lecture 10 - parliaments Flashcards
importance studying parliaments
- they are the symbol of representative democracy + the main institution
- decline of parliament thesis = bc of dominant of gov. in policymaking, parliaments have lost much of previous imputs
parliament lost importance, become talking-institutions - dualism vs monism in parliament-gov. relationships: they should be independent of one another in some aspects (as parliament should check gov.)
dualism = parliament and gov. are independent
monism = parliament majority works with gov. majority, make important decisions together behind closed doors -> parliament not good instrument for checking the gov.
are they really in decline?
is it monistic or dualistic?
is there are real separation of powers?
= empirical questions
legislative bodies
- parliaments = denotes legislative bodies in parliamentary systems of gov (Europe)
parliament and gov. (powers) are fused
parler: to talk - legislatures = denotes legislative bodies in presidential systems of gov.
USA, Latin America, Russia
parliament and gov. are elected apart from each other, powers are separated
to provide legislature (to make laws)
*legislative bodies have different names in diff countries, e.g. State Duma in Russia, House of Commons in UK
3 functions of parliament
- representation
- control and oversight
- legislation and policy-making
parliament - representation
= what we associate most with parliaments (MP are ‘‘our’’ MPs, they act on our behalf, we elected them)
linkage = relation members constituency and MP (depends on electoral system)
representation = views of voters are translated by MPs in policy or legislative proposals
! this can be interpreted in 3 different ways by MPs
- delegate = blindly translating views of voters into policies, you are nothing more than a delegate of your voters = find out what constituents think and translate that = no autonomy
- trustee = I won elections, what I do in parliament is on me, I have the mandate and can act how I want (even against what was promised in elections)
- partisan = party nominated me, therefor what I do is in line with the party
debating -> important
*Dutch parliament is rather quiet (+ no one looks at debates), British parliament is seen as much public debate
- can lead to fights, e.g. in Ukraine
parliament - control and oversight
= activities by which parliament monitors the functioning of the executive brand
control =
- votes of no confidence: can send MPs/gov. home = possible only in parliamentary systems
oversight =
- question time: can call ministers to ask questions about their activities
- special hearings/commissions: parliaments can on ad hoc basis form a commission that investigates some matter of public importance
(e.g. parlementaire enquete-commissie Srebrenica, found Dutch gov. responsible + e.g. aardgaswinning Groningen)
gov. can resign or ? - budget control: on most spending projects gov. needs approval of parliament (e.g. yearly budget)
parliament - legislation and policy-making
perhaps most important, esp. in presidential systems
negative power = can negate something about legislation that is proposed by someone else (usually gov.)
- veto legislation
- delay legislation
- express opinion
positive power = have right to add something substantive to legislative proposals
- initiation of legislation
- amendment of legislation
*nrs according to importance
!not all parliaments/legislatures have all these
filibuster
= a tactic/weapon to delay or kill the legislation by long speech
- take floor of parliament, speak for so long that the deadline for legislature implementation passes
e.g. US Wendy Daveys spoke for 11 hours straight -> delayed legislation, was passed the next day
tactic to delay + profile yourself (for the constituents)
internal structure parliaments
- number of chambers: unicameral + bicameral (symmetric vs asymmetric)
- parliamentary committees:
- members
*seating in diff parliaments indicates relation parliament vs gov. : NL everyone against the gov., whilst in UK not
*Dutch MP = uni. level, political elite/clique (-> good policymaking, but poor representation)
number of chambers
unicameral parliament
- a legislative body having only one house
- e.g. Sweden, Norway, Denmark (Scandinavian countries)
bicameral parliament
- a legislative body having two houses
- e.g. USA, Switzerland, Germany, NL
- can be symmetric or asymmetric: powers of chambers are more or less equal OR one chamber has more powers than the other)
*usually federal systems symmetric - higher chamber represents political subnational units
two questions about bicameral parliaments
- what is the basis for the division for the division between the upper and lower chamber? aka why are they introduced, what is the difference?
- in federal systems the upper chamber represents different subnational units
- unitary systems -> is it necessary to have a bicameral design? - how strong or not is the division of powers between the two chambers?
- asymmetric bicameralism
- symmetric bicameralism
parliamentary committees
= places for specialization of MPs (based on expertise)
e.g. doctors in healthcare committee, teachers in education committees, lawyers everywhere
questions:
- are they permanent/standing (NL) or ad-hoc/select (Britain) committees
permanent = always same committees, beyond one specific parliament (sometimes in constitution)
more permanent -> more control/power over gov - specialized?
NL: perfect correspondent gov. structure and parliament structure: each committee works with one minister
Britain: sometimes committees work for 3 diff ministries
parliament members
incumbency rates = % of returning MPs
*NL: approx. 60%, but is going down (due to new parties)
*eastern Europe: approx. 30%
*US: insanely high nrs, looks like a non-democratic regime because of this
- incumbency effect = being in parliament gives a bonus in next elections: e.g. easier access funding for campaign (more people interested in funding it)
- negative effects incumbency: non-competitive elections + political class + corruption (some countries have MP terms)
why is member (nr) important?
- smaller ratio MP-constituents (reps/citizens)-> more likely linkage
*e.g. Andorra: every MP represents ~3000 people
*e.g. China has ~3000 MP, but linkage is possible - smaller -> easy decision-making
incumbency effect
= in book!
- being an incumbant brings an electoral bonus: easier access to campaign resources -> high incumbancy rates
e.g. in US
(MP)
member in parliament
ideal-typical powerful parliament/legislature
- elected independently of the executive (each should have own mandate)
- members elected in small constituencies (-> linkage)
- large powers to monitor the executive
- right to veto and initiate legislation
- symmetric bicameralism but not too large chambers
- permanent and specialized parliamentary committees
- professional and experienced MPs (relatively high incumbancy rates, but not as high as US)
= formal story, but ignores the role of parties
