Caretaker conventions

Elections are nervous times for both the incumbent government and the opposition. Modern politics is hard fought, and in such a win/lose environment there is great pressure not to give an edge to political opponents. The Westminster parliamentary model provides for both continuity and restraint during the election and transition period with caretaker conventions. The aim of the conventions is to hold the incumbent government to a ‘status quo’ until the new government is formed (Laver and Shepsle 1994: 292). Westminster governments share an inheritance on the structure and organisation of government. This is supplemented by a set of beliefs and practices about how these core institutions should be managed. The Westminster convention of responsible government-where the executive and government are held accountable to the parliament – remains a core belief (Rhodes et al. 2009: 3). Although adapted to local circumstances and experience, it is a governing tradition shared by the Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and UK parliamentary systems. Caretaker conventions are a subset of the convention of accountability of the elected government to parliament. They are intended to moderate the advantages of incumbency by constraining the power of the political executive until a new government is formed (Menzies and Tiernan 2014:13). Like other conventions, they adapt and respond to changing political practice and mores, as well as to community values. Caretaker conventions seek to constrain the behaviour of politicians in the heat of partisan contest.