Political Science 1020E Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Unicameralism, Responsible Government

• School: Western University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: Political Science 1020E
• Professor: Erin Hannah

Document Summary

The separaion of powers is the principle that each of the three funcions of government should be entrusted to a separate branch of government. Its purpose is to fragment government power in such a way as to defend liberty and keep tyranny at bay. In its formal sense, it demands independence, in that there should be no overlap of personnel between the branches. Responsible government: a government that is answerable or accountable to an elected assembly and through it, to the people. Elecive dictatorship: an imbalance between the execuive and the assembly that means that, once elected, the government is only constrained by the need to win subsequent elecions. Lobby fodder: a pejoraive term denoing assembly members who vote consistently and unquesioningly as their paries dictate. Immobilism: poliical paralysis stemming from the absence of a strong execuive, caused by muliple divisions in the assembly and society. Checks and balance: internal tensions within the governmental system that result from insituional fragmentaion.