Category Archives: Reform

Will Wade MacLauchlan Become the First Premier to Ignore a Fixed-Date Election Law Twice?

Posted on 2018/05/24 by

The CBC recently ran an interesting article about electoral speculation — the political journalist’s favourite pastime — in Prince Edward Island when Premier Wade MacLauchlan refused to answer a simple question from an Opposition MLA on when the next general … Continue reading →

Posted in Fixed-Date Elections, Reform | 1 Comment

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

Posted on 2018/01/01 by

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 Caretaker Convention, Codification of Convention, Comparative, Constructive Non-Confidence, Government Formation in Germany, Officialization of Convention | Leave a comment

How Early General Federal Elections Can Be Held in Germany

Posted on 2017/11/26 by

Introduction Germans elected a new parliament on 24 September 2017. The main center-right and center-left parties, the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, both lost ground to the far-right Alternative for Germany and the far-left, aptly named The Left. The Free … Continue reading →

Posted in Comparative, Fixed-Date Elections, Government Formation in Germany | 1 Comment

Premier Gallant and the Early Dissolution That Wasn’t

Posted on 2017/10/28 by

Introduction  On Friday, 20 October 2017, CBC journalist Jacques Poitras reported on a strange, ambiguous press release  from the Liberal Premier of New Brunswick, Brian Gallant, and speculated what it might mean. The original press release said that the Premier … Continue reading →

Posted in Dissolution, Fixed-Date Elections | 2 Comments

What The Conservative-DUP Agreement Says about Votes of Confidence Under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act

Posted on 2017/06/26 by

The Conservative and Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party have finally hammered out a supply agreement that would give May’s minority government a parliamentary majority. You can read it here: Confidence and Supply Agreement between the Conservative Party and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Confidence Convention, Fixed-Date Elections, Formation of Governments | 2 Comments