislation. |
| Leadership | Head of state | Monarch or ceremonial president. |
| Leadership | Head of government | Usually the leader of the largest party in the lower house.
|
| Leadership | Presiding officers of legislative chambers | Speaker of the upper house |
| Leadership | Presiding officers of legislative chambers | Speaker of the lower house |
| General | Government | Formed by the largest party/coalition in the lower house, and led by the head of government.
|
| General | 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. |
| General | Public service | Politically independent and available to the people of the state, that will work for various government organisations. |
| General | 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 ministers, however, in effect, the head of government dominates the executive as the head of government is ultimately the person from whom the head of state will take advice on the exercise of 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 to a different portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle for "underperforming".
In the United Kingdom, the sovereign theoretically holds executive authority, even though the prime minister and the cabinet effectively implement executive powers. In a parliamentary republic like India, the president is the de jure executive, even though executive powers are essentially instituted by the prime minister and 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 generally must seek the permission of the head of state when carrying out executive functions. If, for instance the British prime minister wished to dissolve Parliament in order for a general election to take place, the prime minister is constitutionally bound to request permission from the sovereign in order to attain such a wish. However, the sovereign, in modern times, has virtually always followed the advice of their prime minister without their own agency. This owes to the fact that the British sovereign is a constitutional monarch. The monarch abides by the advice of their ministers, except when executing reserve powers in times of crisis. The sovereign's power to appoint and dismiss governments, appoint cabinet ministers to serve in the government, appoint diplomats, declare war, and to sign treaties is known as the royal prerogative, which in modern times is exercised by the sovereign solely on 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 their 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 was the first British monarch to delegate some executive powers to a prime minister and a cabinet of the ministers, 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 by Walter Bagehot, who distinguished between the separate "dignified" and "efficient" functions of government. The sovereign should be a focal point for the nation, while the PM and cabinet actually undertook executive decisions.
Electoral system, ministers and officials
The electoral system is often set out in a Representation of the People Act. 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 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 reserve powers. Examples of the use of such powers include the 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.
Cabinet government
In the book The English Constitution, Walter Bagehot emphasised the divide of the constitution into two components, the Dignified and the Efficient, and called the Efficient "Cabinet Government".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 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.
Bicameral and unicameral parliaments
In a Westminster system, some members of parliament are elected by popular vote, while others are appointed. Nearly all Westminster-based parliaments have a lower house with powers based on those of the House of Commons, comprising local, elected representatives of the people. Most also have a smaller upper house, which is made up of members chosen by various methods:- Termless appointees, either lifetime or retiring, from successive prime ministers
- Appointees of the premier and the opposition leader
- Direct election
- Election by electoral colleges or sub-national legislatures
- Hereditary nobility
- Any combination of the above
- A prime minister can be elected without gaining a majority of the popular vote.
Some Westminster-derived parliaments are unicameral for two reasons:
- The New Zealand Parliament, Parliament of Queensland, and the parliaments of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec have abolished their upper houses.
- The parliaments of all other Canadian provinces, the Parliament of Malta, the Papua New Guinea Parliament, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and the Israeli Parliament never had upper houses.
"Washminster system"
is, in many respects, a unique hybrid with influences from the 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.The Australian Senate is unusual in that it maintains an ability to withhold supply from the government of the day – a power similar to that held in the UK until 1911 by the House of Lords, which has since then been impossible, in the Westminster system. A government that has lost supply is severely restricted in its abilities to act; unless a solution can be negotiated and supply can be restored, such an occurrence would normally trigger a federal election. Since the governor-general, technically speaking, can dismiss a federal government at any time, loss of supply is sometimes, controversially, considered a suitable trigger for a dismissal. This is controversial because it conflicts with the Westminster tradition of government by a party with the confidence of the lower house. Some 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 powerful upper house like the US Senate; this notion is expressed in the nickname "the Washminster mutation". 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.
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 or the rows of chairs and desks are rounded at the end, opposite to the Speaker's Chair. 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 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 Speaker [of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House]. The speaker usually wears black robes, and in some countries, a 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 are usually where ministers or members of the house come to speak. A newly elected Speaker is symbolically dragged to the Chair upon being elected.
Other ceremonies sometimes associated with the Westminster system include an annual Speech from the Throne in which the head of state gives a special address 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 and the lower with green. 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 | Notes/Differences from the standard Westminster model |
 Former countriesThe 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 the lower house is dissolved and new elections are called.
|