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Ascribed by Halkett and Laing to A. Ruddle. ; Mode of access: Internet.

The UK Parliament is in a state of flux, reflecting radical changes in British society and its political life, as well as rising demands to be more effective and accountable to public opinion. The rules and procedures by which Parliament operates, and political conflicts and pressures are resolved, are a vital element in the study and understanding of UK constitutional law. This article analyses the nature, scope and effects of parliamentary practice and procedure at Westminster, and how they are utilised by government ministers, the opposition and backbench members, for their respective political ends. It considers the impact of recent procedural changes and likely future developments.

Clemens Jürgenmeyer untersucht in diesem Beitrag, inwieweit das indische Regierungssystem als Westminster-Modell (Mehrheitsdemokratie) nach britischen Vorbild angesehen werden kann. Dabei stützt sich der Autor auf die von Arend Lijphart formulierten Merkmale einer Mehrheitsdemokratie. Da sich ein solcher Demokratietyp jedoch zumeist in homogenen und nicht oder wenig föderalen Staaten herausgebildet hat, kann Indien nicht als Westminister-Demokratie gesehen werden. Vielmehr osziliert das indische Regierungssystem zwischen Mehrheits- und Konsensdemokratie und wird dabei entscheidend von den handelnden Akteuren beeinflusst.

In the first edition of his Patterns of Democracy (1999), Lijphart used the term 'Westminster model' 'interchangeably with majoritarian model. Despite both the constitutional reforms introduced since the change of government in 1997 and the outcome and consequences of the 2010 general election, Lijphart concluded in the second edition of his book (2012a) that 'recent changes in British politics do not change the overall character of Britain as a prime example of majoritarian democracy.' Lijphart's perspective is challenged by this article–-which also examines the effect of the 2015 general election on the nature of the Westminster system through the prism of Lijphart's Patterns of Democracy. It is argued that first, the Westminster system has never represented the majoritarian ideal; second, that it has noticeably moved towards greater consensus as a result of the various constitutional reforms introduced since the change of government in 1997 on the one hand and the outcome and consequences of the 2010 general election on the other; and third, that the 2015 general election has somehow stopped this general trend towards greater consensus.

The entry of the 1997 cohort of Labour women into public life offers a test case of whether, and under what conditions, women politicians have the capacity to 'make a substantive difference'. We outlines the theory of the politics of presence and discuss how to operationalise this in a testable model. We, use the British Representation Study survey of 1,000 national politicians (including parliamentary candidates and elected Members of Parliament) conducted in the 2001 general election. The analysis centres on the impact of gender on five scales measuring attitudes and values on issues that commonly divide British party politics.Once we control for party, there are no significant differences among women and men politicians across the value scales concerning the free market economy, Europe, and moral traditionalism. Yet on the values most directly related to women's interests – namely the affirmative action and the gender equality scales – women and men politicians differ significantly within each party, even after controlling for other common social background variables that explain attitudes, such as their age, education, and income. The conclusion considers why these findings matter for the composition of parliament, the public policy agenda and for women's roles as political leaders.

Britain is facing a referendum on electoral reform for Westminster in 2011, yet there is little debate over the goals of such a change. Arguably, the purposes of political representation should determine the choice of a new system. Thus, ten modernising goals that go further than merely giving more seats to the Liberal Democrats are proposed. In a society made up of women and men, both need balanced representation. In an educated society, citizens need to be kept abreast of their MPs' performance as legislators so they can engage with parliamentary affairs. In an increasingly diverse society, the electoral system needs to improve who gets to be represented by whom, by providing citizens with more than one representative per district. The proposed Alternative Vote would provide few advantages and additional drawbacks, but could stimulate consensus around a modern system in tune with Westminster traditions.

A "lost" stream is one that no longer flows along the surface and its natural drainage has been altered by humans usually by covering over, putting into a pipe or diverting its location. We can't see them. It's very likely that there were originally several or perhaps many streams running down the slopes of New Westminster. Some would have been intermittent, running only when it rained heavily, but dry most of the time. Others would have flowed year round. By using multiple sources of information and avenues of research, we are forming a picture of New Westminster's historic landscape, and bringing stories of the community's relationship to the local water sources to light. Early maps prepared by the Royal Engineers don't indicate the presence of streams. Their maps showed the future plans for the "Royal City" and streams were likely perceived as temporary obstructions to their grand schemes, but nothing that couldn't be "engineered" by these master planners and builders. We have gathered dozens of maps from as early as 1859 up to modern day. Using the noted locations of bridges, ravines, and even the city water system, these maps help to pinpoint the locations of the city's streams, and how city planners and engineers adapted the streets and infrastructure around them. The fire of September 1898 led to the compilation of a series of maps of the City, primarily to show the building assets of the City, for fire insurance purposes. These are known as the Goad's Fire Atlases which were developed by the Charles E. Goad Company of Montreal. This company prepared maps for over 1300 communities across Canada. The first Goad's map for New Westminster was prepared in 1897 and updated several times over a 60 year period. Interestingly, these maps show Glenbrook Creek, Brunette River and several ravines. No other surface streams are indicated. One of the earliest topographical maps we found was published in 1949 by the Canadian government, based on survey information compiled in the late 1930's by the Provincial Government. Only the Brunette River is shown on the topographical map, but the contours show the general location of Glenbrook Ravine and where the stream would have been located. Aerial photography of New Westminster gives us a wider scope of the city and how the landscape changed over the 20th century. Collected by the federal and provincial governments starting in the 1930's, these images help contextualize the information found in the historical record.There are numerous old photographs that show bridges in the downtown, crossing ravines and presumably streams, however, photographs that look down into a ravine or stream are very rare. Therefore, we are left to surmise that the ravines did contain streams, much like the remnant stream within the lower portion of Glenbrook Ravine. Written records can provide detailed information as well as interesting anecdotes about the city's history related to its water systems. Governmental records include projects to build water mains and fill in ravines, while newspaper articles and diary entries provide individual stories of people and the environment.

AbstractThe Palace of Westminster is in need of urgent, substantial repairs. This provides a 'window of opportunity' for change. This essay traces the restoration and transformation (or lack of) that the Palace of Westminster has seen in the last half a century, before assessing its current state, and considering whether parliament is fit for purpose. It provides a 'long‐view' understanding of previous missed 'windows of opportunity'. The essay focuses on drawing insights from history in order to add a depth of understanding to the contemporary issue. An understanding of the preceding renewal and restoration projects enables us, potentially, to avoid some of the problems that have been previously experienced, and finally seize this opportunity to build a parliament which is fit for purpose.

AbstractConstitutional conventions are fundamental to the operation of Westminster democracies. However, despite their political significance, there have been few attempts to analyse and theorise their internal dynamics. This article aims to address this gap by identifying the triggers of constitutional 'softening', when the opportunity for convention change emerges; and examining how such moments interact with the particular properties of a convention to determine its change trajectory. We argue that the change trajectories of constitutional conventions are not entirely unpredictable but can be traced to particular kinds of change events and the particular set of features inherent to that convention.