| vote of confidence | |
noun | |
| an expression of approval and encouragement; "they gave the chairman a vote of confidence" |
vote of confidence
procedure used by members of a legislative body (generally the lower house in a bicameral system) to remove a government (the prime minister and his cabinet) from office. To be successful, the procedure, which does not apply to the removal of heads of state in presidential and semipresidential forms of government, typically requires a majority of legislators to disapprove of the government's actions-i.e., to issue a vote of "no confidence" or a motion of censure. (Compare impeachment.)
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