57-540: Laois–Offaly (formerly King's County–Queen's County , Leix–Offaly and Laoighis–Offaly ) was a parliamentary constituency which was represented in Dáil Éireann , the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland ), from 1921 to 2016 and again from 2020 to 2024. The constituency elected deputies ( Teachtaí Dála , commonly known as TDs) on the system of proportional representation by means of
114-429: A monarch is the head of state while the head of government is almost always a member of parliament , or parliamentary republics , where 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,
171-557: A Legislative Council. It was inaugurated in 1863 but was renamed the House of Representatives in 1954. Following the surrender of South Vietnam to North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces in 1975, a Provisional Revolutionary Government established itself in Saigon and disbanded the bicameral National Assembly consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Under apartheid ,
228-485: 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,
285-487: A country has a parliamentary or a presidential system . Members of a House of Representatives are typically apportioned according to population rather than geography. The United States House of Representatives , first convened in 1789, was closely patterned on the House of Commons of Great Britain . It retains features such as a speaker of the house who is the presiding officer. "The House of Representatives" currently
342-653: 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 (From 2011, election timing in the UK was partially fixed under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 , which was repealed by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 .)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
399-472: 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
456-466: 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
513-560: A member of the lower house . Parliamentary democracy is the dominant form of government in the European Union , Oceania , and throughout 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
570-551: A parliament is disputed, especially depending how the term is defined. For example, the Icelandic Althing consisting of prominent individuals among 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
627-653: 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
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#1732790614853684-476: 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
741-431: 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
798-516: 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
855-486: 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.
912-553: 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
969-461: 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
1026-457: Is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often called a " Senate ". In some countries, the House of Representatives is the sole chamber of a unicameral legislature. The functioning of a house of representatives can vary greatly from country to country, and depends on whether
1083-663: Is the name of a house of the legislature in the following countries: In the following countries it is the sole chamber in a unicameral system: The Indonesian People's Representative Council ( Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat , DPR), the Dewan Rakyat of the Parliament of Malaysia and the Dáil Éireann of the Irish Oireachtas are all sometimes called "House of Representatives" in English. House of Representatives
1140-567: Is the title of most, but not all, of the lower houses of U.S. state legislatures , with the exceptions usually called " State Assembly ", " General Assembly ", or more rarely, " House of Delegates ". In Germany , the Landtag parliament of the city and state of Berlin , the Abgeordnetenhaus , is known in English as the House of Representatives. In Tanzania , the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar has its own legislative body,
1197-406: 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,
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#17327906148531254-552: 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
1311-608: The 1921 general election to the Second Dáil . The Sinn Féin candidates elected unopposed preferred to sit in the Second Dáil (1921–22). It was used at every subsequent general election until 2011. It was abolished at the 2016 general election , and was replaced by the new constituencies of Laois and Offaly . It was re-established by the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017 , which came into effect for
1368-679: The 2020 general election . In August 2023, the Electoral Commission published its review of constituency boundaries in Ireland, which recommended that the constituency of Laois–Offaly be abolished, with the creation of two new three-seat constituencies: Laois and Offaly . Each new constituency would elect 3 deputies. These changes took effect for the 2024 general election under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2023 . Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to
1425-729: The Dutch revolt (1581), when the sovereign, legislative and executive powers were taken over by the States General of the Netherlands from 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
1482-714: The First and Second Republics , the National Assembly of South Korea was officially bicameral, consisting of the House of Councillors and House of Representatives . In practice, however, the National Assembly was unicameral under the First Republic, as the first election of the House of Councillors was not held until the Second Republic was founded in 1960. Following a military coup
1539-887: 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
1596-589: 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 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
1653-538: The House of Representatives was the house for South Africa 's mixed race ' Coloured ' community, in the Tricameral Parliament of 1984 to 1994. In 1994 the House of Representatives of the Gambia was dissolved in a coup d'état led by Yahya Jammeh . It was replaced as the legislature by the National Assembly according to the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia . The House of Representatives of Fiji
1710-519: The Nebraska voters approved a unicameral legislature dissolving the House of Representatives and transferring its powers to the Senate. The Kenyan House of Representatives was combined with the Senate in 1966, to form an enlarged single chamber parliament, known as the National Assembly . The Senate was re-established as an upper house following the 2010 Kenyan constitutional referendum . Under
1767-484: 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
Laois–Offaly (Dáil constituency) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1824-549: 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 a system became particularly prevalent in older British dominions, many of which had their constitutions enacted by
1881-865: The Zanzibar House of Representatives . From 1867 until 1918, in Cisleithania , the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the lower house of the Imperial Council ( Reichsrat ) parliament, the Abgeordnetenhaus was generally known in English as "House of Representatives". Since 1855 the lower house in the Landtag of Prussia was called Abgeordnetenhaus , as distinct from the upper House of Lords . In 1934,
1938-490: 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,
1995-803: 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
2052-509: The single transferable vote (PR-STV). Laois–Offaly was created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 as King's County–Queen's County (the respective names of County Offaly and County Laois before independence). The two counties were combined in a single four-member constituency for the House of Commons of Southern Ireland . It was known in the Dáil as Leix–Offaly, and first used for
2109-578: 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
2166-458: 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
2223-708: 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 the US Senate than the British House of Lords ; whereas since 1950 there
2280-673: 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
2337-465: 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 was prime minister and the complexion of the government. Other countries gradually adopted what came to be called
Laois–Offaly (Dáil constituency) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2394-408: 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
2451-429: 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
2508-491: 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
2565-440: 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 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
2622-646: The following year, the National Assembly was dissolved. Since its restoration in December 1963, the National Assembly has been unicameral. The House of Representatives of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka ) was the lower chamber of the parliament established in 1947 according to the Soulbury Constitution . The 1972 First Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka replaced it with the unicameral National State Assembly . The Parliament of Sierra Leone , like its counterparts in other former British colonies, began as
2679-555: 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
2736-678: 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
2793-470: The order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election. ^ *: Outgoing TD Fianna Fáil TD Bernard Cowen died on 24 January 1984. A Fianna Fáil motion to move the writ on 29 February was defeated by the Fine Gael–Labour government . A second motion to move the writ on 17 May was unopposed. The by-election
2850-437: 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
2907-405: 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
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#17327906148532964-467: 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 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
3021-449: 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 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
3078-763: 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
3135-568: 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
3192-515: Was held on 14 June 1984, the same day as the European Parliament elections . The seat was won by the son of the deceased TD. Labour Party TD William Davin died on 1 March 1956. A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 30 April 1956. Republican TD Seán McGuinness was disqualified on 30 November 1925. A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 18 February 1926. House of representatives House of Representatives
3249-431: Was the lower chamber of Fiji 's Parliament from 1970 to 2006. It was suspended by the 2006 military coup . The 2013 Constitution abolished it and replaced it with a single chamber Parliament . 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
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