Disapproval Voting - No-confidence Voting

No-confidence Voting

A particular case of disapproval voting is the no-confidence voting.

No-confidence voting is normally used after an "in favor" qualified majority vote, not instead nor mixed. Basically, the no-confidence voting first allows representative democracy to function as usual, then, if a second body of decision (this could be the people which act as in a direct democracy) decides to revoke the representatives' decisions, it can do so with a vote of no-confidence (which can be toward the representatives or toward the decisions of the representatives).

In the case of the state, this means that the representative democracy can function normally (without delays or interference), but can still be controlled by direct democracy. Today, this happens only on a small scale: parliament - president - government.

The premise on which the no-confidence voting is based is that it is better to have no rules than have any bad rules, at least until a new attempt to impose the rule.

No-confidence voting is a call for non-action, that is, it can be applied only when there is no necessity for an outcome of the voting process (meaning, things can be just as they were before the vote – without the rule). Therefore, it can't be applied when it is necessary to take action, like choosing a candidate in elections.

The percentage which triggers a successful no-confidence vote can vary widely, from small values (like 20%) which allow minorities (particularly people with experience in the issue being voted) to decide the outcome, up to unanimity.

Here is an example where the no-confidence voting is applied, in Politics of Canada: "If the Commons passes a motion of no confidence in the government, the prime minister and his cabinet are expected either to resign their offices or to ask for Parliament to be dissolved so that a general election can be held."