G: Clode's Right Political Dictionary
“Gender gap” In various countries women have tended to vote for one party or side of politics, while men tend to vote for one side. In some countries women are more conservative, reacting against the extremism or violent agitation of left wing parties. In other countries women have been wooed by the socialist parties with promises of more public spending on health and education. Reference to the phenomenon of the “gender gap” does not suggest that gender is a more important influence on voting than are other demographic factors – it is just that this demographic schism has a popular nickname. Often bigger demographic voting splits can include the urban-rural divide, the young versus the elderly, or educated versus uneducated.
“General Election” This is an election for all the seats in a house of parliament, where all citizens must vote in their different electorates on the same day. (See “By-election” which describes the opposite scenario of a solitary election in a single seat).
“Governor General” In British Commonwealth countries, the Governor General is the effective Head of State. He has many of the powers and prerogatives which would be exercised by a President in a Republic. The Governor General has power to prorogue or dissolve parliament, power to sign acts into law once they have been passed by parliament, and power to veto legislation. However this power does not extend to devising government policy, since, under the Westminster model, the Head of State is separate from the Head of the Government who sits in parliament alongside all Ministers. Formally Queen Elizabeth II is sovereign in Commonwealth countries, however the exercise of all her official duties is done by the Governor General when she is not in the relevant Commonwealth country. It is convention that the Queen does not seek to interfere in the affairs of Commonwealth countries, yet she does have reserve powers to act in extreme circumstances – such as where a government breaches the constitution of its country, or where democracy is overthrown. Otherwise, in practice, the Governor General is effectively a non-executive President in all but name.
“Guillotine” This is a meeting procedure to shorten debate used in parliament and in internal party debates. If a minority tries to obstruct or delay debate, then the guillotine motion is the procedure to end debate and preserve the rights of the majority. Cautious use of the guillotine ensures a balance between the right to debate, versus the need for decisions to be made. Such procedures first appeared in the French parliament, in the form of motions to achieve “cloture” (closure) of a debate. A modified guillotine was first exercised in the British parliament in 1881 during the debate of Bills on Irish affairs. British politicians lampooned the crudeness of the French parliamentary procedure by lampooning it with the name “guillotine” - taken from the name of the device used by French revolutionaries to behead people. In the United States Senate, legislators refused to entertain motions which would allow a majority to stifle freedom of debate, however this reluctance allowed minorities to invent equally crude delaying tactics (see “Filibuster”). A guillotine motion may either be expressed as a motion to end debate forthwith; or to end debate by a fixed date and time; or to end debate after a fixed number of parliamentary sittings. In parliaments, the timetable for government legislation is agreed between government and opposition party Whips, with combative tactics like the guillotine reserved for only controversial debates. (See “Whip”)