Constitutional Conventions in Westminster Systems
Controversies, Changes and Challenges

Constitutional conventions precede law and make law making possible, but attempting to define them is politically risky yet increasingly necessary.

Brian Galligan (Edited by), Scott Brenton (Edited by)

9781107100244, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 August 2015

288 pages, 1 b/w illus. 2 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.55 kg

'… the scope and terrain of the material covered in the book is impressive (for example, the caretaker conventions chapter) and should provide a useful steer to further research using other cases across the subject terrains discussed (as well as possibly some that are not discussed such as conventions and courts).' Mark Shephard, Parliaments, Estates and Representation

Conventions are fundamental to the constitutional systems of parliamentary democracies. Unlike the United States which adopted a republican form of government, with a full separation of powers, codified constitutional structures and limitations for executive and legislative institutions and actors, Britain and subsequently Canada, Australia and New Zealand have relied on conventions to perform similar functions. The rise of new political actors has disrupted the stability of the two-party system, and in seeking power the new players are challenging existing practices. Conventions that govern constitutional arrangements in Britain and New Zealand, and the executive in Canada and Australia, are changing to accommodate these and other challenges of modern governance. In Westminster democracies, constitutional conventions provide the rules for forming government; they precede law and make law-making possible. This prior and more fundamental realm of government formation and law making is shaped and structured by conventions.

Introduction Brian Galligan and Scott Brenton
1. Constitutional conventions Brian Galligan and Scott Brenton
2. Law and convention Nicholas Aroney
3. Executive conventions Brian Galligan
4. Cabinet government Patrick Weller
5. Caretaker conventions Jenny Menzies and Anne Tiernan
6. Minority and multi-party government Scott Brenton
7. Parliament J. R. Nethercote
8. Upper houses Campbell Sharman
9. The United Kingdom Robert Hazell
10. Canada Andrew C. Banfield
11. Australia Nicholas Barry and Narelle Miragliotta
12. New Zealand Grant Duncan
13. Codifying conventions Peter H. Russell
14. Constitutional reform Andrew Blick
Conclusion Brian Galligan and Scott Brenton.

Subject Areas: Constitutional & administrative law [LND], Law [L], Constitution: government & the state [JPHC], Politics & government [JP]