This is a very select list of key terms relevant to parliamentary democracies such as Australia.
It doesn’t pretend to be a comprehensive list. Rather, it represents some of the key terms that I have come to see as the ones most likely to cause confusion.
Confusion often arises because Australia’s liberal democracy is built around a constitutional monarchy and the British Westminster parliamentary system, but with an elected upper house and the American federal structure grafted onto it.
Key Terms
- Liberal Democracy
- Constitutional Monarchy
- Parliamentary Democracy
- Westminster System
- Separation of Powers
- Federalism
- Representative Government
- Responsible Government
- The difference between ‘Government’ and ‘Parliament’
- Minority Government
- Executive Government
- The Public Service
- Separation of Church and State