Changes

==Organization==

==Organization==

Some parliaments have proportional representation--that is, the party that wins the most votes in an election supplies an amount of representatives proportional to how much of the vote they got. This is different from American "winner take all" elections, in which whoever wins the majority in a particular district supplies the only representative. Winner take all elections are more likely to produce a two party government, but proportional systems allow third parties a chance to win some representation if they can win a small amount of the national vote without winning a majority of any districts.

The Members of Parliament (MPs) usually represent a political party.  Each party is formed by people with broadly similar political views.  In most cases, MPs are elected by the population according to one of a number of electoral systems.  Some parliaments use a "first past the post" system where each MP represents a constituency and is the candidate who received the most votes from residents of the constituency.  Other parliaments use a proportional representation system, where the number of MPs from each political party is proportional to the total votes for that party across the whole electorate. There are many other varieties of voting systems, most of which are variations on these two themes.  In rare cases (for example the British House of Lords), the members are not elected by the population but are appointed in some other way.

Heads of government in parliamentary systems are the leaders of the party in power. This person is referred to as the "[[prime minister]]." This is in contrast to heads of government in presidential systems, who are not members of the legislature and who are not elected out of the legislature. The prime minister remains in power not for a fixed term but for as long as he has the "confidence" of Parliament--that is, as long as he enjoys their support. The Prime Minister is removed upon losing a vote of no confidence, and some resign after losing a major vote on an issue they have championed (as [[Italy|Italian]] Prime Minister [[Romano Prodi]] did in February 2007).

Many parliaments are made up of two different houses - for example the House of Representatives and the Senate in Australia.  The voting systems of the two houses are usually different meaning the mix of MPs from the various parties will also generally differ.

 

Usually in a parliamentary system, the government is formed by MPs from the party which has the majority of members.  The leader of that party is the head of government, often called the Prime Minister.  As the government party has a majority of members, it can usually expect to win any votes in the parliament.  In the situation where no one party has a majority, the largest party forms the government and must rely on the support from members of other parties to win votes. This is known as minority government.  The largest party in this situation might enter into a formal arrangement to receive support from another party in return for giving the "coalition" party a say in government affairs.

 

This contrasts to presidential systems, where the members of the government (in particular the president) are not members of the legislature.

 

The prime minister is not elected for a fixed term, but serves for as long as he has the "confidence" of Parliament -- that is, as long as he enjoys their support. Usually, the Prime Minister (and the rest of the government) is removed after an election at which his party failed to retain a majority in parliament.  Occasionally, most often during a period of minority government, the Prime Minister is removed upon losing a vote of no confidence, or resigns after losing a major vote on an issue they have championed (as [[Italy|Italian]] Prime Minister [[Romano Prodi]] did in February 2007).

 

First past the post elections are more likely to produce a parliament with two major parties, making minority government unlikely.  Proportional voting systems allow third parties a chance to win some representation if they can win a small amount of the national vote without winning a majority of any districts.  They are more likely to result in minority government and frequent changes of government.

==Rules of order==

==Rules of order==