Assemblies Flashcards
In its simplest term, a collection or gathering of people, as in, for example, a school assembly.
As a political term, it has come to be
associated with representation and popular government.
Assemblies
make law; they enact legislation
Legislatures
implement law; they execute the law.
Executives
interpret law; they adjudicate on the meaning of the law
Judiciaries
emphasized the need to resist tyranny by fragmenting government power, particularly through the device of the separation of powers
Charles-Louis de Secondat Montesquieu
A government that is answerable or accountable to an elected assembly and through it, to the people.
Responsible Government
Political paralysis stemming from the absence of a strong executive, caused by multiple divisions in the assembly and (probably) society
Immobilism
An arrangement in a semi-presidential system in which the president works with a government and assembly controlled by a rival party or parties
Cohabitation
Functions of Assemblies
- Legislation
- Representation
- Scrutiny
- Political Recruitment
- Legitimacy
Often seen as the key function of assemblies
Assemblies or parliaments are typically vested with legislative power in the hope that the laws thus made will be seen to be authoritative and binding.
Legislation
the principal role of which is to deliver a responsible or accountable government
Scrutiny
Assemblies often act as major channels of recruitment, providing a pool of talent from which leading decision-makers emerge.
Political Recruitment
broadly means rightfulness
confers on an order or command an authoritative or binding characters thus transforming power into authority.
Legitimacy
Structures of Assemblies:
Single- chamber or unicameral
Two-chamber or bicameral
Are more streamlined and effective than bicameral ones especially in terms of responding to the needs of small relatively cohesive societies.
unicameral
