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Power and Choice Chapter 14
"Parliamentary Government" Terms and Definitions
7
Political Studies
Undergraduate 2
04/06/2008

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Term

 

 

 

parliamentary government

Definition

 

a democracy in which the executive and legislative functions are merged into one institution: the parliament.  The parliament is the state's supreme legilature, but it also appoints a committee (the cabinet) to serve as the political executive for the state.  Tends to unify power.

 

Term

 

 

 

cabinet

Definition

 

the executive portion of a parliamentary government.  It consists of ministers, most of whom are usually members of the parliament.  Each minister is responsible for the administration of some part of the government's services, such as health or defense. 

Term

 

 

 

coalition

Definition

a tactical combination of varied groups, constructed so that the groups will in combination be large enough to command power that they can then share among themselves  Frequently applied to parliamentary government, in which 50% of the votes in parliament are required to from a cabinet but in which it may be necessary to combine two or more parties to amass 50% of the votes

Term

 

 

 

question time

Definition

 

 

a device by which cabinet members appear regularly in the parliament to answer questions from members about the administration of their offices

Term

 

 

 

legislative commitees

Definition

 

 

small group of legislators whose task is to review carefully a proposed piece of legislation and recommend to the full legislature actions to be taken on it.  They can amend bills, kill bills or investigate future bills.

Term

 

 

 

consensus parliamentarism

Definition

 

parliamentary government in which the adversarial relationship between the cabinet and the opposition parties is reduced through a variety of power-sharing devices, such as allotting control of committees to parties proportionally to their strength, whether or not they are part of the cabinet coalition

Term

 

 

 

minority cabinet

Definition

 

a cabinet based on a coalition controlling less than majority of votes in the parliament.  Governs through an agreement with one or more other parties, which are not part of the cabinet coation, that they will not vote for motions of no confidence against the cabinet

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