Category Archives: Constructive Non-Confidence

Consensus Government & Dissolving the Legislature in Northwest Territories

Posted on 2023/08/26 by J.W.J. Bowden

Wildfires Prompt a Special Sitting of the Legislative Assembly In August 2023, the skies turned an ominous orange over large swathes of the Northwest Territories as gargantuan wildfires gobbled up forests and inched ever closer toward the edge of Yellowknife, … Continue reading →

Posted in By Efflux of Time, Comparative, Confirmation Voting, Consensus Government, Constructive Non-Confidence, Dissolution, Individual vs Collective Ministerial Responsibility, Responsible Government | Leave a comment

Putting the Personal above the Factual: Errol Mendes on Early Dissolution and Fixed-Date Election Laws in 2008 vs in 2021

Posted on 2021/08/14 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction I have chronicled several examples of scholarly inconsistency between how some academics cover and write about Harper versus Trudeau, The four most notable examples come down to the following: tactical prorogation, contempt of parliament, the caretaker convention and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Comparative, Confirmation Voting, Constructive Non-Confidence, Crown (Powers and Office), Dissolution, Fixed-Date Elections, Reform | 1 Comment

“There’s Nothing Strategic About This”: How Dwight Ball’s “New Government” Distorted the Caretaker Convention

Posted on 2019/08/01 by J.W.J. Bowden

By James Bowden & Lyle Skinner[1]   Table of Contents Introduction: An Early Election Leads to a Hung Parliament The Caretaker Convention in Canada and Newfoundland & Labrador Summoning the New House of Assembly, Electing the Speaker, and Tabling the … Continue reading →

Posted in Appointment of PM, Caretaker Convention & Government Formation, Comparative, Confirmation Voting, Constitutional Conventions, Constructive Non-Confidence, Crown (Powers and Office), Officialization of Convention, Succession (Prime Minister) | 1 Comment

Alpine Madness: Austria Takes The Caretaker Convention to the Extreme

Posted on 2019/07/04 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction A series of strange events has recently befallen Austria. It began with political scandal and the collapse of the coalition government between Sebastian Kurz’s People’s Party and Heinz-Christian Strache’s Freedom Party and ended a few weeks later with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Comparative, Confirmation Voting, Constructive Non-Confidence, Government Formation in Germany & Austria | 2 Comments

Germany Is The New Belgium: Of Continental Parliamentarism and Caretaker Government

Posted on 2018/01/01 by J.W.J. Bowden

Introduction Germany has become the new Belgium now that the Merkel III Ministry, a Grand Coalition of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats that should only have lasted from 2013 to 2017, has become a Belgian-style long-term caretaker government. Caretaker Chancellor … Continue reading →

Posted in Codification of Convention, Comparative, Confirmation Voting, Constructive Non-Confidence, Government Formation in Germany & Austria, Officialization of Convention | Leave a comment