The term 'Westminster model', widely used in both the academic and practitioner literatures,
is a familiar one. But detailed examination finds significant confusion about its meaning. This …

Is there a distinctly antipodean populism? 1 While much scholarly attention has been paid to
populism in Europe and the Americas, little work comparatively has been done on populism …

ABSTRACT A political system cannot be imagined without opposition. Despite this crucial
position in politics, political science has largely neglected to study oppositions. Attempting to …

This study examines when and why members of the E uropean P arliament (EP) use
parliamentary questions as a form of fire alarm oversight. We argue that the multilevel nature …

The federal elections of 2013 generated an unusual situation for the German party system: a
very strong extra-parliamentary opposition. The liberal FDP and the newly emerging AfD …

An impressive literature examines how voters evaluate government performance based on
its record. Yet this literature rarely studies the role of party communication for how voters use …

The organisation of legislative chambers and the consequences of parliamentary
procedures have been among the most prominent research questions in legislative studies …

Oral questions are usually seen as a procedure designed for political conflict. Yet question
time may serve other purposes depending on the institutional setting, the political context …

This article argues that opposition veto power in institutional arenas such as second
chambers can foster a more consensual relationship between government and opposition …

Since the onset of the economic crisis, parties in parliament (especially those in opposition)
have found themselves faced with a dilemma: choosing between the need to cooperate with …