Westminster System, Parliamentary Sovereignty and Responsible Government: Executive Accountability in New Zealand and Australia

The development of parliamentary democracy occurred during the course of the 19th century in the United Kingdom (UK) and concomitantly in various settler colonies of the British Empire. These colonies enjoyed an Imperial inheritance that ranged across all aspects of their development including in relation to the Westminster system of government. The Westminster system included fundamental principles relating to the sovereignty of parliament and responsible government—both ideas that are still used today to emphasise the key attributes of a democratic system that ensures Executive accountability. This chapter explores the realities of those ideas by reference to the Westminster parliament and the systems operating in New Zealand and Australia. Examining both the history and discourse, it is found that, while the Westminster system is unlikely to achieve its intended objectives per se, it is a useful device for the explication and assessment of parliamentary systems with differing features in terms of their apparent capacity to elicit Executive accountability.