Where is parliamentary democracy used

As in the Commons, the Senate can pass, amend, delay, or defeat a bill. The Constitution Act, does not mention a prime minister or a cabinet. By constitutional convention, members of the Privy Council form the Cabinet. The Cabinet, also known as the Governor-in-Council is the decision-making authority of the executive branch, and is responsible for the implementation of executive policy and the administration of government departments.

Appointments to the Privy Council are for life, but it is convention that only the sitting Cabinet exercises the powers of the executive branch. The Cabinet includes the Prime Minister and his ministers.

Ministers are selected by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister usually chooses Cabinet ministers from the elected members of Parliament, but may also choose ministers from the Senate. In this sense, because ministers are appointed by the Governor General, governments in Canada are technically not elected, but rather appointed. However, through the principle of responsible government, Cabinet ministers including the Prime Minister are also members of Parliament and ultimately accountable to Parliament.

Parliamentary government is such that decisions once made by a monarch in the name of the Crown are now made by the executive branch of government under the authority of the legislature. Cabinet decisions are in turn circumscribed by what is permitted by statutory authority or royal prerogative. The Governor General signs orders in council which formalizes Cabinet decisions made on the basis of royal prerogative or statutory authority. At a constitutional level, the judiciary is a separate and independent branch of government.

An independent judiciary is essential in a parliamentary democracy dedicated to the rule of law. The rule of law requires that government must be conducted according to law. Thus, judges can only uphold the rule of law if they are independent of the government, and therefore free to render decisions that might be critical of the government or that limit the powers of the state.

The courts are able to provide judicial review because of the principle of judicial independence. Judicial independence affirms the separation of powers between the judicial branch, and the executive and legislative branches. The judicial function typically is independent of the legislative and executive components of the system. In a parliamentary system, laws are made by majority vote of the legislature and signed by the head of state, who does not have an effective veto power.

In most parliamentary democracies, the head of state can return a bill to the legislative body to signify disagreement with it. In most parliamentary systems, there is a special constitutional court that can declare a law unconstitutional if it violates provisions of the supreme law of the land, the constitution.

In a few parliamentary systems, such as Great Britain, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, there is no provision for constitutional or judicial review, and the people collectively possess the only check on the otherwise supreme legislature, which is to vote members of the majority party or parties out of office at the next election.

A parliamentary democracy is directly and immediately responsive to popular influence through the electoral process. The President can go to the legislative branch and suggest laws, but they ultimately write them for his approval. Furthermore, in parliamentary systems, the legislature has the right to dismiss a Prime Minister at any time if they feel that he or she is not doing the job as well as expected.

In the US, impeachment is an extensive, formal process in which an official is accused of doing something illegal. Some countries with a parliamentary system are constitutional monarchies, which still have a king and queen.

A few examples of these are the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Japan. Political parties wishing to participate in an election can contact the Electoral Council for more information. National political parties that have at least one seat in the House of Representatives or Senate are eligible for grants. These can be used for research, training or the recruitment of new members. With the help of these grants parties can reinforce their position as part of a parliamentary democracy.