Legislative Research Articles

Legislative Legal Politics of Inheritance Law in Indonesia

This article is the result of research on the legal politics of inheritance law legislation in Indonesia. This study employs normative research methods, focusing on literature review and legal documents to understand the principles and regulations in force. Through the approach of case analysis, legislative analysis, and an examination of legal politics in Indonesia, the research delves into the relevant aspects. Data analysis was used to identify and understand legal norms related to inheritance distribution within the systems of customary law, Islamic law, and civil law in Indonesia. The research findings indicate that there are still many cases of inheritance disputes in Indonesia due to the ongoing discrepancies between Islamic law and customary law, civil law and Islamic law, as well as customary law and Islamic law, which leads to conflict. This can be observed through the increasing number of cases submitted regarding inheritance disputes, whether in religious courts, district courts, or handled through customary law mechanisms in Indonesia each year. However, civil law can be considered an alternative in addressing inheritance law issues in Indonesia. This is evident in the civil inheritance distribution system, which is considered fair, without discrimination between men and women

The origins of centralized agenda control at Westminster: Consensus or controversy?

AbstractCentralized agenda control is a feature of many parliaments, with important consequences for the conduct and outcomes of legislative politics. Much previous work has thus sought to understand the emergence of centralized agenda‐setting rules. We extend this literature by studying the “Balfour reforms”, which centralized agenda control in the early twentieth century UK House of Commons. Our aim is to probe a conventional claim in the existing literature: that the opposition supported these reforms. This is a counter‐intuitive claim, which rests on relatively little direct evidence. We analyze historical roll‐call data from 1902 to assess how far the opposition supported agenda centralization. We complement this analysis by examining attempted amendments and speech contributions to parliamentary debates. Contrary to the standard view, we find that the primary opposition party consistently resisted these reforms. This evidence of controversy rather than consensus revises our understanding of a key milestone in the development of the Westminster parliament, and contributes to the wider literature on the choice of agenda‐setting procedures.

Roll call votes in the committees of the European Parliament: A new dataset

This forum article presents a new dataset on roll call votes in the committees of the European Parliament in the 2014 to 2019 legislative term. Data on roll call votes in the plenary has greatly informed research on the functioning of the European Parliament, broader legislative politics and European Union decision-making. Responding to transparency concerns about legislative decisions increasingly taken at committee level, a change of the European Parliament's Rules of Procedure introduced mandatory roll calls in committees from 2014. The article explains the context of the rule change, the data collection effort, and the data as such. A discussion of conflict across committees, party group cohesion and participation in roll call votes illustrates potential applications of the data.

Some policies matter more: party salience and interest group access to political parties in Western democracies

ABSTRACT Political parties and interest groups play important roles in incorporating societal interests into democratic decision-making. Recent studies have analysed the causes of interactions between individual political parties and interest groups and of interest groups’ choices to seek access to one or more parties. Meanwhile, we know less about why some parties grant access to a range of interest groups while others focus on a few. This article theorises about party strategies and suggests that party salience – that is parties’ emphasis on different policy areas – affects the range of interest groups to which they grant access. I combine interest group survey data from six European democracies with data from party manifestos and use regression analyses to test this hypothesis. I find that parties provide access to multiple interest groups representing various interests in legislative politics and, above all, in policy areas that are salient to them. Thus, parties are more likely to be aware of diverse interests’ perspectives on policies in areas they prioritise. The results have important implications for our understanding of the consequences of party–interest group interactions in democracies.

Protest and Legislative Behavior in Perilous Times

Abstract A long-standing tradition in the study of social movements documents the multitude of ways protest “matters” for policy and politics. LaGina Gause's book, The Advantage of Disadvantage makes a contribution to this literature. Gause develops a formal theory of the influence of protest on legislative behavior and representation and tests it with data from a range of empirical sources. She finds that protest is most effective for disadvantaged groups. What is admirable here is the attempt to integrate the study of social movements with the study of legislative behavior. But limitations that result from an exclusive reliance on quantitative analysis ultimately weaken the strength of her claims. That said, given the proliferation of protest movements around the world, we need to better understand how movement politics influence legislative politics. This is especially true for the mature democracies of the West where Far Right, nationalist, racist, and fascist movements seek to move from fringe to center by manipulating the institutions of electoral politics to undermine democracy itself. The review article concludes with thoughts on an expanded inquiry into the dynamics of contention of today's rightwing political movements.

Political Polarization and Legislative Politics: Empirical Analysis of Policy Process on Contentious Issues

Political Polarization and Legislative Politics: Empirical Analysis of Policy Process on Contentious Issues

Tapping the Conversation on the Meaning of Decarbonization: Discourses and Discursive Agency in EU Politics on Low-Carbon Fuels for Maritime Shipping

EU politics on decarbonizing shipping is an argumentative endeavor where different policy actors strive try to influence others to see problems and policy solutions according to their perspectives to gain monopoly on the framing and design of policies. This article critically analyzes, by means of argumentative discourse analysis, the politics and policy process related to the recent adoption of the FuelEU Maritime regulation, the world’s first legislation to set requirements for decarbonizing maritime shipping. Complementing previous research focusing on the roles and agency of policy entrepreneurs and beliefs of advocacy coalitions active in the policy process, this paper dives deeper into the politics of the new legislation. It aims to explore and explain the discursive framing and politics of meaning-making. By analyzing the political and social meaning-making of the concept “decarbonizing maritime shipping”, this paper helps us understand why the legislation was designed in the way it was. Different narratives, storylines and discourses defining different meanings of decarbonization are analyzed. So is the agency of policy actors trying to mutate the different meanings into a new meaning. Two discourses developed in dialectic conversation framed the policy proposals and subsequent debates in the policy process, focusing on (i) incremental change and technology neutrality to meet moderate emission reductions and maintain competitiveness, and (ii) transformative change and technology specificity to meet zero emissions and gain competitiveness and global leadership in the transition towards a hydrogen economy. Policy actors successfully used discursive agency strategies such as multiple functionality and vagueness to navigate between and resolve conflicts between the two discourses. Both discourses are associated with the overarching ecological modernization discourse and failed to include issue of climate justice and a just transition. The heritage of the ecological modernization discourse creates lock-ins for a broader decarbonization discourse, thus stalling a just transition.

Criminal Law Significance of Final Procedural Decisions on Exemption from Criminal Liability and Punishment

The subject of the study is the provisions of criminal, criminal procedural and criminal exe cutive legislation, as well as acts of interpretation and judicial practice related to the legal regulation of exemption from criminal liability or punishment of those who have committed a crime. The purpose of the study is to compare the provisions of the criminal law regulating the grounds for exemption from criminal liability and punishment with the norms of criminal procedure law regul ating the procedure for making final decisions on the termination of a criminal case (prosecution). Using the general scientific dialectical method, as well as the methods of formal legal analysis and synthesis, the author identified and demonstrated contradictions between the norms of substantive and procedural law in terms of substantiating the grounds for terminating a criminal case (prosec ution) and the grounds for exemption from criminal liability (punishment). Conclusions. Ignoring the provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which contains an exhaustive list of grounds and conditions for exemption from criminal liability and punishment, results in uncertain legal consequences for those who have committed crimes, both as to criminal law coercive measures and determining the general legal consequences for a person committing a crime. Thus, in some cases, courts are forced to make decisions on exemption from punishment due to the expiry of the statute of limitations, despite the fact that Art. 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation requires that such persons be exempted from criminal liability. On the other hand, Art. 398 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation contains a special provision for deferring the execution of a sentence, which is not found in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation either as a basis for exemption from liability or from punishment. It is proposed to eliminate the exis ting contradictions in the branches of law by unifying the norms of criminal procedural legisl ation and bringing them into conformity with the norms of substantive criminal law that regulate the e xemption from criminal liability and punishment.

Why Do Non‐Resident Citizens Get Elected? Candidates' Electoral Success in Ecuadorian Extraterritorial Districts

To the growing literature on non-resident citizens’ special representation, we contribute with a systematic examination of the role of descriptive representation of citizens living abroad in elections for extraterritorial districts. Using data for the 308 candidacy observations in three two-seat extraterritorial districts in five legislative elections held between 2007 and 2021 in Ecuador, for a total of 30 seats, we test four hypotheses related to the electoral rules, party-level, and socio-demographic factors of non-resident candidates. Ecuadorian non-resident candidates benefit from their incumbency position and party affiliation, along with left-wing ideological ascription and belonging to party organizations that pushed for voting rights abroad and that manifest an interest in emigrant issues. This article contributes to showing what gets emigrants elected in extraterritorial seats and offers a within-country comparison connecting elections with legislative politics across national borders.

New Real Estate Legislation

The article is devoted to the study of certain provisions of the Federal Law № 430-FZ “On Amendments to Part One of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation” which is expected to come into force on September 1, 2022. Disputes about the types, order of formation and acquisition of the right of ownership of immovable property are among the most common in judicial practice. In addition, the process of improving the legislation on immovable property cannot be effective without a deep scientific understanding of the problems of the relevant legal institute. As a consequence, the study of new legisla tion and law enforcement practice in the field of real estate turnover is relevant and timely. The purpose of this work is to analyze the new provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the legal regime of real estate. The study is based on general scientific methods: logical, analysis, synthesis, which made it possible to structure the material, to reveal relationships in the study of individual real estate objects. Also, private scientific methods were used in the work: formal-legal, comparative-legal, method of interpretation of legal norms. The author notes the positive nature of innovations in the field of legal regulation of such real estate objects as a land plot, a parking place, an object of construction in progress, a single real estate complex. At the same time, problematic issues that have not found legislative resolution in the new chapter 6.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation “Real Estate” are identified in the work, ways to solve them are proposed.

What Explains Party Unity? Evidence from U.S. State Legislatures

Party unity is central to studying legislative politics and explaining the organization of legislative chambers, passage of policy, and even electoral outcomes. Its effect has been shown at the subnational, national, and international levels. While party unity has been used to explain many phenomena in legislative politics, there is much less known about the determinants of party unity, especially at the subnational level. We leverage a dataset of party unity in 95 U.S. state legislative chambers from 2002 to 2014, to test the impact of party structures, institutional rules, and contextual factors on the level of party unity. We find that majority status, party seat share, and the other party's unity impact party unity similarly for both parties, but the effect of inter‐party heterogeneity differs by party. These findings offer a new and unique insight to how partisan theories operate differently within state legislative versus Congressional parties.

Institutions, public opinion, and advocacy camps: how interest groups benefit from supportive alignments to gain agenda-setting influence

ABSTRACT Despite the proliferation of studies on interest group influence, there has been limited research on the conditions that facilitate their ability to impact policy agendas. This study investigates the role of supportive alignments in enhancing interest groups’ agenda-setting influence, with a specific focus on the European Union. We argue that organisations aligning closely with institutional and societal actors are better positioned to push their ‘dream’ issues on the policy agenda while keeping ‘nightmare’ issues off. To assess this argument, we rely on a novel dataset comprising 301 mobilised interest groups on 56 specific issues. Our findings underscore the pivotal role of institutional alignments in gaining agenda-setting influence. Moreover, aligning with the public and other interest groups increases the chances of preference attainment. However, it does not lead to a higher likelihood of being perceived as an influential agenda-setter. Overall, our study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of interest group influence, extending insights beyond legislative politics.

The Importance of Breaking Even: How Local and Aggregate Returns Make Politically Feasible Policies

Abstract Policies that promote the common good may be politically infeasible if legislators representing ‘losing’ constituencies are punished for failing to promote their district's welfare. We investigate how varying the local and aggregate returns to a policy affects voter support for their incumbent. In our first study, we find that an incumbent who favours a welfare-enhancing policy enjoys a discontinuous jump in support when their district moves from losing to at least breaking even, while the additional incremental political returns for the district doing better than breaking even are modest. This feature of voter response, which we replicate, has significant implications for legislative politics generally and, in particular, how to construct politically feasible social welfare-enhancing policies. In a second study, we investigate the robustness of this finding in a competitive environment in which a challenger can call attention to a legislator's absolute and relative performance in delivering resources to their district.

The Role of The Prosecutor’s Office in Asset Seizure

The seizure of assets resulting from criminal acts will be easier for law enforcement officials to carry out if the Draft Law on Asset Forfeiture is passed. Assets that are seized are not only related to corruption crimes but also general crimes that carry a prison sentence of 4 years or more. The amount of assets seized is also at least IDR 100 million. This paper will explore the urgency of the Asset Forfeiture Bill in terms of the politics of legislation and then be limited to discussions on the direction of law enforcement that is considered responsive, especially regarding institutions that have authority in implementing the law. This paper is a type of doctrinal research that the data collection technique used is a literature technique, while the analysis in this study is after all legal materials are collected both from primary legal materials and secondary legal materials then clarified. Without strong watchdog institutions, impunity becomes the very foundation upon which systems of corruption are built. And if impunity is not demolished, all efforts to bring an end to corruption are in vain. Integrity, transparency, and the fight against corruption have to be part of the culture.

Towards collaborative planning: deliberative knowledge utilisation and conflict resolution in urban regeneration in South China

Urban regeneration in post-reform China has become a fertile ground for the transition towards collaborative planning, which serves as a powerful tool for managing conflicts and addressing complex urban challenges. This article aims to delve into the micro-level processes that underpin the emergence of collaborative planning in practical urban regeneration projects in China. By shedding light on these micro-level processes of conflict resolution, we aim to provide a deeper understanding of how collaborative planning is implemented within the Chinese authoritarian context. Deliberative knowledge utilisation is intricately interwoven with the process of problem framing, exerting a significant influence on how conflicts are approached and ultimately resolved. We employ framing analysis as an analytical approach to demonstrate how problem framing is shaped by deliberative knowledge utilisation and is discursively constructed, drawing on empirical studies of the contentious Enning Road case in Guangzhou. Regarding the problem framing related to the legitimacy of demolition and planning, institutional knowledge pertaining to planning leg islation and administrative procedures was intentionally wielded by the media and local residents to challenge the legitimacy of demolition. Concerning the problem framing related to the preservation of historic buildings, local knowledge was actively harnessed and deliberately employed by residents and the media to underscore the historical and cultural significance of the neighbourhood. Regarding problem framing centred on resistance to resettlement and eviction, residents intentionally incorporated institutional knowledge when composing and submitting petition letters. These three lines of problem framing, grounded in deliberative knowledge utilisation, significantly impact power dynamics and facilitate the incremental transition towards collaborative planning, which emerges as a gradual process marked by experimentation and the resolution of conflicts.

Roll-call voting under random seating assignment

AbstractSocial connections between individuals can profoundly impact their political behavior. A growing body of research on legislative politics examines how spatial proximity to fellow legislators affects voting behavior within the institution. However, studies that examine this question often suffer from a fundamental identification problem in which proximity effects may reflect actual behavioral diffusion between members or, instead, homophily, in which legislators of a similar political feather flock together. We overcome this observational equivalence by exploiting a unique random seating lottery for seating assignments in the world's oldest existing parliament, Iceland's national legislature, Alþingi. Utilizing this naturally occurring randomization, we employ spatial analyses of more than 20,000 estimates of spatial dependence and find little evidence that seating proximity leads to similar voting behavior by members in this legislative context.

Community-Based Temporal Practices for Creating Change in Hostile Institutional Systems

This article, based on an interview study with community changemakers working within hostile systems of higher education and legislative politics, builds upon scholarship that names and challenges normative time by offering a cultural rhetorics analysis of activists’ alternative, community-based temporal practices that are centered in relationships and prioritize participant needs over institutional mandates. We theorize community-based temporal practices based on the changemaking stories of our interview participants, especially moments when they encountered time-based obstacles and used community-based knowledges as workarounds. We constellate these stories about the material barriers of time, the way time is wielded by those in power, and how to prioritize relationships, thus illuminating temporal practices that can be used to challenge institutional systems.

What Explains a Representative’s Staffing “Style”? Exploring the Relationship between Congressional Staffing Decisions and Electoral Considerations

Students of legislative politics are divided over the relationship between electoral vulnerability and the type of “home style” members of Congress adopt in terms of their district staffing decisions. The conventional wisdom asserts that an increase in electoral vulnerability corresponds with a legislator increasing the number of district staffers. However, another body of works implies that the inverse relationship should occur. To settle these competing claims, we explore the staffing decisions of legislators serving in the House of Representatives between the 101st and 113th Congress. We find that an increase in electoral vulnerability is associated with a decrease in district staffers. These results cast doubt on the widely held view that a legislator’s electoral vulnerability results in an increase in district attentiveness at least in terms of their district staff. Additionally, our findings provide several insights into the relationship between elections and representation.

The apprenticeship of Chilean congressional leaders (1834-1924) from the perspective of the theory of legislative institutionalization

This article analyzes the historical development of Chilean congressional leadership offices (1834-1924), while testing a proposition of the theory of legislati ve institutionalization that says that legislatures gradually move to-ward greater boundedness over time. The indicator of boundedness is the length of the apprenticeship of congressional leaders. Lateral entry, short office tenure, and returning leaders became distinctive features in the case at hand. Institutional design and exchanges between the legislat ure and the environment determine legislative institutionaliz ation, so a legislature insti-tutionalizes by acquiring stability, permanence, distinctiveness, and sustain-ability in a polity.

Introduction

Since its passage in 1990, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA)has become well integrated into federal food policy, although its provisions regarding health claims have generated considerable controversy, and such claims so far are little used. Health claims appear to be a good way of delivering nutritional messages, so it is prudent that we try to resolve differences over the regulation of these claims. Now is the time for constructive dialogue, because the question of whether the health claims provisions of NLEA are good legisla tion probably could be back on the national agenda given the current congressional review of the programs of all regulatory agencies. The Center for Food and Nutrition Policy convened this symposium to initiate constructive dialogue on the health claims provisions of NLEA.Over the past 2 years, we at Georgetown University’s Center for Food and Nutrition Policy have examined the public record on health claims for foods and on national food fortification policy by focusing on the B-vitamin, folate. The basic metabolism of folate is well understood. Moreover, the research needed in this case to establish the “significant scientific agreement” mandated by statute is also less complicated to obtain than other health claims because of the relatively short time between the preventive measure, folate administration in early pregnancy, and the outcome, birth. Compare folate in this regard with the relationship between calcium intake and the development of osteoporosis in the elderly, for example. Thus, assessing folate’s ability to reduce the risk of having infants with neural tube defects (NTDs) should provide a comparatively straightforward case to study in the problems of implementing health claims under NLEA.