Responsible government: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
ClueBot NG (talk | contribs) m Reverting possible vandalism by 92.28.64.12 to version by 137.122.64.51. False positive? Report it. Thanks, ClueBot NG. (1851942) (Bot) |
Undid revision 610125791 by ClueBot NG (talk) Tag: reverting anti-vandal bot |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
zomfg look your pantz just fell down :P |
|||
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2013}} |
|||
{{refimprove|date=December 2009}} |
|||
'''Responsible government''' is a conception of a [[system of government]] that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the [[Westminster system]] of [[parliamentary democracy]]. Governments (the equivalent of the [[Executive (government)|executive branch]]) in Westminster democracies are responsible to parliament rather than to the monarch, or, in a colonial context, to the imperial government. If the parliament is [[bicameral]], then the government is responsible first to the parliament's [[lower house]], which is more numerous, [[Direct election|directly elected]] and thus more representative than the [[upper house]]. |
|||
Responsible government of parliamentary accountability manifests itself in several ways. [[Minister of the Crown|Minister]]s account to Parliament for their decisions and for the performance of their departments. This requirement to make announcements and to answer questions in Parliament means that ministers have to have the privileges of the "floor" which are only granted to those who are members of either house of Parliament.{{clarify|date=May 2012}} Secondly, and most importantly, although ministers are officially appointed by the sovereign authority of the [[head of state]] and can theoretically be dismissed at the pleasure of the sovereign, they concurrently retain their office subject to their holding the confidence of the lower house of Parliament. And should they lose it (as individuals or as a Government in power); when the lower house has passed a [[motion of no confidence]] in the government, the government must immediately resign or submit itself to the electorate in a new general election. |
|||
Lastly, the Sovereign is in turn required to effectuate his sovereignty only through these responsible ministers. He must never attempt to set up a "shadow" government of executives or advisors to him; and attempt to use them as instruments of government, or to rely upon their, "unofficial" advice. He is bound to take no decision or action, which is put into effect under the color of his sovereignty, without that action being as a result of the counsel and advisement of his responsible ministers. His ministers are required to counsel him (i.e., explain to him and be sure he understands any issue that he will be called upon to decide); and, to form and have recommendations for him (i.e., their [[Advice (constitutional)|advice]] or advisement) to choose from; which are the ministers’ formal, reasoned, recommendations as to what course of action should be taken. |
|||
== Canada == |
|||
In the [[history of Canada]], responsible government was a major element of the programme of development towards independence. The concept of responsible government is associated in Canada more with [[self-governing colony|self-government]] than with parliamentary accountability; hence the notion that [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] "gave up responsible government" when it withdrew its dominion status in 1933. |
|||
In the aftermath of the [[American Revolution]], the British government was sensitive to unrest in its remaining colonies with large populations of British colonists. After the 1837 [[Lower Canada Rebellion]] led by [[Louis-Joseph Papineau]], and the 1837–1838 [[Upper Canada Rebellion]] led by [[William Lyon Mackenzie]], [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|Lord Durham]] was appointed governor general of [[British North America]] and had the task of examining the issues and determining how to defuse tensions. In [[Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839)|his report]], one of his recommendations was that colonies which were developed enough should be granted "responsible government". This term specifically meant the policy that British-appointed governors should bow to the will of elected colonial assemblies. |
|||
The first instance of responsible government in the [[British Empire]] outside of the United Kingdom itself was achieved by the colony of [[Nova Scotia]] in January–February 1848 through the efforts of [[Joseph Howe]]. The [[Commemorative plaque|plaque]] in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly erected by the [[Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada]] reads: |
|||
<blockquote>First Responsible Government in the British Empire.<br> |
|||
The first [[Executive Council (Commonwealth countries)|Executive Council]] chosen exclusively from the party having a majority in the representative branch of a colonial legislature was formed in Nova Scotia on 2 February 1848. Following a vote of want of confidence in the preceding Council, [[James Boyle Uniacke]], who had moved the resolution, became Attorney General and leader of the Government. Joseph Howe, the long-time campaigner for this "Peaceable Revolution", became [[Provincial Secretary]]. Other members of the Council were Hugh Bell, Wm. F. Desbarres, Lawrence O.C. Doyle, Herbert Huntingdon, James McNab, Michael Tobin, and George R. Young.</blockquote> |
|||
The colony of [[New Brunswick]] soon followed on May 1848 when [[Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick|Lieutenant Governor]] [[Edmund Walker Head]] brought in a more balanced representation of Members of the Legislative Assembly to the Executive Council and ceded more powers to that body. |
|||
[[File:Louis-Hyppolite Lafontaine.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine|Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine]], Father of Responsible Government]] |
|||
[[File:RobertBaldwin23.jpg|thumbnail|[[Robert Baldwin]], Father of Responsible Government]] |
|||
In the [[Province of Canada]], responsible government was put to the test in 1849, when Reformers in the legislature passed the [[Rebellion Losses Bill]]. This was a law that provided compensation to French-Canadians who suffered losses during the Rebellions of 1837–1838 in Lower-Canada. The Governor General, [[James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin|Lord Elgin]], had serious misgivings about the bill but nonetheless [[Royal Assent|assented]] to it despite demands from the [[Tories]] that he refuse to do so. Elgin was physically assaulted by an English-speaking mob for this, and the [[Montreal]] Parliament building was burned to the ground in the ensuing [[Montreal Riots|riots]]. Nonetheless, the Rebellion Losses Bill helped entrench responsible government into Canadian politics. |
|||
In time, the granting of responsible government became the first step on the road to complete independence. Canada gradually gained greater and greater autonomy over a considerable period of time through inter imperial and commonwealth diplomacy, including the [[British North America Act of 1867]], the [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]] of 1931, and even as late as the patriation of the [[Constitution Act, 1982|British North America Act in 1982]] (see [[Constitution of Canada]]). |
|||
== Australia and New Zealand == |
|||
While the various colonies in Australia were either sparsely populated or penal settlements or both, executive power was in the hands of the Governors, who, because of the great distance from their superiors in London and the resulting very slow communication, necessarily exercised vast powers. |
|||
However, the early colonists, coming mostly from the United Kingdom, were familiar with the [[Westminster system]] and made efforts to reform it to increase the opportunity for ordinary men to participate. |
|||
The Governors and London therefore set in motion a gradual process of establishing a Westminster system in the colonies, not so fast as to get ahead of population or economic growth, nor so slow as to provoke clamouring for revolutionary change as happened in America. Initially, this took the form of appointed or partially elected Legislative Councils. Then, during the 1850s, all Australian colonies except Western Australia, along with New Zealand, established both representative and responsible government; Western Australia did the same in 1890. |
|||
== Cape Colony == |
|||
[[File:1 John Molteno - 1st Prime Minister of the Cape - 1860s - Copy2.jpg|thumb|right|[[John Molteno]], Father of Responsible Government and first [[Prime Minister]] of the Cape.]] |
|||
[[File:John Molteno and Saul Solomon preside over Cape Government - Zingari cartoon 1873.jpg|thumb|right|Cartoon critical of responsible government, showing power and positions divided between various factions by Cape leaders [[John Charles Molteno|Molteno]] and [[Saul Solomon]].]] |
|||
The [[British Cape Colony|Cape Colony]], in Southern Africa, was under responsible self-government from 1872 until 1910 when it became the [[Cape Province]] of the new [[Union of South Africa]].<ref>A.L. Harrington: ''The Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope, with special reference to party politics 1872-1910''. Government Printer, 1973.</ref> |
|||
Under its previous system of [[representative government]], the Ministers of the Cape Government reported directly to the [[British Cape Colony|British Imperial Governor]], and not to the locally-elected representatives in the [[Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope|Cape Parliament]]. Among Cape citizens of all races, growing anger at their powerlessness in influencing unpopular imperial decisions had repeatedly led to protests and rowdy political meetings - especially during the early "Convict Crisis" of the 1840s. |
|||
A popular political movement for responsible government soon emerged, under local leader [[John Molteno]]. A protracted struggle was then conducted over the ensuing years as the movement (known informally as "the responsibles") grew increasingly powerful, and used their parliamentary majority to put pressure on the British Governor, withholding public finances from him, and conducting public agitations.<ref>RFM Immelman: ''Men of Good Hope, 1804-1954''. CTCC: Cape Town, 1955. Chapter 6 ''The Anti-convict Agitation''. p.154.</ref> |
|||
Finally, in 1872, the Colonial Office and new Governor [[Henry Barkly]] were won over, and Molteno instituted responsible government, making the Ministers directly responsible to the Cape Parliament, and becoming the Cape's first [[Prime Minister]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QYoPkk04Yp4C&pg=PA151&lpg=PA151&dq=john+charles+molteno+responsible+government#v=onepage&q=john%20charles%20molteno%20responsible%20government&f=false|title=African Historical Biographies}}</ref> |
|||
The ensuing period saw an economic recovery, a massive growth in exports and an expansion of the colony's frontiers. Despite political complications that arose from time to time (such as an ill-fated scheme by the [[British Colonial Office]] to enforce a [[confederation]] in Southern Africa in 1878, and tensions with the [[Afrikaner]]-dominated [[South African Republic|Government of Transvaal]] over trade and railroad construction), economic and social progress in the [[British Cape Colony|Cape Colony]] continued at a steady pace until a renewed attempt to extend British control over the hinterland caused the outbreak of the [[Second Boer War|Anglo-Boer War]]s in 1899.<ref>Phyllis Lewsen: ''The First Crises in Responsible Government in the Cape Colony''. University of The Witwatersrand / Argief-jaarboek vir Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis. 1940/3.</ref> |
|||
An important feature of the [[British Cape Colony|Cape Colony]] under responsible government was that it was the only state in southern Africa (and one of very few in the world at the time) to have a [[Cape Qualified Franchise|non-racial system of voting]].<ref>Molteno, P. A. ''The Life and Times of John Charles Molteno. Comprising a History of Representative Institutions and Responsible Government at the Cape. Volume II''. London: Smith, Elder & Co., Waterloo Place, 1900. p.214</ref> |
|||
Later however – following the [[South Africa Act 1909|Act of Union of 1910]] to form the [[Union of South Africa]] – this [[universal suffrage|multi-racial universal suffrage]] was steadily eroded, and eventually abolished by the [[Apartheid]] government in 1948. |
|||
== Former British colonies with responsible government == |
|||
* 1848 – [[Province of Nova Scotia]] |
|||
* 1849 – [[Province of Canada]] |
|||
* 1851 – [[Province of Prince Edward Island]] |
|||
* 1854 – [[Province of New Brunswick]] |
|||
* 1855 – [[Colony of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] (suspended from 1934 to 1949), the [[State of New South Wales]], and the [[State of Victoria]] |
|||
* 1856 – [[New Zealand]] and the [[Colony of Tasmania]] |
|||
* 1857 – [[South Australia]] |
|||
* 1859 – [[Queensland|State of Queensland]] (separated from New South Wales in that year with self-government from the beginning) |
|||
* 1872 – The [[British Cape Colony|Cape Colony, South Africa]] |
|||
* 1890 – [[Western Australia]] |
|||
* 1893 – [[Colony of Natal|Natal, South Africa]] |
|||
* 1906 – [[Transvaal Colony|Transvaal, South Africa]] |
|||
* 1907 – [[Orange River Colony|Orange River Colony, South Africa]] |
|||
* 1921 – [[Malta]] (suspended from 1936 to 1947, and from 1959 to 1962) |
|||
* 1923 – [[Southern Rhodesia]] |
|||
* 1947 – [[India]] |
|||
==See also== |
|||
* [[Fusion of powers]] |
|||
==Notes== |
|||
{{reflist}} |
|||
== References == |
|||
* Arthur Berriedale Keith. ''Responsible Government in the Dominions'', 1912. |
|||
* Molteno, P. A. ''The Life and Times of John Charles Molteno. Comprising a History of Representative Institutions and Responsible Government at the Cape''. London: Smith, Elder & Co., Waterloo Place, 1900. |
|||
* ''Status and Respectability in the Cape Colony, 1750–1870 : A Tragedy of Manners''. Robert Ross, David Anderson. Cambridge University Press. 1 July 1999. 220 pages. ISBN 0-521-62122-4. |
|||
== External links == |
|||
* [[Eugene Forsey|Forsey, Eugene]] A. How Canadians Govern Themselves. Government of Canada, 1981. 58 p. [http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/SenatorEugeneForsey/book/preface-e.html] |
|||
* [http://wopared.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/pops/pop26/c04.pdf Can Responsible Government Survive in Australia?] |
|||
* {{cite journal |
|||
| last1 = Salles |
|||
| first1 = Denis |
|||
| authorlink1 = |
|||
| last2 = |
|||
| first2 = |
|||
| authorlink2 = |
|||
| editor-last = |
|||
| editor-first = |
|||
| editor-link = |
|||
| date = |
|||
| year = 2011 |
|||
| month = |
|||
| title = Responsibility based environmental governance| journal = S.A.P.I.EN.S |
|||
| volume = 4 |
|||
| issue = 1 |
|||
| series = |
|||
| pages = |
|||
| publisher = |
|||
| isbn = |
|||
| issn = |
|||
| pmid = |
|||
| pmc = |
|||
| bibcode = |
|||
| doi = |
|||
| accessdate = 15 June 2011 |
|||
| url = http://sapiens.revues.org/1092 |
|||
| archiveurl = |
|||
| archivedate = |
|||
| ref = |
|||
}} |
|||
{{Constitution of Australia}} |
|||
[[Category:Constitution of Canada]] |
|||
[[Category:Political history of Canada]] |
|||
[[Category:Politics of New Zealand]] |
|||
[[Category:Political history of Australia]] |
|||
[[Category:Westminster system]] |
|||
[[Category:Political terms in the United Kingdom]] |
|||
[[Category:Political terminology in Canada]] |
|||
[[Category:Political terminology in Australia]] |
|||
[[Category:Accountability]] |
|||
[[Category:Governance of the British Empire]] |
|||
[[Category:1872 establishments in the Cape Colony]] |
|||
[[Category:Political history of South Africa]] |
|||
[[Category:Politics of the Cape Colony]] |
|||
Revision as of 22:07, 25 May 2014
zomfg look your pantz just fell down :P