Political Mechanisms
Vote of Confidence
Also Known As Confidence Vote
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A vote of confidence is a parliamentary procedure, initiated by a sitting government rather than its opponents, in which a legislature is asked to formally register its continued support for the prime minister and cabinet, sometimes by tying the vote to a specific piece of legislation. Losing the vote typically forces the government's resignation or a call for new elections, which makes it a tool a government can use deliberately to discipline its own coalition or majority, in contrast to a no-confidence motion, which the opposition brings to try to remove the government against its will.
Facts
Founding ContextThe first successful motion of no confidence against an entire government occurred in the British Parliament in March 1782, following news of the British defeat at Yorktown. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
The government-initiated and opposition-initiated forms of a confidence test, contrasted directly.
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