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 Connections
Associated With
The government-initiated and opposition-initiated forms of a confidence test, contrasted directly.
Source Bill of Rights, British History (Britannica)
Practiced By
Source Motion of no confidence (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Motion of no confidence (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory section
The first motion of no confidence against an entire government occurred in March 1782
Practiced By: Germany, Article text
In Germany, a vote of no confidence in the federal chancellor requires the opposition, on the same ballot, to propose a candidate of its own whom it wants the federal president to appoint as its successor.
In Group: Parliamentary Confidence Procedures, Lead paragraph
In a deliberative assembly, a motion of no confidence is a motion declaring that a government or an officer, typically a government executive, is not fit to hold office.
View the Source Vote of Confidence (Britannica)
Bill of Rights, British History (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaAssociated With: Parliamentary DemocracyView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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