Definitions for "Responsible Government"
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The Westminster system of parliamentary democracy that the Australian colonies inherited from Britain. It is a system where the executive government, Cabinet, is accountable first to the parliament and ultimately to the people. The aim of this system of accountability is to make the government act in ways that are approved by the people.
government supported by a parliament answerable itself to the public, usually by election.
A democratic system of government by which Council officials, who control the government’s budget, are elected by the people, rather than appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor.
A political system in which the Government must be supported by a Parliament which is itself answerable to the public, usually through the election process.
A form of government in which the executive is responsible to an elected assembly. Newfoundland had responsible government from 1855 to 1934. The governor would ask the leader of the party with the largest number of elected members in the House of Assembly to become prime minister and to form a government. The prime minister would then select members of his or her party to take cabinet positions.
Government that governs with the consent of the people expressed in occasional elections. In Canada the government was actually "responsible" to the Governor General, who held a veto over all government actions and used it. The government we have today is subject to no veto, and the government may do what it wants between elections.
A government (cabinet) responsible to the representatives of the people (Members of the Legislative Assembly). The government needs the confidence of the Assembly to stay in power.
A form of government in which the executive branch, or cabinet, is made up of elected representatives from the party having a majority of support in the Assembly.
The political executive — the Prime Minister and Cabinet — must have the support of the majority in the House of Commons to stay in power. If it loses that support on a question of confidence, it must resign or call for an election.
Responsible government is a particular form of government that was inherited from Great Britain. A great deal has been written about responsible government. At its simplest, it means that the government of the day is accountable to the lower house of parliament. The party or parties that win the most seats in the lower house of parliament, or has the support of the majority of members in that house, forms the government of the day. The members of that government, the Prime Minister and ministers, are also members of parliament and are not elected separately. The government remains in office while it has the support or 'confidence' of the majority in the lower house.
A type of government in which political decisions are made by leaders who are elected by the people. The political party that has the most people elected makes up the government. Before Confederation many of the colonies were run in part by leaders the British put in power, or by a few powerful rich people. The first responsible government in British North America was in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia achieved responsible government in January 1848.
A concept which developed as early as the 13th century in Britain, with the idea that there would be representatives who would have to report to the people in their area. Today, this term refers to the idea that the government needs the approval of a majority in the assembly and the formal head of state (Governor General, Lieutenant Governor) must act under the advice of ministers who are members of the legislature.
the constitutional convention that the government (the Prime Minister and the Cabinet) must have the confidence of a majority of seats in the House of Commons to govern. It makes parliamentary government democratic because the political executive is responsible to elected representatives in the House of Commons. If the government loses the confidence of the House, it must either resign or call an election.
The constitutional arrangement in which the executive government consisted of elected members of the House of Assembly, usually belonging to the majority political party. The government had to maintain a majority in the Assembly, to which body it was responsible.
Responsible government is a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments in Westminster democracies are responsible to Parliament (and more specifically to the lower, popularly-representative, house) rather than to the monarch, or, in the colonial context, to the imperial government.