Parliamentary opposition is a form of
political opposition
In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government (or, in American English, the administration), party or group in political control of a city, region, state, coun ...
to a designated government, particularly in a
Westminster
Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
-based
parliamentary system
A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their Election, democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of t ...
. This article uses the term ''
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''the administration'' or ''the cabinet'' rather than ''the state''. In some countries, the title of "Official Opposition" is conferred upon the largest
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
sitting in opposition in the legislature, with said party's leader being accorded the title "
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
".
In
first-past-the-post
First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
assemblies, where the
tendency to gravitate into two major
parties
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...
or party groupings operates strongly, ''government'' and ''opposition'' roles can go to the two main groupings serially in alternation.
The more proportionally representative a system, the greater the likelihood of multiple political parties appearing in the parliamentary
debating chamber
A debate chamber is a room for conducting the business of a deliberative assembly or otherwise for debating. When used as the meeting place of a legislature, a debate chamber may also be known as a council chamber, legislative chamber, assembly ...
. Such systems can foster multiple "opposition" parties which may have little in common and minimal desire to form a united bloc opposed to the government of the day.
Some well-organised democracies,
dominated long-term by a single faction, reduce their parliamentary opposition to
tokenism
In sociology, tokenism is the social practice of making a perfunctory and symbolic effort towards the equitable inclusion of members of a minority group, especially by recruiting people from under-represented social-minority groups in order for th ...
. In some cases, in more authoritarian countries, tame "opposition" parties are created by the governing groups in order to create an impression of democratic debate.
Some legislatures offer opposition parties particular powers. In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, and
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, 20 days each year are set aside as "
Opposition Days" or "Supply Days", during which the opposition gets to set the agenda.
Canada also has a
Question Period, during which the opposition (and the Parliament generally) can ask questions of government ministers.
See also
*
Loyal opposition
In parliamentary systems of government, the loyal opposition is the opposition parties in the legislature. The word ''loyal'' indicates that the non-governing parties may oppose the actions of the sitting cabinet while remaining loyal to the form ...
*
Controlled opposition
In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government (or, in American English, the administration), party or group in political control of a city, region, state, coun ...
*
Opposition Party (Hungary)
*
Official Opposition (Canada)
The Official Opposition () is the largest party of the parliamentary opposition, which is composed of Member of Parliament (Canada), members of Parliament (MPs) who are not in government. Typically, it is the second-largest party in the House of ...
*
Official Opposition (India)
In India, Official Opposition designates largest party not supporting the ruling cabinet in the Parliament of India or a State legislative assemblies of India, State or Territory Legislative Assembly. To get formal recognition in either Upper ho ...
*
Official Opposition (New Zealand)
The Official Opposition (formally His Majesty's Loyal Opposition) in New Zealand is usually the largest political party or coalition that is not a member of the ruling government—it does not provide ministers. This is usually the second-la ...
*
His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition (United Kingdom)
*
Opposition (Australia)
In Australian parliamentary practice, the Opposition or the Official Opposition consists of the second largest party or coalition of parties in the Australian House of Representatives, with its leader being given the title ''Leader of the Opposit ...
*
Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (South Africa)
*
Opposition (Malaysia)
The Opposition ( Malay: ''Pembangkang''; Jawi: ) in Malaysia fulfils the same function as the official opposition in other Commonwealth of Nations monarchies. It is seen as the alternative government and the existing administration's main opponent ...
*
Opposition (Croatia)
In Croatia, the Opposition () comprises all political parties represented in the Croatian Parliament that are not part of the Government which is supported by the parliamentary majority.
The Leader of the Opposition () is an unofficial, seldom u ...
*
Opposition Front Bench (Ireland)
*
Pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong)
The pro-democracy camp, also known as the pan-democracy camp, is a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Chief Executive and the Legislative Cou ...
&
Localist camp
Localist camp or localist and self-determination groups refers to the various groups with localist ideologies in Hong Kong. It emerged from post-80s social movements in the late 2000s which centred on the preservation of the city's autono ...
(Opposition camp in Hong Kong)
*
Ruling party
The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...
*
Shadow cabinet
*
The Establishment
In sociology and in political science, the term the establishment describes the dominant social group, the elite who control a polity, an organization, or an institution. In the Praxis (process), praxis of wealth and Power (social and politica ...
*
Minority leader
*
His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition (Gibraltar)
*
Anti-Administration party
The Anti-Administration party was an informal political faction in the United States led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson that opposed policies of then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in the first term of U.S. president George ...
References
{{Reflist
Legislatures
Westminster system