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Parliaments - Coggle Diagram
Parliaments
internal structure
parliamentary committees: places for specialization, different committees have different MPs that are specialized in the topic
specialized? do they correspond to the structure of ministries? If they scrutinize the work of multiple ministries they're not very specialized
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permanent (standing, as in NL) or ad-hoc (select, as in UK)
rule of thumb: the more specialized, the more permanent, and if they get the bill directly, decides if committees are powerful in the legislative process and therefore more likely that the functions of control, oversight and legislation will be more prominent in the parliament as a whole
members
size of parliament (Kurian, 1998)
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incumbency rates
lower turnover rates = higher incumbency rates. returning MPs are more experiences, more specialized, more effective
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high incumbency rates = incumbency effect. once in parliament, you get some automatic votes. positive in regards to experience, negative in regards to availability of campaign money, gerrymandering, etc.
high incumbency rates can also cause corruption, solved by term limits (Mexico)
number of chambers
bicameral parliament: a legislative body having two houses (USA, Switzerland, NL)
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unicameral parliament: a legislative body having only one house (Sweden, Norway, Denmark)
legislative bodies
parliaments
the government is selected from within the legislative branch after election, therefore parliament and government are mutually dependent
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legislatures
the executive branch (government) is not selected from within the legislative branch, it is elected directly and independently from legislative body. government and parliament are not mutually dependent
denotes legislative bodies in presidential systems of government (USA, Latin America, Russia)
tle legislative body is mainly supposed to make laws and policies, they are supposed to legislate
functions
representation
representation: representing and protecting voters' interests, MPs translate opinions of the public into policies during the policy-making process. MPs can...
act as trustees; elected to the parliament but goes into legislative body with a relatively independent mandate. entrusted by the citizens in a free role, not necessarily representing the wishes of the constituency
act as partisans; they act as a representative not just of opinions of the people but also of the line that their party is pursuing in the policymaking process. neither representing just the interests of voters to constituents, in parliament to translate the view of your party into the political process
act as delegates; perceive their role as mirroring what people think, MP has almost no agency, just translating preferences
debating (deliberating): parliaments serve as arena/forum for public debate. this makes the political conflict in a party very visible.
linkage: refers to activity by which there is a creation of a link between citizens and the representative, translated into action, where citizens are therefore linked to the executive branch = "constituency service". the smaller the district, the higher the chance representatives will be responsive to their constituents and create linkage
control and oversight: activities by which parliament monitors the functioning of the executive branch (dualistic relationship)
control (no confidence vote): parliaments can remove ministers from office. only possible in parliamentary systems. presidential -> impeachment
oversight
question time: government has to respond to oral or written questions from MPs. in most parliaments this is heavily institutionalized.
special hearings: special committees formed on an ad-hoc basis on some special topic of public significance. outcomes can be very different
budget control: government needs permission from the parliament for spending projects. approval of yearly budget, in most countries a very institutionalized event.
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