Misplaced Pages

#928071

59-607: During the 1940s and 1950s the planners and engineers of Cape Town were wrapped up in discussions about proposed road infrastructure on the city's Foreshore and as various alternatives were debated, tensions between National , Provincial , the City government and the Foreshore Board surfaced. Solomon "Solly" Simon Morris was the City Engineer at the time who proposed relocating Eastern and Western Boulevards and including

118-402: A parliamentary system in which the executive is dependent on and accountable to the legislature. In each province the provincial legislature is directly elected by proportional representation , and the legislature in turn elects one of its members as Premier to head the executive. The Premier appoints an Executive Council (a cabinet), consisting of members of the legislature, to administer

177-682: A parliamentary system . Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa . Executive authority is vested in the President of South Africa who is head of state and head of government, and his Cabinet. The President is elected by the Parliament to serve a fixed term. South Africa's government differs from those of other Commonwealth nations. The national, provincial and local levels of government all have legislative and executive authority in their own spheres, and are defined in

236-423: A ceremonial head of state . This is in contrast to a presidential system, which features a president who is not fully accountable to the legislature, and cannot be replaced by a simple majority vote. Countries with parliamentary systems may be constitutional monarchies , where a monarch is the head of state while the head of government is almost always a member of parliament , or parliamentary republics , where

295-485: A change in power without an election, and for allowing elections at any time. Bagehot considered fixed-term elections such as the four-year election rule for presidents of the United States to be unnatural, as it can potentially allow a president who has disappointed the public with a dismal performance in the second year of his term to continue on until the end of his four-year term. Under a parliamentary system,

354-467: A decision yet to be announced. In 2023 the bridge became a place for a homeless community sleeping next to a 20-meter sheer drop. South African Government The Government of South Africa , or South African Government , is the national government of the Republic of South Africa , a parliamentary republic with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary , operating in

413-653: A definite election calendar can be abused. Under some systems, such as the British, a ruling party can schedule elections when it believes that it is likely to retain power, and so avoid elections at times of unpopularity. (From 2011, election timing in the UK was partially fixed under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 , which was repealed by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 .) Thus, by

472-472: A different party. In Canada and Australia, there are no restraints on legislators switching sides. In New Zealand, waka-jumping legislation provides that MPs who switch parties or are expelled from their party may be expelled from Parliament at the request of their former party's leader. A few parliamentary democracies such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand have weak or non-existent checks on

531-466: A directly elected lower house with the power to determine the executive government, and an upper house which may be appointed or elected through a different mechanism from the lower house. Scholars of democracy such as Arend Lijphart distinguish two types of parliamentary democracies: the Westminster and Consensus systems. Implementations of the parliamentary system can also differ as to how

590-496: A mostly ceremonial president is the head of state while the head of government is from the legislature. In a few countries, the head of government is also head of state but is elected by the legislature. In bicameral parliaments, the head of government is generally, though not always, a member of the lower house . Parliamentary democracy is the dominant form of government in the European Union , Oceania , and throughout

649-545: A partnership between the City of Cape Town and the University to examine the future of the incomplete foreshore freeway. In 2015 the city council also started using the western top deck as a designated parking area. During the 2010 World Cup Soccer tournament hosted by South Africa, the world's largest (35 m (114.83 ft)) operational vuvuzela sponsored by Hyundai was mounted on the western side and meant to sound at

SECTION 10

#1732775451929

708-653: A powerful president with an executive responsible to parliament: for example, the French Fifth Republic . Parliamentarianism may also apply to regional and local governments . An example is Oslo which has an executive council (Byråd) as a part of the parliamentary system. The devolved nations of the United Kingdom are also parliamentary and which, as with the UK Parliament , may hold early elections – this has only occurred with regards to

767-476: A prime minister that has lost support in the middle of his term can be easily replaced by his own peers with a more popular alternative, as the Conservative Party in the UK did with successive prime ministers David Cameron , Theresa May , Boris Johnson , Liz Truss , and Rishi Sunak . Although Bagehot praised parliamentary governments for allowing an election to take place at any time, the lack of

826-483: A rapid change in legislation and policy as long as there is a stable majority or coalition in parliament, allowing the government to have 'few legal limits on what it can do' When combined with first-past-the-post voting , this system produces the classic "Westminster model" with the twin virtues of strong but responsive party government. This electoral system providing a strong majority in the House of Commons, paired with

885-401: A ring highway to "allow for circulation with as little disturbance as possible and a speedy entrance and exit". In doing so, Morris was further instilling the popular post-War sentiment of a future associated with faster cars and bigger highways. Construction on the project eventually got off the ground in the early 1970s but was brought to an abrupt halt in 1977 with no clear explanation given at

944-516: A shrewd timing of elections, in a parliamentary system, a party can extend its rule for longer than is feasible in a presidential system. This problem can be alleviated somewhat by setting fixed dates for parliamentary elections, as is the case in several of Australia's state parliaments. In other systems, such as the Dutch and the Belgian, the ruling party or coalition has some flexibility in determining

1003-629: A system became particularly prevalent in older British dominions, many of which had their constitutions enacted by the British parliament; such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Irish Free State and the Union of South Africa . Some of these parliaments were reformed from, or were initially developed as distinct from their original British model: the Australian Senate , for instance, has since its inception more closely reflected

1062-399: A system of mixed-member proportional representation , while the councils of district municipalities are partly elected by proportional representation and partly appointed by the councils of the constituent local municipalities. In each legislative body, the party or coalition of parties holding a majority of seats forms the government. The largest party not in the government is recognised as

1121-486: A warning example of the flaws of parliamentary systems that if the United States had a parliamentary system, Donald Trump , as head of government, could have dissolved the United States Congress . The ability for strong parliamentary governments to push legislation through with the ease of fused power systems such as in the United Kingdom, whilst positive in allowing rapid adaptation when necessary e.g.

1180-461: Is rather what is often criticized about presidential systems. Fontaine compares United Kingdom's Margaret Thatcher to the United States' Ronald Reagan noting the former head of government was much more powerful despite governing under a parliamentary system. The rise to power of Viktor Orbán in Hungary has been claimed to show how parliamentary systems can be subverted. The situation in Hungary

1239-406: Is their ability to allow and accommodate more diverse viewpoints. He states that because "legislators are not compelled to vote against their constituents on matters of local concern, parties can serve as organizational and roll-call cuing vehicles without forcing out dissidents." All current parliamentary democracies see the indirect election or appointment of their head of government. As a result,

SECTION 20

#1732775451929

1298-552: The 1708 Scottish Militia Bill . Whilst both the UK and New Zealand have some Acts or parliamentary rules establishing supermajorities or additional legislative procedures for certain legislation, such as previously with the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA), these can be bypassed through the enactment of another that amends or ignores these supermajorities away, such as with the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019 – bypassing

1357-631: The Cortes of León . The Corts of Catalonia were the first parliament of Europe that officially obtained the power to pass legislation, apart from the custom. An early example of parliamentary government developed in today's Netherlands and Belgium during the Dutch revolt (1581), when the sovereign, legislative and executive powers were taken over by the States General of the Netherlands from

1416-887: The French Third Republic where the Radical Party and its centre-left allies dominated the government for several decades. However, the rise of Fascism in the 1930s put an end to parliamentary democracy in Italy and Germany, among others. After the Second World War , the defeated fascist Axis powers were occupied by the victorious Allies . In those countries occupied by the Allied democracies (the United States , United Kingdom , and France ) parliamentary constitutions were implemented, resulting in

1475-928: The National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces ), the executive (the President , who is both Head of State and Head of Government ), and the judiciary (the Constitutional Court , the Supreme Court of Appeal , and the High Court ). All bodies of the South African Government are subject to the rule of the Constitution, which is the supreme law in South Africa. The Parliament of

1534-484: The Northern Ireland Assembly in 2017 and 2022 . A few parliamentary democratic nations such as India , Pakistan and Bangladesh have enacted laws that prohibit floor crossing or switching parties after the election. Under these laws, elected representatives will lose their seat in the parliament if they go against their party in votes. In the UK parliament, a member is free to cross over to

1593-748: The US Senate than the British House of Lords ; whereas since 1950 there is no upper house in New Zealand. Many of these countries such as Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados have severed institutional ties to Great Britain by becoming republics with their own ceremonial Presidents, but retain the Westminster system of government. The idea of parliamentary accountability and responsible government spread with these systems. Democracy and parliamentarianism became increasingly prevalent in Europe in

1652-490: The fused power system results in a particularly powerful government able to provide change and 'innovate'. The United Kingdom's fused power system is often noted to be advantageous with regard to accountability. The centralised government allows for more transparency as to where decisions originate from, this contrasts with the American system with Treasury Secretary C. Douglas Dillon saying "the president blames Congress,

1711-803: The parliamentary constitutions of Italy and West Germany (now all of Germany) and the 1947 Constitution of Japan . The experiences of the war in the occupied nations where the legitimate democratic governments were allowed to return strengthened the public commitment to parliamentary principles; in Denmark , a new constitution was written in 1953, while a long and acrimonious debate in Norway resulted in no changes being made to that country's strongly entrenched democratic constitution . A parliamentary system may be either bicameral , with two chambers of parliament (or houses) or unicameral , with just one parliamentary chamber. A bicameral parliament usually consists of

1770-578: The 2/3rd supermajority required for an early dissolution under the FTPA -, which enabled the early dissolution for the 2019 general election . Parliamentarism metrics allow a quantitative comparison of the strength of parliamentary systems for individual countries. One parliamentarism metric is the Parliamentary Powers Index. Parliamentary systems like that found in the United Kingdom are widely considered to be more flexible, allowing

1829-458: The Benelux countries require a sitting member of the legislature to resign such positions upon being appointed to the executive. Furthermore, there are variations as to what conditions exist (if any) for the government to have the right to dissolve the parliament: The parliamentary system can be contrasted with a presidential system which operates under a stricter separation of powers, whereby

Foreshore Freeway Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue

1888-673: The Congress blames the president, and the public remains confused and disgusted with government in Washington". Furthermore, ministers of the U.K. cabinet are subject to weekly Question Periods in which their actions/policies are scrutinised; no such regular check on the government exists in the U.S. system. A 2001 World Bank study found that parliamentary systems are associated with less corruption. In his 1867 book The English Constitution , Walter Bagehot praised parliamentary governments for producing serious debates, for allowing for

1947-538: The Republic of South Africa is South Africa 's legislature . It is located in Cape Town , the country's legislative capital . Under the present Constitution of South Africa , the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces . The current twenty-eighth Parliament was first convened on 14 June 2024. From 1910 to 1994, members of Parliament were elected chiefly by

2006-517: The South African Constitution as "distinctive, interdependent and interrelated". Operating at both national and provincial levels ("domes") are advisory bodies drawn from South Africa's traditional leaders. It is a stated intention in the Constitution that the country be run on a system of cooperative governance. The national government is composed of three inter-connected branches; the legislature (parliament, consisting of

2065-637: The South African white minority . The first elections with universal suffrage were held in 1994 . The President , Deputy President and the Ministers of the South African Government make up the executive branch of the national government. Ministers are Members of Parliament who are appointed by the President to head the various departments of the national government . The president is elected by parliament from its members. The third branch of

2124-732: The bridge stops, which is still visible on Google Earth . On the eastern side, approximately 260 m (853.02 ft) away, the other two ends that would have made the connection jut out and have since been converted to public parking . At the 2012 launch of the Transport for Cape Town initiative, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Cape Town , Professor Francis Petersen, announced

2183-408: The election date. Conversely, flexibility in the timing of parliamentary elections can avoid periods of legislative gridlock that can occur in a fixed period presidential system. In any case, voters ultimately have the power to choose whether to vote for the ruling party or someone else. According to Arturo Fontaine , parliamentary systems in Europe have yielded very powerful heads of government which

2242-429: The electorate has limited power to remove or install the person or party wielding the most power. Although strategic voting may enable the party of the prime minister to be removed or empowered, this can be at the expense of voters first preferences in the many parliamentary systems utilising first past the post , or having no effect in dislodging those parties who consistently form part of a coalition government, as with

2301-491: The executive does not form part of—nor is appointed by—the parliamentary or legislative body. In such a system, parliaments or congresses do not select or dismiss heads of government, and governments cannot request an early dissolution as may be the case for parliaments (although the parliament may still be able to dissolve itself, as in the case of Cyprus ). There also exists the semi-presidential system that draws on both presidential systems and parliamentary systems by combining

2360-574: The former British Empire , with other users scattered throughout Africa and Asia . A similar system, called a council–manager government , is used by many local governments in the United States . 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

2419-483: 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 record allowing an exact date). The first written record of a parliament, in particular in the sense of an assembly separate from the population called in presence of a King was 1188 Alfonso IX, King of Leon (Spain) convened the three states in

Foreshore Freeway Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue

2478-647: The king of unlimited authority and the second, in 1265, included ordinary citizens from the towns . Later, in the 17th century, the Parliament of England pioneered some of the ideas and systems of liberal democracy culminating in the Glorious Revolution and passage of the Bill of Rights 1689 . In the Kingdom of Great Britain , the monarch, in theory, chaired the cabinet and chose ministers. In practice, King George I 's inability to speak English led to

2537-555: The legislative power of their Parliaments, where any newly approved Act shall take precedence over all prior Acts. All laws are equally unentrenched, wherein judicial review may not outright annul nor amend them, as frequently occurs in other parliamentary systems like Germany . Whilst the head of state for both nations ( Monarch , and or Governor General ) has the de jure power to withhold assent to any bill passed by their Parliament, this check has not been exercised in Britain since

2596-615: The monarch, King Philip II of Spain . Significant developments Kingdom of Great Britain , in particular in the period 1707 to 1800 and its contemporary, the Parliamentary System in Sweden between 1721 and 1772 , and later in Europe and elsewhere in the 19th and 20th centuries, with the expansion of like institutions, and beyond In England, Simon de Montfort is remembered as one of the figures relevant later for convening two famous parliaments. The first , in 1258, stripped

2655-466: The national government is an independent judiciary. The judicial branch interprets the laws, using as a basis the laws as enacted and explanatory statements made in the Legislature during the enactment. The legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law and accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations. The constitution's bill of rights provides for due process including

2714-678: The nationalisation of services during the world wars, in the opinion of some commentators does have its drawbacks. For instance, the flip-flopping of legislation back and forth as the majority in parliament changed between the Conservatives and Labour over the period 1940–1980, contesting over the nationalisation and privatisation of the British Steel Industry resulted in major instability for the British steel sector. In R. Kent Weaver's book Are Parliamentary Systems Better? , he writes that an advantage of presidential systems

2773-425: The official opposition. Parliamentary system A parliamentary system , or 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. This head of government is usually, but not always, distinct from

2832-444: The overpass, turning it into a roller coaster or skate park , creating a street arcade below and also possibly some sort of waterway . Mayor Patricia de Lille , present at the exhibition said "it was important to use Cape Town's designation as World Design Capital as an opportunity to think differently". Once the exhibition closed UCT handed the students' projects over to the Transport for Cape Town committee for evaluation with

2891-437: The prime minister and government are appointed and whether the government needs the explicit approval of the parliament, rather than just the absence of its disapproval. While most parliamentary systems such as India require the prime minister and other ministers to be a member of the legislature, in other countries like Canada and the United Kingdom this only exists as a convention, some other countries including Norway, Sweden and

2950-526: The responsibility for chairing cabinet to go to the leading minister, literally the prime or first minister, Robert Walpole . The gradual democratisation of parliament with the broadening of the voting franchise increased parliament's role in controlling government, and in deciding whom the king could ask to form a government. By the 19th century, the Great Reform Act of 1832 led to parliamentary dominance, with its choice invariably deciding who

3009-490: The right to a fair , public trial within a reasonable time. The nine provinces of South Africa are governed by provincial governments which form the second layer of government, between the national government and the municipalities . The provincial governments are established, and their structure defined, by Chapter Six of the Constitution of South Africa . The provincial governments are structured according to

SECTION 50

#1732775451929

3068-405: The same effect; the presidential election, and the legislative election, and that the president's party has the legislative supermajority required for constitutional amendments. Safeguards against this situation implementable in both systems include the establishment of an upper house or a requirement for external ratification of constitutional amendments such as a referendum . Fontaine also notes as

3127-552: The start of each game. The city council, however, decided not to use it as the jarring sound and volume level was a cause of concern. The Transport for Cape Town initiative announced in 2012 sought the input of design students at the University of Cape Town to find an affordable solution to the unfinished bridge and during a presentation on April 14, 2014 at the Cape Town City Hall approximately 600 students exhibited their ideas. Some of these included planting trees on

3186-440: The time not justifying its continuation and the project had to be abandoned. Originally intended as a freeway , the uncompleted bridge or overpass consists of two parallel units - each designed to carry one direction of motor traffic over the city's Central business district (CBD) at north entrance, to avoid the many intersections below. Both lanes on the western side were tarred, and road markings were painted right up to where

3245-430: The time. As a result, several urban legends have surfaced over the years. One is that the design team had made a calculation error resulting in the two ends failing to link up. Another was that construction was halted due to a disgruntled shop owner who refused to sell his property that stood where the flyover would pass. However, the official explanation to date is that the city had run out of money with traffic numbers at

3304-664: The various departments of the provincial administration. Local government in South Africa consists of municipalities of various types. The largest metropolitan areas are governed by metropolitan municipalities , while the rest of the country is divided into district municipalities , each of which consists of several local municipalities . After the municipal election of 18 May 2011 there were eight metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 226 local municipalities. Municipalities are governed by municipal councils which are elected every five years. The councils of metropolitan and local municipalities are elected by

3363-763: The years after World War I , partially imposed by the democratic victors, the United States, Great Britain and France, on the defeated countries and their successors, notably Germany's Weimar Republic and the First Austrian Republic . Nineteenth-century urbanisation , the Industrial Revolution and modernism had already made the parliamentarist demands of the Radicals and the emerging movement of social democrats increasingly impossible to ignore; these forces came to dominate many states that transitioned to parliamentarism, particularly in

3422-509: Was according to Fontaine allowed by the deficient separation of powers that characterises parliamentary and semi-presidential systems. Once Orbán's party got two-thirds of the seats in Parliament in a single election, a supermajority large enough to amend the Hungarian constitution, there was no institution that was able to balance the concentration of power. In a presidential system it would require at least two separate elections to create

3481-551: Was prime minister and the complexion of the government. Other countries gradually adopted what came to be called the Westminster system of government, with an executive answerable to the lower house of a bicameral parliament, and exercising, in the name of the head of state, powers nominally vested in the head of state – hence the use of phrases such as Her Majesty's government (in constitutional monarchies) or His Excellency's government (in parliamentary republics ). Such

#928071