Parliamentary Development Research Articles

Parliamentary procedure in the Finnish Parliamentary Reform of 1906. A safeguard of democracy or an obstacle to democratization?

ABSTRACT This article explores the debates and innovations in parliamentary procedure in the Finnish Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire. It focuses on the radical parliamentary and suffrage reform of 1905-06, when Finland’s outdated Diet of four Estates was replaced by a unicameral parliament elected through universal male and female suffrage. Until then, Finland had been a latecomer in parliamentary development, with reformists eager to study and apply European experiences, models, and concepts. These European influences inspired Finnish actors to pursue procedural innovations while balancing the risks and benefits of the dramatic reform. While many parliaments were struggling with limited time and considered imposing restrictions on the right to speak, Finnish reformists chose a different path, embracing the traditional ideals of careful, thorough, and multivoiced deliberation. This approach became heavily politicized and was particularly challenged by socialist newcomers, leading to an open struggle between competing concepts of democracy and parliament.

Debate and democratization in the Polish Parliament, 1919–1990

ABSTRACT Parliamentary development in Poland had been interrupted by long periods of loss of national sovereignty. Hence, while Poland boasts a parliamentary tradition going back to the fifteenth century, Polish parliamentarism has been influenced by both accommodation and resistance to a variety of externally imposed frameworks or revolutionary projects, making the relationship between debate, democratization, and parliamentary procedure neither simple nor linear. Practices that may have been undemocratic in one political context played a democratizing role in another context. Periods of limited national or political sovereignty (including the nineteenth-century partitions or the Communist period between 1945 and 1989) led to the rise of quasi-parliamentary or extra-parliamentary bodies and practices that circumvented the limitations imposed on parliament and that became part of the Polish parliamentary tradition. The example of the Polish Parliament shows that specific parliamentary practices may have either detrimental or democratizing effects on debate, depending on the broader political context and the specific exigencies of the political moment and the actual political meaning of particular procedures, rules, and behaviours (including their ‘democratizing’ thrust) emerges as a function of their deployment in the specific context of particular political moments and projects.

Critical Acceptance of an Unloved Constitution. The Russian State Duma in the 1990s

Abstract The Russian Constitution enacted after the violent end of the destructive “dual rule” between the two-tier double-decker-parliament and the first publicly elected Russian president in 1992 and 1993 is often characterized as hyper-presidentialist and even outright authoritarian. This narrative overlooks that a different interpretation of the constitution seemed possible during the first years of post-Soviet parliamentary development in the Russian Federation. While a large majority of State Duma deputies heavily criticized the new constitutional order, mainly because of the obvious disbalance between the powers of the executive and the legislative branches of government, it accepted the document as a binding working basis and immediately engaged in a serious, mostly constructive debate about necessary amendments. During the first two legislative periods between 1994 and 1999, members of all parliamentary groups not only started to refer to the initially unloved constitution as “theirs”. Some of them even perceived themselves as guardians of this basic institutional order because it did offer the weak legislative branch of government certain room for action and protection against arbitrary encroachment by the executive branch. Whereas the brief window of opportunity for consensual constitutional amendments in 1998 and 1999 closed without tangible results when Vladimir Putin came to power, an alternative trajectory of the Russian political regime was for some time conceivable.

Engagement in and Interaction with Parliamentary Ecosystems

Abstract This is a report on the 15th Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians that took place over the weekend of 30–31 July 2022 in Wroxton, Oxfordshire, in the United Kingdom. Scores of scholars, practitioners, and Members of Parliament (mp s) from around the world gathered once again at the event’s remarkable venue, the Wroxton Abbey, for a two-day practical exchange on issues around parliamentary development and reforms. This time, the Workshop focussed on the state-of-play of and new concepts for strengthening public engagement in the democratic process. Moreover, the greater event constitutes a forum of international professional exchange between parliamentary practitioners and scholars and the sharing of best-practice, with the overall goal of promoting positive change and improvements to the efficiency, transparency, representation and therefore legitimacy of parliaments. The report captures the highlights, lessons-learned, and expectations from a memorable event that set the stage for further research and policy activities.

Parliamentary Oversight: A Critical Review of Literature

The main of this paper is to define what is meant by ‘legislative’ or parliamentary oversight. The other objective is to assess the role of the Legislature in the Budget Ex Post. The Objectives, tools, and mechanisms of parliamentary oversight shall be discussed. The review of the literature was used as a methodology in this paper. The review found that there are various definitions of parliamentary oversight The Portal for Parliamentary Development was a great source of literature that was reviewed and analyzed in this study. It was reviewed that different scholars define parliamentary oversight differently. Not all definitions capture all the key roles of parliamentary oversight. paper reviews several scholarly articles that provides various definitions of parliamentary oversight. Furthermore, it is revealed that government reporting and legislative scrutiny of public accounts is more common in parliamentary and semi-presidential systems than in presidential systems; even so, 84 percent of legislatures in presidential systems analyze financial reports from the government. From the literature reviewed, it has been concluded that the robust monitoring of the executive by the parliament is an indicator of good governance. Besides the parliament’s legislative function, it is through oversight that the parliament can ensure a balance of power and assert its role as the defender of the people’s interests. Keywords: Parliamentary Oversight; Legislative Oversight; Public Accounts Committee DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/12-6-01 Publication date: August 31 st 2022

Information and analytical resources on the development of modern parliamentarism

The interaction of national parliaments in the international arena requires information support, which is provided not only by international parliamentary organizations and associations, but also by creating special web platforms that contain a variety of information about the activities, problems and prospects of parliaments and determine the general trends in the development of the institution of parliamentarism. The article describes the AGORA web portal, which positions itself as a "leading global platform for knowledge about parliamentary development." Its aim is to centralize and share knowledge on the development of parliamentarism, as well as to develop and demonstrate high-quality resources to support parliaments and provide relevant information to politicians and academic circles. In November 2020, a new modernized version of AGORA was launched, which includes three areas: 1) accumulation and exchange of knowledge in the field of parliamentarism, 2) coordination of exchange of experience and development of recommendations on best practices in parliamentary activities, 3) development and implementation of e-learning courses for parliamentarians and parliamentary staff on various issues (climate, gender, budgets, interaction with civil society). The most interesting and innovative materials of AGORA are analyzed, special emphasis is placed on the problems of development of modern Ukrainian parliamentarism and specific activities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The facts presented in the article show that the international web portal AGORA is an authoritative factor in shaping the views of the international community on the processes and events of modern parliamentary development. The use of his publications will contribute to a clearer understanding and adequate assessment of the state of affairs in the field of representative democracy and the exercise of democracy.

Introduction

ABSTRACT This special issue explores concepts and practices related to parliamentarism in the imperial and post-imperial transformations of the Qing and Russian Empires, as well as their successor states. It demonstrates that representative institutions were a crucial factor in the establishment of modernized empires or post-imperial states. In particular, the issue explores how the ‘mining’ of own imperial past and present for concepts and practices was used in combination with the globally circulating forms of representation in the development of parliamentary institutions, how particular interest groups defined through ethnicity, region, religion, or class were represented, and, ultimately, how the parliamentary developments informed the formation of single-party regimes in the post-imperial settings.

The Evolution of Jordan's Parliamentary Institution and the Impact on Political Reform: A Critical Review

This research is a critical study for Jordanian parliamentary evolution and its impact on political reform in Jordan. We hypothesize a significant correlation between parliamentary development and democratization in Jordan. The study found that the Parliamentary institution, which represents the core of democracy in Jordan, is weak and lacking the ability to perform its main political duties. Researchers concluded that democracy in Jordan is in a status of stagnation. Since its formation in 1929 until 2019, parliament’s political power within the Jordanian political system remains substantially ineffective. The Executive Branch of government possess far more political power than the Legislative Branch of government. This fact that our research found negatively affects the credibility of the whole Jordanian political reform rhetoric. We use the descriptive analytical historic approach and content analysis of the legal provisions that govern the parliamentary development in Jordan. KeyWords: Parliamentary Evolution, Political Reform, Legal and Constitutional Reform.

William Stubbs, Parliament and the Medieval English Constitution

AbstractThe name of William Stubbs will forever be associated with the birth of modern scholarship on the late medieval English parliament. At the core of his Constitutional History, a three‐volume work published in the 1870s, is a brilliant synthesis of the development of the early parliament. Since its publication, however, Stubbs's work has generated varied reactions, as scholars have positioned themselves at different points on a sliding scale of praise through to criticism; that is, between praising the Constitutional History for its depth of scholarship and pioneering methodologies, on the one hand, to criticising the work for its present‐minded approach and whiggish agenda, on the other. The aim of this discussion is to strike a balance between these two extremes. While it acknowledges the undoubted flaws of Stubbs's narrative, it also argues for a more nuanced and holistic approach to his work. It suggests that the taint of whiggism has for too long acted as a barrier to a true appreciation of the scholarly merit of the work, merit that extends beyond simply acknowledging its ambition, originality and legacy. The discussion considers some key areas of parliamentary development between c.1290 and c.1406 and notes the continued synergies that exist between what Stubbs wrote 140 years ago and current interpretations and understandings.

Why the History of Parliament Has Not Been Written*

AbstractThere have been legions of individual studies of the history of the English/British/United Kingdom parliament, which is not surprising, since its history is widely acknowledged to be so closely bound up with the history of the nation state itself. But there have been remarkably few attempts to put the story together, to try to consider the long‐term development of parliament as an institution. What would such a story look like? This essay discusses some of the critiques of the whiggish narrative of constitutional and parliamentary development to recognise a common theme in whiggism's tendency to anthropomorphise parliament, to describe it as a single organism with agency and purpose. To forgo that temptation, however, makes it difficult to provide a satisfying narrative of parliament over time. The essay tries to imagine how one might construct a history of parliament as an institution which no longer sees it as an actor in its own story, but, instead, a complex collection of ideas, processes, customs, and conventions, which competing forces struggle to organise in order to achieve their goals, and which is also an arena and forum for that competition.

Keine realistische Chance für ein Grabenwahlsystem! Eine Erwiderung auf Christian Naundorfs Beitrag in der ZParl 4/2020

Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen contains articles on political issues dealing with representation and legitimation of the political system. The articles provide a broad overview of the functioning of national and regional parliaments as well as a forum for comparative analysis of international parliaments. One stress is on the parliamentary development of different countries.

El confuso mundo de las habilitaciones reglamentarias

El trabajo analiza la práctica de las disposiciones finales de las leyes que contienen habilitaciones para su desarrollo reglamentario. Examina sus múltiples variantes, las dudas que suscitan desde la perspectiva de las autoridades facultadas para llevar a cabo el desarrollo reglamentario y de sus requisitos, así como la posibilidad de considerar existente la obligación jurídica de llevar a cabo estas tareas y de su exigencia en vía judicial, a la luz de los últimos avances jurisprudenciales.

Towards parliamentary full cycle engagement in the legislative process: innovations and challenges

ABSTRACT As representative democracy has come under criticism from populists and advocates of ‘participatory democracy’, parliaments have responded by expanding their engagements throughout the governance process. Parliaments around the world are participating in the development of policy proposals including in dialogue with citizens, the shaping of draft legislation, debate and adoption of legislative proposals, in post-legislative scrutiny, and in government oversight and audit. The article explores the motivators for these enhanced roles, the opportunities and challenges entailed in a parliamentary full-cycle approach, and makes recommendations for parliaments and parliamentary development actors to enable successful implementation of an expanded and deepened role for parliaments as core institutions of representative democracy.

Evolucija fiskalnoga suvereniteta u Engleskoj

Povijest parlamentarnog razvoja usko je povezana uz razvoj fiskalnih ovlaštenja zakonodavne vlasti, što je osobito izraženo u nastanku i razvoju engleskog Parlamenta. Štoviše, moguće je ustvrditi kako pitanje borbe „srednjovjekovnih poreznih obveznika“, tj. onih koji participiraju u raspodjeli moći u srednjovjekovnim feudalnim strukturama, prethodi samom nastanku engleskog Parlamenta i „skupova kraljevih slugu“ prije njega. Tako se sredstva ograničenja samovolje krune, ponajprije u fiskalnim pitanjima, pronalaze u najranijim ustavnim dokumentima srednjovjekovne Engleske. Prizivanje fiskalnih prerogativa Parlamenta u kasnijim razdobljima predstavlja najefikasniji oblik suprotstavljanja samovolji krune, a posebno nasuprot apsolutističkim težnjama vladara kuće Stuart. Po uspostavi supremacije Parlamenta nad krunom, viktorijansko razdoblje ostaje u znaku borbe dvaju parlamentarnih domova koja će početkom 20. stoljeća kulminirati na pitanju odbijanja proračuna od strane Gornjeg doma. Zakon o Parlamentu iz 1911. predstavlja završetak višestoljetnog razvoja fiskalnog suvereniteta Parlamenta potvrđujući ga prerogativom Donjeg doma kao nositelja izbornog demokratskog legitimiteta.

Zum ausnahmslosen Primat des Parlaments

Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen contains articles on political issues dealing with representation and legitimation of the political system. The articles provide a broad overview of the functioning of national and regional parliaments as well as a forum for comparative analysis of international parliaments. One stress is on the parliamentary development of different countries.

The reality of partnership: formal collaborations between law enforcement and community corrections agencies in Pennsylvania

ABSTRACTAs is the case in the UK, formal police–community corrections partnerships in the US have existed since the 1990s. However, unlike the UK where parliamentary developments and subsequent policy initiatives have provided a context in which criminal justice agencies formally work together, police–probation/parole partnerships in the US have experienced relatively little formalisation, with most extant partnerships existing informally based principally on interpersonal relations between individual police and corrections agency members. Relevant to research in the UK [Mawby, R.C., Crawley, P., and Wright, A., 2007. Beyond ‘polibation’ and towards ‘prisi-polibation’? Joint agency offender management in the context of the street crime initiative. International journal of police science & management, 9 (2), 122–134; Mawby, R.C. and Worrall, A., 2004. ‘Polibation’ revisited: policing, probation and prolific offender projects. International journal of police science and management, 6 (2), 63–73; Mawby, R.C. and Worrall, A., 2011. ‘They were very threatening about do-gooding bastards’: probation’s changing relationships with the police and prison services in England and Wales. European journal of probation, 3 (3), 78–94; Nash, M., 2008. Exit the polibation officer? Decoupling police and probation. International journal of police science and management, 10 (3), 302–312; Nash, M. and Walker, L., 2009. MAPPA – is closer collaboration really the key to effectiveness? Policing, 3 (2), 172–180; Wood, J. and Kemshall, H., 2007. The operation and experience of Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). London: Home Office], the current study explores the patterns and characteristics of formal partnerships and the perceptions of police chiefs and probation/parole chiefs in a US state concerning experiences with partnering agencies, benefits, and problems. Findings are compared with research findings in the UK and Canada.

Pacific Island Parliaments: Developmental Aspirations and Political Realities

A concept paper on ‘legislatures and good governance’ prepared for UNDP by Johnson and Nakamura articulated four fundamental goals of legislative development (build internal support for legislative strengthening, strengthen representation, strengthen lawmaking, and strengthen legislative organization and facilities), and distinguished between the roles of two types of external agencies (funding, and legislative/parliamentary associations). A subsequent practice note by UNDP on Parliamentary Development set out that organization’s concept of ‘what parliamenttary institutions do’ and identified eight ‘principal entry points’ for its ‘role and niche’ in parliamentary development (United Nations Development Programme 2003). This article draws such development agency literature to identify the current issues facing Pacific Island parliaments and the efforts underway (or not) to address them. It includes a review the Pacific Islands context, consideration of recent parliamentary dynamics, and a review of parliamentary development activities. The context of Pacific Island parliaments The first important characteristic of the context of Pacific Island parliaments is their unique geographic location: they are established by societies which are small and strongly influenced by their archipelagic setting. Whereas this geographic feature may seem obvious, its impact on social, political and economic development — and therefore on constitutional and legal structure and operation, is equally inexorable. Development agencies therefore recognise the special needs of ‘small island developing states’ (SIDS). Most significantly, these include a lack of human and financial resources, and such constraints inhibit the operation of parliaments in the

Parliamentary Reforms of 2007 and One Party Dominated Parliament of Kazakhstan (2007-2012)

This article examines a parliamentary development in post-Soviet Kazakhstan during 2007-2012 years from historical and institutional point of view. It exclusively deals with the formation and development of the sixth post-Soviet Parliament of Kazakhstan, which was technically called the fourth convocation of Parliament. Authors analyse the parliamentary reforms of 2007 and its consequences and impact for the development of parliamentarism and party system in Kazakhstan. A case study of this particular convocation of modern Kazakh legislature allows us to make an in-depth research and helps us to better understand main peculiarities of legislative development during the period of 2007-2012. Article concludes that the forth convocation of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, which functioned during the 2007-2012, proved to be even more unanimous and homogenous in terms of both party affiliations and political orientations in comparison to its predecessors. On the one hand, this kind of solidarity contributed to the political stability and smooth political reforms; on the other hand, homogeneity of the Parliament impacted the lack of competitiveness and hampered the development of party factions and deputy groups within Parliament and the development of party system per se. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s1p335

Bicameral Development: Second Houses in Developmental Perspective - Lessons Learned in Afghanistan

Legislatures are increasingly recognized as an important element in democratic governance deserving special attention and support by the international development community. Somewhat surprisingly, while stressing the importance of designing programs that take account of significant political and systemic features of the political landscape, there is little attention paid to the unique features of a bicameral legislature. This curious absence in the development literature is mirrored in the political sciences/comparative legislative studies arena as well. Yet while a majority of legislatures in the world (over 58% in the IPU Parline database) are unicameral, a significant percentage (42%) are bicameral. Moreover, they are not going away. While during much of the 20th century most changes in the number of legislative chambers have been from two to one, some have shifted from unicameral to bicameral (e.g. China, Hungary, Morocco, Poland, USSR-Russian Federation) or adopted a bicameral system in a new government (Afghanistan.) Kenya adopted a bicameral system as recently as 2012. Even if the trends were against bicameralism, the existence of such a significant number would still argue for coverage within the development literature.In a bicameral system, what distinguishes that legislature is the presence of a second or “upper” house. While differences exist between and among the various lower houses or house of representatives, those differences have been adequately addressed in the general literature on parliamentary development. Therefore, in this paper I will focus upon the unique characteristics shared by various upper houses and the relationship between the upper and lower house (representative role, selection process/criteria; tasks/legislative role; power differential; politically distinct entities; and administration) as it applies to parliamentary development. In doing so, I will use the work done by The State University of New York’s Center for International Development (SUNY/CID) with the parliament of Afghanistan through the course of the USAID funded Afghanistan Parliamentary Assistance Project (APAP) to provide an illustrative case study. While APAP does not illustrate all of the challenges presented by programming for an upper house, the Afghan parliament was restarted in 2005 virtually from scratch (after having been disbanded since the 1970s) and the project provided an extraordinary of technical support from the year preceding the first parliamentary elections up through 2012.

Materielle Grundlagen für die parlamentarische Mandatsarbeit. Zu den Empfehlungen der Unabhängigen Kommission zu Fragen des Abgeordnetenrechts

Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen contains articles on political issues dealing with representation and legitimation of the political system. The articles provide a broad overview of the functioning of national and regional parliaments as well as a forum for comparative analysis of international parliaments. One stress is on the parliamentary development of different countries.