Parliamentary vote is a form of representative government found in many nations. This type of government involves a unicameral or bicameral (two chamber) legislative body, called a parliament. Legislative decisions are made by the parliament and are then approved or disapproved by the head of state. The parliament also selects the Prime Minister, who leads the executive branch of the government. The Prime Minister may be removed by a vote of no confidence.
Some parliamentary systems employ proportional methods to allocate seats in their legislature, while others do not. In some systems the voters may divide their votes into k parts (as in the system of cumulative voting), while others use only one vote, regardless of how many positions are to be filled (as in the case of plurality).
While the leaders elected by parliamentary elections do not have as strong of a linkage with the ruled as the rulers in a presidential system, advocates of the parliamentary model claim it is more efficient than the presidential alternative because checks and balances between competing departments are less likely to lead to paralyzing gridlock. In addition, the parliamentary system allows for early elections if the ruling party loses popularity.
While each assembly has its own governing documents, most follow Robert’s Rules of Order, the latest edition, for debate and other proceedings. This is a set of procedures for organization and procedure based on the rule of the majority with respect for the minority, originally written in 1876 by US Army Brigadier General Henry Martyn Robert after a poor experience leading a church meeting.
