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In parliamentary government systems what does it mean to "form a government"?
I've read about the parliamentary system online trying to get an answer to this question. I keep hearing on the radio about this country or that country not being able to "form a government" or having to form a "coalition government". It seems like they're saying that some people get elected to parliament but if they cannot get enough other people to agree with them then there is no government. So, does that mean these countries actually have NO government? What happens when there's no government?
Perhaps this sounds like a silly question to those of you in parliamentary government nations but it really is confusing to me. In the US we elect people to Congress and they may or may not agree with each other (usually not) but we never end up with a situation where we have NO government because the people in Congress don't get along with each other.
I'm not trying to make a political point and this is not my homework. I really want to understand this thing I keep hearing on the radio about such and such politician in such and such country not being able to "form a government". Links to explanations are greatly appreciated.
Justin's links are very helpful. Let's see if I understand. In Parliamentary systems "the government" is actually just the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Parliament itself is not actually part of "the government". They are apparently, just fact-checkers? "The government" decides what it wants to do and tells Parliament. Then Parliament does some fact checking and either does what 'the government" tells it to do, or votes "no confidence" in "the government" which dissolves "the government" and forces an election. People vote for members of Parliament. If one party has a majority of members of Parliament then the leader of that party is the Prime Minister and he/she chooses the members of the Cabinet, most from members of Parliament but not necessarily? This all becomes more complicated if there is no clear majority of one party in Parliament.
So, I still don't get what it means to have no government. In these periods between different Parliaments, or when they're trying to "form a go
2 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
Just next door in Canada there is a great deal of drama going on with Steven Harper and his uncanny ability to form a government.
In the US congress you need a majority to pass any legislation. The size of the majority is dependent on the law that one is trying to pass, for most it is 60 votes, 2/3. 1/2 and 3/4 are also needed in some cases. Generally the votes are along party lines and so it is the political party that forms the government and the policies of that party that take precedent.
In a parliamentary government, all a law needs is a majority in almost all circumstances. However in most countries there are more political parties than the two in the US and the individuals have more freedom from their parties and more responsibilities to their constituents. Forming a Government is an agreement between parties or individuals that allow a majority to be reached. If one party has a clear majority or if there is little difference between individuals of that party, then the government is easily formed and it is called a Majority Government.
In the UK, for example, the Conservative party have formed a government with the Liberal Democrats, a centre left party, because in the election, the Conservatives did not get a majority. So. the Conservatives have agreed to allow members of the Liberal Democrats to serve as Cabinet members and those Lib Dems have the ability to dictate certain policies. The Conservatives will also support certain policies that the Liberal Democrats campaigned on in the general election. In exchange, the Lib Dems support the Conservatives on most of their campaign promises. This is called a Coalition Government, when two or more parties come together to govern.
In countries where the parties are more numerous and smaller, there is a considerable amount of deals that have to be made in order to get enough support for a clear agenda to have a workable government. If a Government Fails to be formed, then usually the largest party will attempt to govern and each law will be passed based on how many votes it can receive, this is called a Minority Government. If this fails, then generally an election will be held and the process starts over again, or if there is an executive branch that is separate or a Sovereign, then they can determine how to progress. Usually though there is an election.
Check out these pages and see if you can understand more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/02/iraq-c...
- ?Lv 61 decade ago
In India like your senators, we have Parliamentarians who are elected by people and generally all contesting candidates belong to some political party and the party issue Tickets to confirm the allegiance of the candidates.
The political party who has the majority numbers in the Parliament form Govt and subsequently they select an Elected P'tarian to be Primeminister and who forms the Govt by allocating portfolios.
In case when there is no clear cut majority, the other parties render support either by joining the Govt or from outside to form the Govt.
Unlike US , where there is direct election of the President by the Voters
