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The first parliaments date back to Europe in the Middle Ages. The earliest example of a parliament is disputed, especially depending how the term is defined. For example, the Icelandic Althing consisting of prominent individuals among the free landowners of the various districts of the Icelandic Commonwealth first gathered around the year 930 (it conducted its business orally, with no written ...
For example, they may mirror the Parliament of Canada or the United States Congress. This focus on replicating real bodies promotes understanding of how different governments function. However, model parliaments also serve other purposes beyond pure imitation. Some aim to advocate social or political causes.
In some parliamentary systems, the prime minister is a member of the parliament (e.g. in the United Kingdom), whereas in others they are not (e.g. in the Netherlands). They are commonly the leader of the majority party in the lower house of parliament, but only hold the office as long as the "confidence of the house" is maintained.
Parliamentary democracies such as Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada practice and adhere to cabinet collective responsibility. Rhodes, Wanna and Weller offer this description of the principle of cabinet solidarity in Westminster systems of parliamentary democracy: "Cabinet solidarity and collective responsibility are twin dimensions of responsible party government that enjoy ...
Functional dualism is common in parliamentary systems, like those in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Sweden, where the term dualism is used to refer to the functional separation of powers between the cabinet and parliament. Unlike the presidential system, the legislative branch consists of the cabinet together with the parliament and cabinets ...
Term Description Examples Autocracy: Autocracy is a system of government in which supreme power (social and political) is concentrated in the hands of one person or polity, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for the implicit threat of a coup d'état or mass insurrection).
Parliamentary system Government system A parliamentary democracy is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of the legislature , to which they are held accountable.
However, in many parliamentary and semi-presidential systems, the house to which the executive is responsible (e.g. House of Commons of the UK and National Assembly of France) can overrule the other house (e.g. House of Lords of the UK and Senate of France) and may be regarded as an example of imperfect bicameralism. Some legislatures lie in ...