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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 6-

7 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 in Britain to have a referendum because

theoretically 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 decisions, neither can the Shadow Cabinet hinder

decision making by obstructive tactics. After all, 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, it is also strongly centralized: local

governmental institutions depend on central government both

legally and financially.

As a result of the majority/party government system, a quasi

two-party system became characteristic of the Westminster

Model. Throughout the history of British representative

politics, there have always been pairs of major parties

fighting for governmental power (in the 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, the two-party system in Britain is one-

dimensional, i.e. the political programs of the two major

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 a bill for one year, and a money bill

(concerning financial matters or the budget) for only one

month. Thus, the House of Commons dominates the whole

Parliament.

In the rest of István Orosz’s essay, the different

institutions, offices and the work of officers 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.