Constitutional convention (political custom)

A constitutional convention is an informal and uncodified procedural agreement that is followed by the
institutions of a state. In some states, notably those Commonwealth of Nations states that follow the
Westminster system and whose political systems derive from British constitutional law, most government
functions are guided by constitutional convention rather than by a formal written constitution. In these
states, actual distribution of power may be markedly different from those the formal constitutional
documents describe. In particular, the formal constitution often confers wide discretionary powers on the
head of state that, in practice, are used only on the advice of the head of government, and in some cases not
at all.

Some constitutional conventions operate separate from or alongside written constitutions, such as in Canada
since the country was formed with the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867. In others, notably the
United Kingdom, which lack a single overarching constitutional document, unwritten conventions are still
of vital importance in understanding how the state functions. In most states, however, many old
conventions have been replaced or superseded by laws (called codification).

Contents
Definitions
Origins
Enforceability in the courts
Examples
Australia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Canada
Commonwealth Realms
Denmark
France
Germany
Lebanon
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Spain
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
See also
References
Bibliography
Definitions
The term was first used by British legal scholar A. V. Dicey in his 1883 book, Introduction to the Study of
the Law of the Constitution. Dicey wrote that in Britain, the actions of political actors and institutions are
governed by two parallel and complementary sets of rules:

The one set of rules are in the strictest sense "laws", since they are rules which (whether
written or unwritten, whether enacted by statute or derived from the mass of custom, tradition,
or judge-made maxims know [sic?] as the common law) are enforced by the courts. ... The
other set of rules consist of conventions, understandings, habits, or practices that—though they
may regulate the conduct of the several members of the sovereign power, the Ministry, or other
officials—are not really laws, since they are not enforced by the courts. This portion of
constitutional law may, for the sake of distinction, be termed the "conventions of the
constitution", or constitutional morality.[1]

A century later, Canadian scholar Peter Hogg wrote,

Conventions are rules of the constitution which are not enforced by the law courts. Because
they are not enforced by the law courts they are best regarded as non-legal rules, but because
they do in fact regulate the working of the constitution they are an important concern of the
constitutional lawyer. What conventions do is to prescribe the way in which legal powers shall
be exercised. Some conventions have the effect of transferring effective power from the legal
holder to another official or institution. Other conventions limit an apparently broad power, or
even prescribe that a legal power shall not be exercised at all.[2]

Origins
Constitutional conventions arise when the exercise of a certain type of power, which is not prohibited by
law, arouses such opposition that it becomes impossible, on future occasions, to engage in further exercises
of this power. For example, the constitutional convention that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
cannot remain in office without the support of a majority of votes the House of Commons is derived from
an unsuccessful attempt by the ministry of Robert Peel to govern without the support of a majority in the
House, in 1834–1835.

Enforceability in the courts

Constitutional conventions are not, and cannot be, enforced by courts of law. The primary reason for this,
according to the Supreme Court of Canada in its 1981 Patriation Reference, is that, "They are generally in
conflict with the legal rules which they postulate and the courts may be bound to enforce the legal rules."[3]
More precisely, the conventions make certain acts, which would be permissible under a straightforward
reading of the law, impermissible in practice. The court ruled that this conflict between convention and law
means that no convention, no matter how well-established or universally accepted, can "crystallize" into
law, unless the relevant parliament or legislature enacts a law or constitutional amendment codifying for a
convention at which must specify request and consensus' for enactment.[4] This principle is regarded as
authoritative in a number of other jurisdictions, including the UK.
Some conventions evolve or change over time. For example, before 1918 the British Cabinet requested a
parliamentary dissolution from the monarch, with the Prime Minister conveying the request. Between 1918
and 2011,[5] Prime Ministers requested dissolutions on their own initiative, and were not required to consult
members of the Cabinet (although, at the very least, it would have been unusual for the Cabinet not to be
aware of the Prime Minister's intention).

However, conventions are rarely ever broken. Unless there is general agreement on the breach, the person
who breaches a convention is often heavily criticised, on occasions leading to a loss of respect or popular
support.

Examples

Australia
Whoever can command a majority in the House of Representatives is entitled to be asked by
the Governor-General to form a government, and take the title Prime Minister.
Governors-General always act on the advice of their Prime Minister or other relevant minister
in regard to particular powers they may exercise.
An incumbent Prime Minister who loses an election will advise the Governor-General to
appoint the leader of the larger party as Prime Minister so the Governor-General does not
need to act alone.
State Premiers tender advice to State Governors for Federal Senate elections, in response
to the Prime Minister's advice to the Governor-General to call a Federal House of
Representatives election.
State Governors are given a dormant commission to administer the Commonwealth if the
Governor-General is unable to.
Vice-regal officers act in a politically neutral way.

No convention is absolute; all but one (the second) of the above conventions were disregarded in the
leadup to or during the constitutional crisis of 1975.

Ignoring constitutional conventions does not always result in a crisis. After the 2010 Tasmanian state
election, the Governor of Tasmania rejected the advice of his Premier to appoint the leader of the opposition
as Premier because he felt the advice was tendered in bad faith. The Premier went on to form a new
government.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The six members of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that are chosen by
the Parliaments of entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, should be chosen in a way as to
establish the national balance, of "constituent peoples", in the Court (two Bosniaks, two
Croatians and two Serbs), although the Constitution does not have this requirement.
The Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina should be of different
nationality in every new term (establishing the "rotation"), although this is not formally
regulated.
The government of an entity should inform the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina of its
intention to establish special parallel relationships with neighboring states, including
negotiations. Also, the High Representative should be notified of any such intent, especially
if there is a document that should be signed between parties, although the Constitution does
not have this requirement (also for first example).
Canada
The Prime Minister will request the Governor General to call an election upon the defeat of
the government in a confidence or money vote. This convention was broken in 1968 when
the ruling minority government of Lester B. Pearson unexpectedly lost a money vote. All the
parties in Parliament, who were not prepared for a snap election, agreed to pass a resolution
retroactively declaring the lost money vote was not a matter of confidence.[6]
Though it is mentioned in various constitutional documents, the precise nature of the office
of the Prime Minister operates mostly according to understood, uncodified British
conventions.
The Supreme Court of Canada is, by statute (the Supreme Court Act), composed of three
justices from Quebec and six from anywhere in Canada (including Quebec). This is because
Quebec uses civil law rather than the common law system used elsewhere in Canada; it is
necessary to have a panel of at least three judges to hear civil law cases. By convention, the
remaining six positions are divided in the following manner: three from Ontario; two from the
western provinces, typically one from British Columbia and one from the prairie provinces,
which rotate amongst themselves (although Alberta is known to cause skips in the rotation);
and one from the Atlantic provinces, almost always from Nova Scotia or New Brunswick.
The appointment of the most senior puisne justice to chief justice is a convention that has
recently fallen into disuse.

Commonwealth Realms
The Governor-General is appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day, is a
resident of the country he or she will represent, and can be dismissed immediately on the
advice of the Prime Minister (exceptions are Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands,
where the Governor-General is elected by Parliament and then formally appointed by the
Queen, and the United Kingdom, which has no vice-regal office). However, in Canada,
provincial lieutenant-governors are appointed on the advice of the federal prime minister, not
the provincial premier.[7]
Neither the Monarch nor a Governor-General will participate in the political process unless
there is an extreme circumstance that merits the use of reserve powers, or when the advice
tendered is contrary to established convention.
Neither the Monarch nor a Governor-General will make partisan speeches or state partisan
opinions. This convention was broken in 1975 by Sir Colin Hannah, the Governor of
Queensland, who called for the defeat of the Whitlam Government. The Queen, on Whitlam's
advice, revoked Hannah's dormant commission to act as Administrator of the
Commonwealth of Australia and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office later refused the
Premier of Queensland's request that they advise the Queen to appoint Hannah to a second
term as Governor (in 1975, Australian State Governors were still appointed on the advice of
UK ministers).

Denmark
The Danish Constitution makes reference to the King in great detail. Apart from the fact that
this is understood to include a Queen regnant as well, references to the King acting in a
political capacity are understood to mean the Prime Minister, as the Constitution stipulates
that the King exercises his powers through the Cabinet.
According to the Constitution, any public expenditure must be provided for in the annual
money bill or provisional money bills. However, although not provided for in the Constitution,
according to constitutional custom, the Parliamentary Budgetary Committee has the power
to authorise provisional expenditure, regardless of the fact that such expenditure is not
 formally included in the budget (such grants are however then marked for adoption in the
next forthcoming money bill).

France
If the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister are not from the same party, foreign
affairs and defense are shared by the President and the government according to the
constitution.[8]
If the president of the National Assembly, the president of the Senate or 60 deputies or 60
senators claim that a just-passed statute is unconstitutional, the President of the Republic
does not sign the law and instead waits for a petition to be sent to the Constitutional Council.

Germany
The German Basic Law does not provide for a formal mechanism of parliamentary self-
dissolution. The chancellor can only be forced out of office through a constructive vote of no
confidence, however, snap elections were held in 1972, 1983 and 2005 by the chancellor
deliberately losing a vote of confidence and then asking the president to dissolve the
Bundestag - a request which was granted in each case but was controversial in
2005.[9][10][11]
The President of Germany is not required to renounce his political affiliation, but since the
founding of the Federal Republic in 1949 all presidents have let their party membership
"rest" for the duration of their time in office while Joachim Gauck hadn't been a member of
any party even prior to taking office. This "resting" party membership was tacitly approved by
CDU/CSU and SPD for presidents who had been members or their parties even though their
party rules and bylaws do not provide for such a mechanism.[12]
Similar to the provisions about monarchs in many parliamentary monarchies the Basic Law
formally grants the President powers to be exercised "on the advice of" Parliament or the
government which are in practice never exercised by the President without clear direction
from those bodies
The Basic Law only specifies how a chancellor is to be elected, not who is eligible. With one
exception (Kurt Georg Kiesinger) all chancellors thus far have been members of the
Bundestag, even though that is not a requirement for election or serving. Similarly the office
of "candidate for chancellor" which is usually nominated by major parties (SPD and
CDU/CSU but also FDP in 2002 and the Greens in 2021) has no legal relevance and is not
legally a precondition for being elected chancellor.
Virtually all customs and informal rules regarding coalition agreements are based on
convention rather than formal rules. Some are even in apparent conflict with the text of the
constitution. The de:Koalitionsausschuss ("coalition committee") which was first
acknowledged to exist during the First Erhard cabinet is a method of resolving potential
conflicts within a governing coalition that has been criticized as "circumventing" parliament
and the cabinet as means to discuss and resolve such issues.[13][14][15]
The President of the Bundestag is a member of the biggest faction, even if that faction is
otherwise in opposition. This is one of few constitutional conventions already in place during
the Weimar Republic and still followed today

Lebanon
The Lebanese constitution states that the President of Lebanon is elected by a simple
majority of the Parliament of Lebanon. However, due to the country's delicate ethnic
balance, the Parliament's various factions usually try to agree on a consensus candidate.
 Under the unwritten National Pact, the president must always be a Maronite Christian; the
prime minister a Sunni Muslim; the speaker of Parliament a Shia Muslim; and the deputy
speaker Greek Orthodox.

Malaysia
At the federal level, the King acts on the Prime Minister's advice, except on certain cases. At
the state level, the respective ruler or governor acts on his Chief Minister's advice.
At the federal level, the Prime Minister is the leader of the party with an absolute majority of
seats in the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) and therefore most likely to
command the support of the Dewan Rakyat; and likewise a Chief Minister, the leader of the
party with an absolute majority of seats in a State Legislature and therefore most likely to
command the support of such State Legislature.
The Prime Minister should be a member of the Dewan Rakyat.
The Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat chairs the Joint Session of Parliament, where the King
addresses both Dewan Negara (Senate) and Dewan Rakyat.

New Zealand

There is a convention that the Prime Minister of New Zealand should not ask for an early election unless he
or she is unable to maintain confidence and supply. By the 1950s, it had also become a convention that
elections should be held on the last Saturday of November, or the closest date to this range as possible.
There are several times when these conventions have been broken and an election has been held several
months earlier:

1951 general election: Sidney Holland called the election to get a mandate to face down a
dockworks dispute. The government was returned to power with an increased majority; by
this time the dispute had been resolved.
1984 general election: Robert Muldoon's government held a narrow four-seat majority in
Parliament. Muldoon hoped to strengthen his leadership, as two backbenchers (Marilyn
Waring and Mike Minogue) were threatening to rebel against the government in an
opposition-sponsored anti-nuclear bill. However, Waring and Minogue had not threatened to
block confidence and supply. The election was a decisive defeat for the government.
2002 general election: Helen Clark called the election after the collapse of the Alliance, her
coalition partners. Some critics argued that the government could still maintain confidence
and supply and therefore the early election was not necessary. The Labour Party remained
in power with two different coalition partners.

Norway

Because of the 1814 written constitution's pivotal role in providing independence and establishing
democracy in the 19th century, the Norwegian parliament has been very reluctant to change it. Few of the
developments in the political system that have been taking place since then have been codified as
amendments. This reluctance has been labelled constitutional conservatism. The two most important
examples of constitutional conventions in the Norwegian political system are parliamentarism and the
declining power of the King.

Parliamentarism has evolved since 1884 and entails that the cabinet must maintain the
support of parliament (an absence of mistrust) but it need not have its express support.
 All new laws are passed and all new cabinets are therefore formed in a de jure fashion by
the King, although not necessarily in a de facto sense.
According to the written constitution, the cabinet (council of ministers) are appointed by the
King. The appointment of new cabinets by the King is a formality, and the king has not
directly exercised executive powers since 1905.

Spain

Much of Spain's political framework is codified in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, which formalizes the
relationship between an independent constitutional monarchy, the government, and the legislature.
However, the constitution invests the monarch as the "arbitrator and moderator of the institutions" of
government.

The King nominates a candidate to stand for the Presidency of the Government of Spain,
sometimes known in English as 'prime minister'. The nominee then stands before the
Congress of Deputies and presents his political agenda for the upcoming legislative term,
followed by a vote of confidence in the nominee and his agenda. The 1978 constitution
allows the King to nominate anyone he sees fit to stand for the vote of confidence so long as
the King has met with the political party leaders represented in the Congress beforehand.
However, King Juan Carlos I has consistently nominated the political party leader who
commands a plurality of seats in the Congress of Deputies.
The Spanish public perception that the monarchy be politically non-partisan in its adherence
to constitutional protocol and convention, yet while protecting the public expression of
personal political views by members of the royal family. Expressions of personal political
views expressed in public include when the Prince of Asturias and his sisters protested
against terrorism following the 2004 Madrid bombings, or when the Queen gave
controversial political viewpoints during an informal interview.
Constitutionally, the King appoints the twenty members to the General Council of the
Judicial Power of Spain. However, when a vacancy is observed the King's appointment has
been customarily on the advice of the government of the day. Additionally, the King appoints
the President of the Supreme Court on the advice of the General Council of the Judicial
Power of Spain.
According to the 1978 constitution, grandee and nobility titles, and civil and military
decorations, are awarded by the King as head of state. However, in most cases since 1978,
the King's appointment of nobility titles have been countersigned by the President of the
Government of Spain, with civil awards having been nominated by the President and military
awards having been nominated by the military.

Switzerland

The following constitutional conventions are part of the political culture of Switzerland. They hold true at
the federal level and mostly so at the cantonal and communal level. Mostly, they aim to reconcile the
democratic principle of majority rule with the need to achieve consensus in a nation that is much more
heterogeneous in many respects than other nation-states.

The government is a body of equals composed in political proportion to the weight of the
various factions in Parliament; this creates a permanent grand coalition. For most of the
post-war era, the composition of the Federal Council was fixed by the so-called magic
formula
Members of a collective body, including the federal government, observe collegiality at all
times, that is, they do not publicly criticise one another. They also publicly support all
 decisions of the collective, even against their own opinion or that of their political party. In the
eye of many observers, this convention has become rather strained at the federal level, at
least after the 2003 elections to the Swiss Federal Council.
The presidency of a collective body, particularly a government, rotates yearly; the president
is a primus inter pares.

United Kingdom

While the United Kingdom does not have a written constitution that is a single document, the collection of
legal instruments that have developed into a body of law known as constitutional law has existed for
hundreds of years.

As part of this uncodified British constitution, constitutional conventions play a key role. They are rules that
are observed by the various constituted parts though they are not written in any document having legal
authority; there are often underlying enforcing principles that are themselves not formal and codified.
Nonetheless it is very unlikely that there would be a departure of such conventions without good reason,
even if an underlying enforcing principle has been overtaken by history, as these conventions also acquire
the force of custom. Examples include:

The texts of most international treaties are laid before Parliament at least twenty one days
before ratification (the 'Ponsonby Rule' of 1924). This convention was codified by the
Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
The monarch will accept and act on the advice of their ministers, who are responsible to
Parliament for that advice; the monarch does not ignore that advice, except when exercising
reserve powers.
The Prime Minister is leader of the party (or coalition of parties) with an absolute majority of
seats in the House of Commons and therefore most likely to command the support of the
House of Commons.
Where no party or coalition has an absolute majority, the leader of the party with the most
seats in the Commons is given the first opportunity to seek to form a government. This
convention was asserted by Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrat party, to justify
seeking a coalition with the Conservatives instead of Labour (who additionally would not
have been able to form a majority) in the hung parliament following the 2010 general
election.
All money bills must originate in the House of Commons.
The monarch grants royal assent to all legislation – sometimes characterised as all
legislation passed in good faith. It is possible that ministers could advise against giving
consent, as happens with the Crown dependencies (convention since the early 18th century
– previously monarchs did refuse or withhold royal assent).
The Prime Minister should be a member of either House of Parliament (between the 18th
century and 1963).
By 1963 this convention had evolved to the effect that no Prime Minister should come
from the House of Lords, due to the Lords' lack of democratic legitimacy. When the last
Prime Minister peer, the Earl of Home, took office he renounced his peerage, and as Sir
Alec Douglas-Home became an MP.
The Prime Minister can hold office temporarily whilst not a Member of Parliament, for
example during a general election or, in the case of Douglas-Home, between resigning
from the Lords and being elected to the Commons in a by-election.
All Cabinet members must be members of the Privy Council, since the cabinet is a
committee of the council. Further, certain senior Loyal Opposition shadow cabinet members
 are also made Privy Counsellors, so that sensitive information may be shared with them "on
Privy Council terms".[16]
The House of Lords should not reject a budget passed by the House of Commons. This was
broken controversially in 1909 by the House of Lords, which argued that the Convention was
linked to another Convention that the Commons would not introduce a Bill that 'attacked'
peers and their wealth. The Lords claimed that the Commons broke this Convention in
Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George's "People's Budget", justifying the Lords'
rejection of the budget. The Commons disputed the existence of a linked convention. As a
consequence, the Lords' powers over budgets were greatly lessened, including by removing
their power to reject a bill, by the Parliament Act 1911.
During a general election, no major party shall put up an opponent against a Speaker
seeking re-election. This convention was not respected during the 1987 general election,
when both the Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party fielded candidates against the
Conservative Speaker, Bernard Weatherill, who was MP for Croydon North East. The
Scottish National Party (SNP) does stand against the Speaker if he or she represents a
Scottish constituency, as was the case with Michael Martin, Speaker from 2000 to 2009.[17]
The Westminster Parliament will only legislate with respect to Scotland on reserved matters.
It will not legislate on non-reserved matters ('devolved matters') without first seeking the
consent of the Scottish Parliament (since 1999, the Sewel convention, later renamed to
legislative consent motions).
The House of Lords shall not oppose legislation from the House of Commons that was a part
of the government's manifesto (the Salisbury convention).

United States
The President of the United States will give his State of the Union address in person, before
a joint session of Congress, and will do so every year except the first year of a new term (in
which the President's inaugural address stands loosely in its stead). This practice was
followed by George Washington and John Adams but abandoned by Thomas Jefferson and
not resumed until 1913, when Woodrow Wilson delivered his State of the Union address in
person. The constitution requires the President give an update on the state of the union
"from time to time", but no specifics are outlined. Speeches have been broadcast on radio
since 1923 and 1947; the last State of the Union message delivered only in writing was in
1981 by Jimmy Carter during his Lame Duck period.
Much of how the United States Cabinet operates is dictated by convention; its operations are
only vaguely alluded to in the US constitution.
While members of the United States House of Representatives are only required to live in
the state they represent, it has generally been expected that they live in the district they
represent as well, though there are some exceptions; Allen West was elected in 2010
representing a district adjacent to the one he resided in.
The President of the United States will obtain the consent of both Senators from a state
before appointing a United States Attorney, federal district judge, or federal marshal with
jurisdiction in that state.
Cabinet officials and other major executive officers resign and are replaced when a new
President takes office, unless explicitly asked to stay on by the new President.
The Speaker of the House is always the Representative who leads the majority party, even
though the Constitution does not specify that the Speaker must be a member of the chamber.
Also by custom the Speaker does not vote (except to break a tie).
The President pro tempore of the United States Senate is the seniormost Senator of the
majority party.
Members of the Electoral College are pledged to vote for a particular Presidential candidate,
and are chosen by popular vote with the name of the candidate, and not necessarily the
 elector, on the ballot.
Senate rules require a majority of 60 votes to invoke cloture, that is, to break off debate on a
bill and force a vote. The Senate could revise its rules at any time, and the rules for each
session of the House and Senate are typically set at the beginning of each elected
Congress. In the Senate, under the current rules, the filibuster is available as a tool for a
large-enough minority to indefinitely block any measure it finds objectionable.

See also
Lapsed power
Constitutional Convention (United States)
Constitutional Convention (Australia)
European Convention
Scottish Constitutional Convention
Constituent Assembly
Constitutional Commission

References
1. AV Dicey, Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, 10th edition, pp. 23-24.
2. Peter Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada, p. 7.
3. Supreme Court of Canada, Attorney General of Manitoba et al. v. Attorney General of
Canada et al. (September 28, 1981)
4. http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/1982/4.html
5. The prerogative power of the Crown to dissolve Parliament was abolished with the Fixed-
term Parliaments Act 2011.
6. McGregor, Janyce (11 June 2012). "Feeling confident about the budget vote?" (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20130417044908/http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-politics-blog/2012/0
6/feeling-confident-about-the-budget-vote.html). CBC News. Archived from the original (htt
p://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-politics-blog/2012/06/feeling-confident-about-the-budget
-vote.html) on April 17, 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2013. "In 1968, Lester Pearson was prime
minister, presiding over a minority Liberal government. Pearson governed largely with the
support of the NDP, but in February the Liberals unexpectedly lost a final Commons vote
over an amendment to the Income Tax Act. A strict reading of parliamentary convention
would have suggested that vote was enough to trigger an election, because the change
constituted a "money bill." But the Liberals were in the process of selecting a new leader,
and Pearson gambled that no one really wanted an election right away. Pearson went on
television and told Canadians that his government would put a second vote before the
House of Commons specifically asking whether or not his government continued to
command the confidence of the House of Commons, rather than the merits or demerits of a
tax change. His gamble worked: his party won the second, more specific vote and carried on
governing."
7. Victoria (29 March 1867). "Constitution Act, 1867" (http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canad
a/English/ca_1867.html). V.58. Westminster: Queen's Printer. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
8. "Constitution | Légifrance, le service public de la diffusion du droit" (https://www.legifrance.g
ouv.fr/Droit-francais/Constitution).
9. https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2005/bvg05-
078.html
10. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20827991
11. https://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Reden/DE/Horst-
Koehler/Reden/2005/07/20050721_Rede.html
12. https://taz.de/Steinmeier-und-seine-SPD-Mitgliedschaft/!5470111/
13. https://m.bpb.de/apuz/31300/informelles-regieren-koalitionsmanagement-der-regierung-
merkel
14. https://www.parlamentarismus.de/fragen-an-stefan-marx-zu-seiner-edition-ueber-den-
kressbronner-kreis/
15. https://www.spiegel.de/politik/oesterreichs-proporz-modell-fuer-bonn-a-c49bde60-0002-
0001-0000-000043160756
16. Parliamentary briefing – the Privy Council (http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/li
b/research/briefings/snpc-3708.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2010061513305
5/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-3708.pdf) 2010-
06-15 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 20 June 2012
17. "Election 2005 – Election Map" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/vote2005/flash_map/html/ma
p05.stm). BBC News.

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