What is the Westminster system of government?

The Westminster system is the British parliamentary system of government, named after the Palace of Westminster in London (the seat of the British Parliament). The system was inherited by Canada at Confederation in 1867 and is the basis of Canadian federal and provincial government. The Westminster system is also used in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, India, Jamaica, Malta, and many other Commonwealth realms and former British colonies.

Key features of the Westminster system include: fusion of executive and legislative branches (the Cabinet is drawn from members of Parliament and is accountable to Parliament, in contrast to the American system of separated branches); responsible government (the executive must maintain the confidence of the elected legislative chamber); a head of state separate from the head of government (in Canada, the King and the Prime Minister respectively); a bicameral or unicameral Parliament with an elected lower chamber (the House of Commons in Canada and the UK) and (usually) an upper chamber (the Senate in Canada, the House of Lords in the UK); and a non-partisan civil service that serves any government of any party with equal loyalty.

Westminster government operates through several established conventions and procedures. The majority party (or coalition) in the elected chamber forms government; the leader of that party becomes Prime Minister (or Premier); Cabinet ministers are drawn from MPs (and occasionally senators); ministers are individually accountable to Parliament for their departments; the Cabinet is collectively accountable through Cabinet solidarity; and the government must resign or call an election if it loses a confidence vote. The non-elected Senate (in Canada) or House of Lords (in the UK) provides 'sober second thought' on legislation.

The Westminster system contrasts with two other main democratic systems. The presidential system (used in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, and most of Latin America) separates executive and legislative branches into independent elected institutions. The semi-presidential system (used in France, Russia, Taiwan, and elsewhere) combines a directly elected president with a prime minister accountable to parliament. Within the Westminster family, Canada has distinctive features including federalism (with constitutionally entrenched provinces), an entrenched Charter of Rights and Freedoms (since 1982), and a Supreme Court with constitutional-review authority. The Canadian Westminster system has also adopted specific reforms not common in other Westminster systems, including fixed election dates (since 2007), the Independent Senate Appointments Process (since 2016), and the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court Judicial Appointments (since 2016).