Quick questions on Comparison with a Non-Westminster System: WACE Year 12 Politics and Law

Australia has a partial separation: the legislative and executive branches overlap through responsible government, while only the judicial branch is strictly separated under the Boilermakers' principle. The United States applies a much stricter separation across all three branches, reinforced by checks and balances: the President can veto legislation, Congress can override a veto and controls funding, and the Senate confirms judicial and executive appointments. The result is that in the United States power is more deliberately fragmented, which can produce gridlock, while in Australia a government with a lower house majority can usually govern effectively, subject to the Senate.

The mechanisms of accountability differ in kind. In Australia accountability is continuous and political: question time, ministerial responsibility, the confidence of the House, and the threat of losing government drive it. In the United States accountability is more legal and structural: fixed terms mean the President cannot be removed for losing a vote, so accountability runs through elections, congressional oversight, the courts, and the extraordinary process of impeachment. A government can change in Australia through a no-confidence motion or party room; a President generally cannot be removed mid-term except by impeachment for serious wrongdoing.