Title: Institutional opposition in parliamentary democracy: experience from the UK, Australia and India

Authors: Richa Dwivedi; Abhinav Shrivastava

Addresses: Symbiosis Law School, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India ' Symbiosis Law School, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India

Abstract: In a democratic setup, it is not only the majority which is responsible for governance but it is a balance of both, government as well as the opposition which protects democratic spirit. Therefore, a significant role is given to the opposition in a democracy, however, in India it is often argued that the opposition is not systematic as it lacks constructive dialogues to debate in the parliament. For the purpose of strengthening opposition, institution of Shadow Cabinet was introduced in UK. This concept has been adopted by Australia and Canada as well. This paper focuses on the role, practice and functioning of Shadow Cabinet in Australia and UK and its effectiveness in politics and discusses feasible options to strengthen the institution of opposition in India's democratic setup. The paper intends to formulate a practicable idea in the line of Shadow Cabinet to make the institution of opposition significant in the Indian democracy.

Keywords: parliament; opposition; Shadow Cabinet; democracy; government; UK; Australia; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2023.131999

International Journal of Public Law and Policy, 2023 Vol.9 No.3, pp.314 - 329

Received: 27 Dec 2021
Accepted: 31 Mar 2022
Published online: 06 Jul 2023 *

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