The Westminster Model

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Characteristics of the Westminster Model As described by István Orosz in his essay ’The Westminster Model’

The starting point István Orosz makes concerning the British political system is the fact that the British do not have a written constitution and, most importantly, the fact that it is possible

for

the

system

to

operate

without

a

written

constitution. It is possible because all the important factors of

a

democracy

exist

in

the

Westminster

model.

Democracy,

according to Lijbheart, is a framework in which various human and civil rights and democratic institutions exist. The British have accepted this framework at their free will because of the traditions that they view as valuable. Thus, the system works based on common law (traditions and legal precedents) and on laws

made

by

Parliament

(statute

laws).

Below

I

intend

to

introduce those characteristics of the Westminster Model that István Orosz has found the most significant in his essay. In

Britain,

there

is

a

majority

government

system

representing the interests of the majority of citizens. This is different from the consensus model representing the interests of as many individuals as possible. Practically the majority government system means that MPs win their seats in Parliament

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by a majority vote: the candidate who wins the most votes becomes

the

MP

for

that

constituency

(first

past

the

post

system). The votes for other candidates are simply ignored and are lost, which is why the British representative system is ill/un-proportioned. Yet, the Westminster model can only work based on an unproportioned representative system. The reason for this will become clear below. There are 650 constituencies, i.e.

650

seats

in

Parliament.

In

order

to

avoid

unfair

distribution of seats, boundaries of the constituencies are redrawn from time to time by standing committees. Another characteristic is the party government system: the party which gains the most seats in Parliament will be the government party and this party forms the Cabinet. Coalition is impossible because of the majority government system. It is interesting that the opposition usually represents a ’minority’ that is almost the same size as the majority. The leader of the Opposition

forms

the

Shadow

Cabinet.

Each

minister

in

the

Cabinet has its ’counterpart’ in the Shadow Cabinet. The job of Shadow Cabinet members is to challenge the policy-making of the Government by providing and arguing for alternative policies and

decisions.

The

Opposition

has

the

right

to

debate

and

criticize Government’s policies. It

is

also

important

to

understand

the

process

of

the

general elections. Elections are held every 5 years, although

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the PM can call one earlier. This usually happens when the government has made a very unpopular decision and therefore it is forced to resign. A government usually stays in power for 67 years, which is long enough to carry out its policies, but too short to create a dictatorship. Voters must be 18, not serving a prison term at the time of elections, and the Members of the House of Lords cannot vote. The candidates must be at least 21, they cannot be members of the clergy, the House of Lords, the Armed Forces and the police forces because these activities must not be influenced by politics. The correctness of the elections is also ensured by the fact that the amount of money spent on a candidate’s campaign is maximized. Candidates must

collect

10

signatures

from

10

citizens

of

the

constituency, and they need not be supported by any of the parties. They must pay a deposit of £500 which is lost if they do not receive at least 5% of the votes. Again, this helps to prevent corruption at the elections. Equal opportunities at the elections are further supported by the free postal service: the program of each candidate is delivered to every citizen in the constituency freely. Maybe the most important factor of British political life is the sovereignty of Parliament. Parliament has unlimited power. The validity of an Act of Parliament, once passed, cannot be disputed in law courts, since there is no written constitution.

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But

of

course

Parliament

can

also

change

any

law,

it

can

overturn established conventions or turn them into law. It

is

unusual

theoretically

in

Britain

to

have

a

referendum

because

citizens   cannot   influence   the   decisions   of 

Parliament  directly  since   this   would   be   a   restriction   on  Parliament’s sovereignty. Governmental power is focused in the  House of Commons  representing  the majority of citizens, which  means   that   citizens   have   an  indirect  control   on   Parliament.  When   citizens   vote   on   the   General   Elections,   they   vote   not  simply on MPs but on party­ programs and PMs. This is the only  way   they   can   influence   politics.   British   citizens   can   decide  about the main tendencies of the government’s policies. This is  another point where the Westminster model is different from the  consensus model. If a coalition is formed, citizens cannot be  sure   how   much   power   their   candidate   and   his   party   will   have  because power will be devided among the government parties. Not surprisingly, it follows from the above that sovereignty  of   Parliament   means   sovereignty   of   government   practically.  Although the government is responsible to the Parliament (which  has the legislative power), it has the majority of seats in the  House  of   Commons,   so   both  executive  and   legislative  power   is  concentrated   in   the   Government’s   hands.   But   one   cannot  disregard the fact that although the Cabinet has considerable  power,   its   policies   cannot   be   very   different   from   public 

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feeling and expectations, otherwise the Government will surely be overthrown at the following elections. To sum it up, there is a balance in politics: the government cannot make series of unpopular decision

decisions, making

by

neither

can

obstructive

the

Shadow

tactics.

Cabinet

After

all,

hinder if

the

Cabinet is forced to resign and the Shadow Cabinet becomes the Cabinet,

it

will

have

to

take

responsibility

for

all

irresponsible obstructive actions. Governmental power is not only

homogenous,

governmental

it

is

also

institutions

strongly

depend

on

centralized:

central

local

government

both

legally and financially. As a result of the majority/party government system, a quasi two-party Model.

became

Throughout

politics, fighting

system

there for

the

have

characteristic history

always

governmental

of

been

power

of

the

British pairs

(in

the

of

Westminster

representative major

parties

17-18th  centuries 

Royalists and  Puritans  , later the Whigs and the Tories , in  the 19th  century the Liberals and Conservatives and in the 20th  century the Labour party and the Conservatives). There are of  course   other   minor   parties   as   well,   but   they   cannot   win   the  majority of seats in Parliament, simply because their programs  are   too   region­specific   or   minority­specific   (e.g.   Scottish  nationalism,   or   the   Catholic   –   Protestant   debate   in   Northern  Ireland).   According   to   István   Orosz,   the   parties   which 

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differentiate themselves from other parties along the lines of something other than daily politics can be dangerous, because their programs are dominated by ideologies such as nationalism. But

luckily,

dimensional,

the i.e.

two-party the

system

political

in

programs

Britain of

is

the

two

onemajor

parties differ mainly in the fields of economic and social political matters, since the political views of the majority of British society are devided along these lines. The Westminster model is furthermore characterized by an asymmetrical bicameral or two-chamber system: legislative power is almost fully in the hands of the House of Commons. The Lords can

only

delay

(concerning month.

a

bill

financial

Thus,

the

for

matters

House

of

one or

year, the

and

a

budget)

Commons

money

for

dominates

bill

only

the

one

whole

Parliament. In

the

rest

institutions,

of

offices

István and

the

Orosz’s work

essay, of

the

officers

different within

the

Westminster model are analyzed and described in more details along

with

the

legislative

process.

The

most

important

arguments against and counter arguments for the Westminster model are also presented in the essay. The sovereignty of the government, its overcentralized power and the unfairness of the majority vote system are the characteristics criticized most often.

Maybe

the

most

convincing

and

interesting

argument

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against the Westminster model is that of the Italian professor Pasquino.He claims that the biggest problem with it is that the Westminster model does not fit into E.U. If laws are not made in Britain the Westminster model cannot work. Decentralization is a European phenomenon and in the European Union (’United States of Europe’) national sovereignty is lost.

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The Cabinet -

PM is the head of the Cabinet, he elects Cabinet members: ministers

-

Is responsible forthe Government’s policies (in case of a bad decision either a minister or the government has to resign)

-

The different ministries formulate government’s policies, the PM only coordinates the policies of different ministries and the Cabinet decides on the new laws after the ministers have checked the issues with each other in the framework of a weekly session. An exception is the budget plan: only the Chancellor of the Exchequer and PM know about the plan (taxes), it does not have to be debated in the Cabinet before informing the Parliament about it. However, the Cabinet decides collectively on expenditures.

-

Government MPs may be members of the Cabinet <> U.S. where the members of the government cannot be in the Senate/Congress)

-

PM can dissolve Parliament and call new elections. Parliament has the right to ’overthrow’ the Government <> U.S.A.:the President cannot dissolve Congress, and Congress cannot overthrow the President. In U.S.A. executive and legislative power are separated.

Legislation -At the start of each parliamentary session the Qeen’s speech to Parliament outlines the Government’s policies and proposed legislative program (constructed by PM and Cabinet ministers). Public Bills which have not been passed by the end of the session are lost. -Passing Bills is a lengthy procedure (3 readings, debates, House of Lords, consent of Qeen), but there are no endless debates (time is fixed: guillotine, voting must take place). Still, the Opposition can play for time.

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-Speaker: elected by MPs, bears responsibility for the order of the House, must be impartial, has right to adjourn or suspend the sitting in case of serious disorder, has discretion on whether to allow a motion to end discussion so that a matter may be put to the vote, has powers to put a stop to irrelevance and repetition in debate (saves time) -Whips: Chief-Whips agree on what motions should be dealt with every week. The order of the motions is also important. Whips inform all MPs about the general feeling (mood) of the House, so it is possible to predict what the result of a voting will be. They also make sure that every MP knows how to vote when time comes. -Vote: Division: MPs divide into two groups (Yes Lobby, No Lobby) for the counting of votes (tellers). Whips register names. While waiting, talking to other MPs, ministers, even PM: MPs are always very well informed.

The House of Lords -Hereditary and Life Peers (L.P. since 1960): balance of party affiliations -no real power, but they can influence public oppinion through speeches -sometimes they vote against parts of bills. -it’s the final court to appeal for in Great Britain (head: Lord Chancellor) -there have been debates on the necessity of the House of Lords (hereditary peers-hereditary monarchy??, electing all peers-House of Commons??…Westminster Model would not work without it. Its practical function: place for retired politicians.

Civil Servants: officers of the state working in ministries -Play important role , because political continuity can only be maintained by them. -they cannot take part in party-politics because their activities require impartiality.

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-real experts in their fields, sometimes they have more political experience than their own ministers -regardless of which political party they are serving, they are the ones who work out the details of motions -they are in a protected position: ministers bear the responsibility for their operation/decisions. -cannot be MPs, but their leaders can be present in Parliament (observing, advising, expert oppinion)They are important when it comes to Question Time: MPs and PM must always be well informed about their work. -their work is constantly monitored (regular reports by a select committee). When they are criticised, it is usually because of the political consequences of their decisions, not because of technical matters.

Local Governments -have considerable autonomy in local matters -because of the unity of services nationwide they depend on central government (legally). Also they need to rely on C.Gov.financially (only 50% of the revenues comes from local taxes, the other 50% comes from the central budget). C. Gov. Can cut the money. -Local representatives are elected every 4 years. The Opposition might get a majority on a local level, so local policies are sometimes different from central. -Among the employees of local governments every second works in education

Criticism of the Westminster Model: Parliamentary Absolutism? 1. decentralization -Government can do whatever it desires (sovereignty of gov., overcentralized powers, majority vote is unfair). This is outdated at the end of 20th century.

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2. the system does not provide protection against absolutism of gov., gov. abuses its powers. Unwritten rules are not effective enough. (human/civil rights??) The counter arguments 1.People are dissatisfied with the system because there has been a global decline of socialist and liberal ideologies. But power remained central just as before. 2. The rights of citizens have always been codified in (common) law.

The Press: Keeping an eye on Government’s policies -Dual function of press/journalism: 1.representing common sense, reflecting and shaping public oppinion 2. criticizing state and government: investigating suspicious and dirty issues -Debate: in a democracy all citizens must have free access to information unless there is a reason for the opposite (state secrets). The problem is that there is no law which classifies information. It must be investigated whether hiding information serves public interest. (standing commitees or a court?) -1989: Codes of journalism (respecting human rights)…complaint departments

Government: Federalist Alternative -radical citics of WM are for a federal system: independent Parliaments for member states, but political framework of UK should be maintained. Conservatives oppose this, but they have no rational arguments.