Introduction and Learning Objectives

This Module is the first in the CPA's Learning System for Professional Development. Please review the Learning Objectives below before you begin to work through the Module.

Learning Objectives

When you have concluded this module, you should have developed knowledge and understanding of the following:

1. The basic principles of the Westminster model of parliamentary democracy.
2. The evolution of the Westminster model.
3. The Westminster model in the context of other democratic models of governance.
4. The legal/constitutional basis of a parliament in a given jurisdiction; its composition, functions and relationships with other parliaments.
5. The division of powers among the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government with emphasis on the accountability of the executive to the legislative branch and the role of the opposition.
6. The rights and immunities of members of parliament, their historical basis including the Bill of Rights of 1689, and the limits of those rights and immunities.
7. The roles of members of parliament inside and outside the legislature in a parliamentary democracy with a focus on the various models of representation.
8. The role of political parties in the parliamentary democratic model.
9. The role of the electoral process in the development and maintenance of the parliamentary democratic model.
10. The alternative electoral/representative models (first past the post, proportional representation, preferential vote, etc.) and their implications for the parliamentary democratic process.
11. The key issues for the effectiveness of parliaments in the new millennium.