Constitutional convention (political custom)
Encyclopedia
A constitutional convention is an informal and uncodified procedural agreement that is followed by the institutions of a state. In some states, notably those Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 states that follow the Westminster system
Westminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 and whose political systems derive from British constitutional law
Constitution of the United Kingdom
The constitution of the United Kingdom is the set of laws and principles under which the United Kingdom is governed.Unlike many other nations, the UK has no single core constitutional document. In this sense, it is said not to have a written constitution but an uncodified one...

, most government functions are guided by constitutional convention rather than by a formal written constitution.
In these states, actual distribution of power may be markedly different from those the formal constitutional documents describes. In particular, the formal constitution often confers wide discretionary powers on the head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

 that, in practice, are used only on the advice of the head of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...

.

Some constitutional conventions operate separate from or alongside written constitutions. Others, notably in Britain, which has much of its constitution unwritten, have a form of constitutional status. Many old conventions have been replaced or superseded by laws.

Definitions

The term was first used by British legal scholar A. V. Dicey
A. V. Dicey
- References :...

 in his 1883 book, Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution. Dicey wrote that in Britain, the actions of political actors and institutions are governed by two parallel and complementary sets of rules:
A century later, Canadian scholar Peter Hogg
Peter Hogg
Peter Wardell Hogg, CC, QC, FRSC is a Canadian lawyer, author and legal scholar. He is best known as a leading authority on Canadian constitutional law....

 wrote,

Origins

Constitutional conventions arise when the exercise of a certain type of power, which is not prohibited by law, arouses such opposition that it becomes impossible, on future occasions, to engage in further exercises of this power. For example, the constitutional convention that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

 cannot remain in office without the support of a majority of votes the House of Commons is derived from an unsuccessful attempt by the ministry of Robert Peel
Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846...

 to govern without the support of a majority in the House, in 1834-1835
Conservative Government 1834-1835
Sir Robert Peel's first government succeeded the caretaker ministry of the Duke of Wellington. Peel was also Chancellor of the Exchequer while the Duke of Wellington served as Foreign Secretary...

.

Unenforceability in the courts

Constitutional conventions are not, and cannot be, enforced by courts of law. The primary reason for this, according to the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

 in its 1981 Patriation Reference
Patriation Reference
Reference re a Resolution to amend the Constitution, [1981] 1 S.C.R. 753 – also known as the Patriation Reference – is a historic Supreme Court of Canada reference case that occurred during negotiations for the patriation of the Constitution of Canada.The Court affirmed the existence of...

, is that, "They are generally in conflict with the legal rules which they postulate and the courts are bound to enforce the legal rules." More precisely, the conventions make certain acts, which would be permissible under a straightforward reading of the law, impermissible in practice. The court ruled that this conflict between convention and law means that no convention, no matter how well-established or universally accepted, can "crystallize" into law, unless the relevant parliament or legislature enacts a law or constitutional amendment codifying the convention. This principle is regarded as authoritative in a number of other jurisdictions, including the UK.

Some conventions evolve or change over time; for example, before 1918 the British cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...

 requested a parliamentary dissolution from the monarch, with the Prime Minister conveying the request. Since 1918, prime ministers on their own initiative request dissolutions, and need not consult members of the cabinet. However conventions are rarely ever broken. Unless there is general agreement on the breach, the person who breaches a convention is often heavily criticised, on occasions leading to a loss of respect or popular support. It is often said that "conventions are not worth the paper they are not written on", i.e., they are unenforceable in law because they are not written down. Whatever enforceability they have comes from history, tradition, symbolism and their cross-party support.

Constitutional Conventions in the United Kingdom

While Britain does not have a written constitution that is a single document, the collection of legal instrument
Legal instrument
Legal instrument is a legal term of art that is used for any formally executed written document that can be formally attributed to its author, records and formally expresses a legally enforceable act, process, or contractual duty, obligation, or right, and therefore evidences that act, process, or...

s that have developed into a body of law known as constitutional law has existed for hundreds of years.

As part of this uncodified British constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

, constitutional conventions of British constitutional law play a key role. They are rules that are observed by the various constituted parts though they are not written in any document having legal authority; there are often underlying enforcing principles that are themselves not formal and codified. Nonetheless it is very unlikely that there would be a departure of such conventions without good reason, even if an underlying enforcing principle has been overtaken by history, as these conventions also acquire the force of custom.

Australia

  • Governors-General and Governors always act on the advice of their Prime Minister or Premier or other relevant minister in regard to particular powers they may exercise.
  • After an incumbent prime minister loses an election, it is expected that they will advise the governor-general to appoint the leader of the larger party as prime minister so the governor-general does not need to act on their own initiative.
  • State premiers tender advice for Senate elections in response to the Prime Minister's decision.
  • State governors are given a dormant commission to administer the Commonwealth if the Governor-General is unable to.
  • Vice-Regal officers act in a politically neutral way, and do not vote.


No convention is absolute; all but one (the second) of the above conventions were disregarded in the leadup to or during the constitutional crisis of 1975.

Ignoring constitutional conventions does not always result in a crisis. After the Tasmanian state election, 2010
Tasmanian state election, 2010
The 2010 Tasmanian state election was held on 20 March 2010 to elect members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The 12-year incumbent Labor government, led by Premier of Tasmania David Bartlett, won a fourth consecutive term against the Liberal opposition, led by Will Hodgman, after Labor formed a...

, the Governor of Tasmania rejected the advice of his Premier to appoint the leader of the opposition as premier because he felt the advice was tendered in bad faith. The Premier went on to form a new government.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

  • The six members of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
    The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a special court sui generis, whose main role is to be the interpreter and guardian of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as stated in Article VI, paragraph 3 of the Constitution , and it is considered to be the highest judicial...

    , that are chosen by the Parliaments of entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

    , should be chosen in a way as to establish the national balance, of "constituent peoples", in the Court (two Bosniaks
    Bosniaks
    The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...

    , two Croatian
    Croats
    Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

    s and two Serbs), although the Constitution
    Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina
    The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the highest legal document of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current Constitution is the Annex 4 of The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, signed in Paris on 14 December 1995...

     does not have this requirement.
  • The Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
    The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the executive branch of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.According to the Article V, Section 4 of the Constitution, the Chair of the Council of Ministers is nominated by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and confirmed by the...

     should be of different nationality in every new term (establishing the "rotation"), although this is not formally regulated.
  • The government of an entity
    Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina
    The political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina were created by the Dayton Agreement, which recognized a second tier of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina comprising two entities—a joint Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska -- each presiding over roughly one half of...

     should inform the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
    The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the executive branch of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.According to the Article V, Section 4 of the Constitution, the Chair of the Council of Ministers is nominated by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and confirmed by the...

     of its intention to establish special parallel relationships with neighboring states, including negotiations. Also, High Representative
    High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
    The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was created in 1995 immediately after the Dayton Peace Agreement to oversee the civilian implementation of this agreement. The High Representative and the OHR represent the...

     should be notified of any such intent, especially if there is a document that should be signed between parties, although the Constitution
    Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina
    The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the highest legal document of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current Constitution is the Annex 4 of The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, signed in Paris on 14 December 1995...

     does not have this requirement (also for first example).

Canada

  • Previously the Senate would not defeat a bill passed by the House of Commons, it was broken in 1989 when the Senate defeated a bill regulating abortions. It was broken again for a bill that would have ratified a free trade agreement between Canada and the United States.
  • The Prime Minister will request the Governor General
    Governor General of Canada
    The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...

     to call an election upon the defeat of the government in a confidence or money vote. This convention was broken in 1968 when the ruling minority government
    Minority government
    A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...

     unexpectedly lost a money vote. All the parties in Parliament, who were not prepared for a snap election, agreed to pass a resolution retroactively declaring the lost money vote was not a matter of confidence.
  • Though it is mentioned in various constitutional documents, the precise nature of the office of the Prime Minister
    Prime Minister of Canada
    The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

     operates mostly according to understood, uncodified British conventions.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada
    Supreme Court of Canada
    The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

     is composed of six justices from English Canada and three from Quebec
    Quebec
    Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

     (Three judges must be from Quebec but the other six can be from any province, be it Quebec or any of the other nine provinces). This convention makes Quebec, with about one-quarter of Canada's population, overrepresented on the Supreme Court, but is needed because Quebec uses civil law
    Civil law (legal system)
    Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...

     rather than the common law
    Common law
    Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

     used in the rest of Canada, and it is thus necessary to have enough judges who have worked in the civil law system on the Supreme Court to allow panels to be created to judge cases arising from that system of law.

Commonwealth Realms

  • The Governor-General
    Governor-General
    A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...

     is appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day, is a resident of the country he or she will represent, and can be dismissed immediately on the advice of the Prime Minister (exceptions are Papua New Guinea
    Papua New Guinea
    Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

     and the Solomon Islands
    Solomon Islands
    Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

    , where the Governor-General is elected by Parliament and then formally appointed by the Queen, and the United Kingdom, which has no vice-regal office). Similarly, state or provincial Governors or Lieutenant-Governors are appointed on the advice of the relevant state ministers.
  • Neither the Monarch nor a Governor-General will participate in the political process unless there is an extreme circumstance that merits the use of reserve powers, or when the advice is tendered contrary to established convention.
  • Neither the Monarch nor a Governor-General will make partisan speech
    Partisan (political)
    In politics, a partisan is a committed member of a political party. In multi-party systems, the term is widely understood to carry a negative connotation - referring to those who wholly support their party's policies and are perhaps even reluctant to acknowledge correctness on the part of their...

    es or state partisan opinions. This convention was broken in 1975 by Sir Colin Hannah
    Colin Hannah
    Air Marshal Sir Colin Thomas Hannah KCMG, KCVO, KBE, CB was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force and a Governor of Queensland. Born in Western Australia, he was a member of the Militia before joining the RAAF in 1935. After graduating as a pilot, Hannah served in Nos. 22 and...

    , the Governor of Queensland, who called for the defeat of the Whitlam Government
    Whitlam Government
    The Whitlam Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1972 to 1975.-Background:...

    . The Queen, on Whitlam's advice, revoked Hannah's dormant commission
    Dormant commission
    A dormant commission is a commission which lies dormant or sleeping until it is triggered by a particular event. The concept appears in the constitutional affairs of Commonwealth realm nations....

     to act as Administrator of the Commonwealth of Australia
    Administrator of the Government
    An Administrator in the constitutional practice of some countries in the Commonwealth is a person who fulfils a role similar to that of a Governor or a Governor-General...

     and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
    Foreign and Commonwealth Office
    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...

     later refused the Premier of Queensland's request that they advise the Queen to appoint Hannah to a second term as Governor (in 1975, Australian State Governors were still appointed on the advice of UK ministers)
  • All executive decisions are taken by a formal meeting of the Executive Council, i.e. the Governor-General-in-Council (allegedly broken in the mid 1970s, but followed since)

Denmark

  • The Danish Constitution makes reference to the King in great detail. Apart from the fact that this is understood to include a Queen regnant
    Queen regnant
    A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....

     as well, references to the King acting in a political capacity are understood to mean the Prime Minister, as the Constitution stipulates that the King exercises his powers through the Cabinet.
  • According to the Constitution, any public expenditure must be provided for in the annual money bill
    Money bill
    In the Westminster system , a money bill or supply bill is a bill that solely concerns taxation or government spending , as opposed to changes in public law.- Conventions :...

     or provisional money bills. However, although not provided for in the Constitution, according to constitutional custom, the Parliamentary Budgetary Committee has the power to authorise provisional expenditure, regardless of the fact that such expenditure is not formally included in the budget (such grants are however then marked for adoption in the next forthcoming money bill).

France

  • If the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister
    Prime Minister of France
    The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...

     are not from the same party
    Cohabitation (government)
    Cohabitation in government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as France's system, when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament. It occurs because such a system forces the president to name a premier that will be acceptable to the...

    , foreign affairs and defense are conducted by the President.
  • If the president of the National Assembly
    French National Assembly
    The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....

    , the president of the Senate
    French Senate
    The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage.-History:France's first...

     or 60 deputies or 60 senators claim that a just-voted statute
    Statute
    A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...

     is unconstitutional, the President of the Republic does not sign the law and instead waits for a petition to be sent to the Constitutional Council
    Constitutional Council of France
    The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...

    .
  • When the death penalty was in effect, sentenced prisoners were not executed until they had asked the President of the Republic to grant clemency and the president had declined to do so, unless they did not seek clemency.

Lebanon

  • The Lebanese constitution states that the President of Lebanon is elected by a simple majority of the Parliament of Lebanon
    Parliament of Lebanon
    The Parliament of Lebanon is the national parliament of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year terms in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and Muslim denominations. Lebanon has universal adult suffrage...

    . However, due to the country's delicate ethnic balance, the Parliament's various factions usually try to agree on a consensus candidate.
  • Under the unwritten National Pact
    National Pact
    The National Pact is an unwritten agreement that laid the foundation of Lebanon as a multi-confessional state, and has shaped the country to this day. Following negotiations between the Shi'ite, Sunni, and Maronite leaderships, the National Pact was born in the summer of 1943 allowing Lebanon to...

    , the president must always be a Maronite Christian; the prime minister a Sunni Muslim; the speaker of Parliament a Shia Muslim; and the deputy speaker Greek Orthodox.

New Zealand

  • The Prime Minister
    Prime Minister of New Zealand
    The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

     of New Zealand
    New Zealand
    New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

     will not ask for an early election unless he or she is unable to govern, or needs to seek the opinion of the electorate on an issue of major importance.

Norway

Because of its pivotal role in providing independence and establishing democracy in the 19th century, the Norwegian parliament has been very reluctant to change the written constitution of 1814. Few of the developments in the political system that have been taking place since then have been codified as amendments. This reluctance has been labelled constitutional conservatism. The two most important examples of constitutional conventions in the Norwegian political system
Politics of Norway
Politics in Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the King's council, the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister of Norway. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Storting, elected...

 are parliamentarism and the declining power of the King.
  • Parliamentarism has evolved since 1884 and entails that the cabinet must maintain the support of parliament (an absence of mistrust) but it need not have its express support.
  • All new laws are passed and all new cabinets are therefore formed in a de jure fashion by the King, although not necessarily in a de facto sense.
  • According to the written constitution, the cabinet (council of ministers) are appointed by the King. The appointment of new cabinets by the King is a formality, and the king has not directly exercised executive powers since 1905.

Spain

Much of Spain's political framework is codified in the Spanish Constitution of 1978
Spanish Constitution of 1978
-Structure of the State:The Constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions . Preliminary Title As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution...

, which formalizes the relationship between an independent constitutional monarchy, the government, and the legislature. However, the constitution invests the monarch as the "arbitrator and moderator of the institutions" of government.
  • The king nominates a candidate to stand for the Presidency of the Government of Spain, sometimes known in English as 'prime minister'. The nominee then stands before the Congress of Deputies and presents his political agenda for the upcoming legislative term, followed by a Vote of Confidence
    Indirect election
    Indirect election is a process in which voters in an election don't actually choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make the choice. It is one of the oldest form of elections and is still used today for many upper houses and presidents...

     in the nominee and his agenda. The 1978 Constitution allows the king to nominate anyone he sees fit to stand for the vote of confidence so long as the king has met with the political party leaders represented in the Congress beforehand. However, King Juan Carlos I has consistently nominated the political party leader who commands a plurality of seats in the Congress of Deputies. For the king to nominate the political leader whose party controls the Congress can be seen as a royal endorsement of the democratic process, a fundamental concept enshrined in the 1978 Constitution.
  • The Spanish public preception that the institution of Monarchy in Spain be politically non-partisan in its adherence to constitutional protocol and convention, yet while protecting the public expression of personal political views by members of the royal family. Expressions of personal political views expressed in public include when the Prince of Asturias and his sisters protested against terrorism following the 2004 Madrid Bombings, or when the Queen gave controversial political viewpoints during an informal interview.
  • Constitutionally, the king appoints the twenty members to the General Council of the Judicial Power of Spain, or the Supreme Court. However, when a vacancy is observed the king's appointment has been customarily on the advice of the government of the day. Additionally, the king appoints the President of the Supreme Court on the advice of the General Council of the Judicial power of Spain.
  • According to the 1978 Constitution grandee and nobility titles, and civil and military decorations, are awarded by the king as head of state. However, in most cases since 1978, the king's appointment of nobility titles have been countersigned by the President of the Government of Spain, with civil awards having been nominated by the President and military awards having been nominated by the military.

Switzerland

The following constitutional conventions are part of the political culture of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. They hold true at the federal level and mostly so at the cantonal and communal level. Mostly, they aim to reconcile the democratic principle of majority rule
Majority rule
Majority rule is a decision rule that selects alternatives which have a majority, that is, more than half the votes. It is the binary decision rule used most often in influential decision-making bodies, including the legislatures of democratic nations...

 with the need to achieve consensus in a nation that is much more heterogeneous in many respects than other nation-states.
  • The government is a body of equals composed in political proportion
    Concordance system
    In Swiss politics, concordance system refers to the presence of all major parties in the Federal Council, also referred to as the integration of the political opposition into government....

     to the weight of the various factions in Parliament
    Parliament
    A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

    ; this creates a permanent grand coalition
    Grand coalition
    A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government...

    .
  • Members of a collective body, including the federal government
    Swiss Federal Council
    The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state....

    , observe collegiality
    Collegiality
    Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues.Colleagues are those explicitly united in a common purpose and respecting each other's abilities to work toward that purpose...

     at all times, that is, they do not publicly criticise one another. They also publicly support all decisions of the collective, even against their own opinion or that of their political party. In the eye of many observers, this convention has become rather strained at the federal level, at least after the 2003 elections to the Swiss Federal Council
    Swiss Federal Council
    The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state....

    .
  • The presidency
    President
    A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

     of a collective body, particularly a government, rotates yearly; the president is a primus inter pares
    Primus inter pares
    Primus inter pares is Latin phrase describing the most senior person of a group sharing the same rank or office.When not used in reference to a specific title, it may indicate that the person so described is formally equal, but looked upon as an authority of special importance by their peers...

    .

United Kingdom

  • The texts of most international treaties are laid before Parliament at least twenty one days before ratification (the 'Ponsonby Rule
    Ponsonby Rule
    The Ponsonby Rule was a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom constitutional law that dictated that most international treaties had to be laid before parliament 21 days before ratification....

    ' of 1924).
  • Treaties, although ratified using Royal Prerogative
    Royal Prerogative
    The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...

    , will not be ratified until the passing of a suitable statute law by Parliament. This is necessary if the treaty requires an amendment to domestic law, affects the rights of private individuals, requires public expenditure, grants the Crown
    The Crown
    The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...

     additional powers, or cedes territory. Examples include extradition treaties, double taxation treaties, and reciprocal social-security treaties.
  • The monarch will accept and act on the advice of their ministers, who are responsible to Parliament for that advice; the monarch does not ignore that advice, except when exercising Reserve powers.
  • The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

     is the leader of the party
    Political party
    A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

     (or coalition of parties) with an absolute majority of seats in the House of Commons
    British House of Commons
    The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

     and therefore most likely to command the support of the House of Commons.
  • All money bills must originate in the House of Commons
    British House of Commons
    The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

    .
  • The Prime Minister alone advises the monarch on a dissolution of Parliament (since 1918).
  • The monarch will grant a dissolution if requested (since 1832 – the Lascelles Principles
    Lascelles Principles
    The Lascelles Principles are a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom under which the Sovereign could wisely refuse a request of the Prime Minister to dissolve Parliament, if the existing Parliament is "still vital, viable, and capable of doing its job", if "a General Election would be...

     in 1951 informally outlined the principles and issues that might lead to a refusal of a dissolution).
  • The monarch grants the Royal Assent
    Royal Assent
    The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...

     to all legislation – sometimes characterised as all legislation passed in good faith. It is possible that ministers could advise against giving consent, as happens with the Crown dependencies (convention since the early 18th century – previously monarchs did refuse or withhold the Royal Assent).
  • The Prime Minister should be a member of either House of Parliament (between the 18th century - 1963).
    • In 1963 it was amended to the effect that no Prime Minister should come from the House of Lords. When the last Prime Minister peer, the Earl of Home, took office he renounced his peerage, and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home
      Alec Douglas-Home
      Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...

       became an MP.
    • The Prime Minister can hold office temporarily whilst not a Member of Parliament, for example during a General Election or in the case of Douglas-Home, between resigning from the Lords and being elected to the Commons in a by-election.
  • All Cabinet members must be members of the Privy Council
    Privy Council of the United Kingdom
    Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

    .
  • The House of Lords should not reject a budget passed by the House of Commons. This was broken controversially in 1909 by the House of Lords, which argued that the Convention was linked to another Convention that the Commons would not introduce a Bill that 'attacked' peers and their wealth. The Lords claimed that the Commons broke this Convention in Chancellor of the Exchequer
    Chancellor of the Exchequer
    The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...

     David Lloyd George
    David Lloyd George
    David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

    's budget, justifying the Lords' rejection of the budget. The Commons disputed the existence of a linked convention. As a consequence, the Lords' powers over budgets were greatly lessened by the Parliament Act 1911
    Parliament Act 1911
    The Parliament Act 1911 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is constitutionally important and partly governs the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords which make up the Houses of Parliament. This Act must be construed as one with the Parliament Act 1949...

    .
  • During a General Election, no major party shall put up an opponent against a Speaker seeking re-election
    Speaker of the British House of Commons
    The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...

    . This convention was not respected during the 1987 General Election, when both the Labour Party
    Labour Party (UK)
    The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

     and the Social Democratic Party
    Social Democratic Party (UK)
    The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...

     fielded candidates against the Conservative Speaker, Bernard Weatherill
    Bernard Weatherill
    Bruce Bernard Weatherill, Baron Weatherill, PC, DL, KStJ was a British Conservative Party politician who became Speaker of the House of Commons.-Tailor:...

    , who was MP for Croydon North East
    Croydon North East (UK Parliament constituency)
    Croydon North East was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1955 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- History :...

    . The Scottish National Party
    Scottish National Party
    The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....

     (SNP) does stand against the Speaker if he or she represents a Scottish constituency, as was the case with Michael Martin
    Michael Martin (politician)
    Michael John Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn, PC is a British politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Glasgow Springburn from 1979 to 2005, and then for Glasgow North East until 2009...

    , Speaker from 2000 to 2009.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/flash_map/html/map05.stm
  • The Westminster Parliament will only legislate on reserved matters
    Reserved matters
    In the United Kingdom reserved matters and excepted matters are the areas of government policy where Parliament had kept the power to make laws in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales....

    . It will not legislate on non-reserved matters ('devolved matters') without first seeking the consent of the Scottish Parliament
    Scottish Parliament
    The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

     (since 1999, the Sewel convention
    Sewel motion
    A Legislative Consent Motion is a motion passed by the Scottish Parliament, in which it agrees that the Parliament of the United Kingdom may pass legislation on a devolved issue extending to Scotland, over which the Scottish Parliament has regular legislative authority.-Background:The Scotland Act...

    , later renamed to Legislative Consent Motions).
  • The House of Lords shall not oppose legislation from the House of Commons that was a part of the government's manifesto
    Manifesto
    A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...

     (the Salisbury Convention
    Salisbury Convention
    The Salisbury Convention is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom which puts forward that the House of Lords will not oppose the second or third reading of any government legislation promised in its election manifesto.Following a landslide Labour general election victory in...

    ).

United States

  • The President of the United States
    President of the United States
    The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

     will give his State of the Union
    State Of The Union
    "State Of The Union" is the debut single from British singer-songwriter David Ford. It had previously been featured as a demo on his official website, before appearing as a track on a CD entitled "Apology Demos EP," only on sale at live shows....

     address in person, before a joint session of Congress. The constitution requires the President give an update on the state of the union "from time to time", but no specifics are outlined. By custom, the President gives the State of the Union address annually. Only in recent years has the president given the State of the Union address as a public speech.
  • Much of how the United States Cabinet
    United States Cabinet
    The Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, which are generally the heads of the federal executive departments...

     operates is dictated by convention; its operations are only vaguely alluded to in the US constitution.
  • While members of the United States House of Representatives
    United States House of Representatives
    The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

     are only required to live in the state they represent, it has long been expected that they live in the district they represent as well.
  • The President of the United States
    President of the United States
    The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

     will obtain the consent of both Senators from a state before appointing a U.S. attorney with jurisdiction in that state.
  • Cabinet officials and other major executive officers resign and are replaced when a new President takes office, unless explicitly asked to stay on by the new President.
  • The Speaker of the House
    Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
    The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...

     is always the Representative who leads the ruling party, even though the Constitution does not specify that the Speaker must be a Representative.
  • The President pro tempore of the United States Senate
    President pro tempore of the United States Senate
    The President pro tempore is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate. The United States Constitution states that the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate and the highest-ranking official of the Senate despite not being a member of the body...

     will be the most senior Senator of the ruling party.

See also

  • Lapsed power
    Lapsed power
    In politics and government, lapsed power is a term often used to describe a certain constitutionally-granted power of government that is no longer used, according to constitutional convention...

  • Constitutional Convention (United States)
    History of the United States Constitution
    The United States Constitution was written in 1787, but it did not take effect until after it was ratified in 1789, when it replaced the Articles of Confederation. It remains the basic law of the United States...

  • Constitutional Convention (Australia)
    Constitutional Convention (Australia)
    In Australian history, the term Constitutional Convention refers to four distinct gatherings.-1891 convention:The 1891 Constitutional Convention was held in Sydney in March 1891 to consider a draft Constitution for the proposed federation of the British colonies in Australia and New Zealand. There...

  • European Convention
  • Scottish Constitutional Convention
    Scottish Constitutional Convention
    The Scottish Constitutional Convention was an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups, that developed a framework for a Scottish devolution. It is credited as having paved the way for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.The Convention was...

  • Constituent Assembly
    Constituent assembly
    A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...

  • Constitutional Commission
    Constitutional Commission
    Many entities have been called a Constitutional Commission with the general purpose of reviewing a constitution, or planning to create one.-Afghanistan:*Afghan Constitution Commission**Timeline of the War in Afghanistan...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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