Parliament and Democracy

ang_couv.qxd:Mise en page 1 29.1.2008 10:56 Page 1 PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY a guide to good practice PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY ISBN 978-92-9142-366-8 90000 9 789291 423668 ISBN 978-92-9142-366-8 2006 INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION 2006 •Anglais.qxd:Mise en page 1 3.12.2007 10:44 Page i Un Parlement qui rend des comptes I i PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE •Anglais.qxd:Mise en page 1 3.12.2007 10:44 Page ii ii I PARLEMENTS ET DÉMOCRATIE AU 21ÈME SIÈCLE •Anglais.qxd:Mise en page 1 3.12.2007 10:44 Page iii Un Parlement qui rend des comptes I iii PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE Written and edited by David Beetham Inter-Parliamentary Union 2006 •Anglais.qxd:Mise en page 1 3.12.2007 10:44 Page iv iv I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Copyright © Inter-Parliamentary Union 2006 All rights reserved Printed in Switzerland First reprint October 2007 ISBN: 978-92-9142-366-8 No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, via photo- copying, recording, or otherwise – without the prior permission of the Inter- Parliamentary Union. This publication is circulated subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher. Published by Inter-Parliamentary Union PO Box 330 1218 Le Grand Saconnex Geneva, Switzerland Tel.: +41 22 919 4150 Fax: +41 22 919 4160 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.ipu.org Indexed by Julie Lobb, Axis Indexing Service, British Columbia, Canada Printed by SRO-Kundig, Geneva, Switzerland Cover and illustrations by Aloys Lolo, Les Studios Lolos, Carouge, Switzerland •Anglais.qxd:Mise en page 1 3.12.2007 10:44 Page v Un Parlement qui rend des comptes I v Contents Preface ........................................................................................................ vii Foreword .................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgements .................................................................................... x Executive summary .................................................................................... xi 1. Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 2. A representative parliament................................................................ 13 3. A parliament that is open and transparent........................................ 43 4. An accessible parliament .................................................................... 69 5. A parliament that is accountable ........................................................ 95 6. An effective parliament (I): The national level ................................ 115 7. An effective parliament (II): Parliament’s involvement in international affairs .......................................................................... 155 8. Facing the future .................................................................................. 183 Annexes ...................................................................................................... 197 Parliaments providing submissions to the Guide .................................. 197 Working group on Parliaments’ contribution to democracy ................ 198 Legislative strengthening organisations .................................................. 204 Index............................................................................................................ 209 executive the people parliament power you and me •Anglais.qxd:Mise en page 1 3.12.2007 10:44 Page vi vi I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY List of figures and boxes Figure 1.1: Framework: the parliamentary contribution to democracy . .10 Figure 2.1: World average of women in Parliaments, 1995 - 2006 . .20 Figure 2.2: Regional averages of women in Parliaments, 1995, 2000 and 2005 . .21 Figure 3.1: First main source of information for national and international news per region . .51 Figure 3.2: Internet usage statistics . .62 Figure 3.3: A Day in Parliament Comic Book . .64 Figure 5.1: Trust in national institutions: regional averages . .110 Figure 7.1: Synchronizing legislative-executive coordination with specific points in the PRSP cycle . .164 Figure 8.1: Sources of Parliamentary Reform . .185 Box: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 25 . .14 Box: Election results in India and the United Kingdom . .16 Box: IPU recommendations on good practice for parliamentary websites . .59 Box: Extract from handbook on Making a Submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee . .83 Note on web references Web references have been placed throughout the text to enable readers to obtain further information about the issues discussed in this Guide. They are indicated by a box: Inter-Parliamentary Union <http://www.ipu.org> All links were active as of 1 April 2006. However, the constantly evolving nature of the Internet means that some of the links will inevitably not be available in the future. These references represent only a tiny part of the information related to parliament and democracy available online. A more extensive, updated collection of web references can be found on the IPU website, as well as the electronic ver- sion of the Guide itself <http://www.ipu.org/dem-e/guide.htm>. IPU is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. •Anglais.qxd:Mise en page 1 3.12.2007 10:44 Page vii Preface I vii Preface The paradox of our times is that we hail the victory of democracy while lamenting the fact that in many countries parliament - the central institution of democracy - is facing a crisis of legitimacy. The executive branch dominates the agenda, international cooperation and globalisation have led to decision making that lacks democratic control, and people question whether current political processes are really able to produce parliaments that can represent their interests in all their diversity. So what do we really mean by a democratic parliament? This guide answers the question with five key characteristics which every parliament should have. They should be representative, transparent, accessible, accountable and effective. It proceeds to give examples of how parliaments, in very concrete terms, fulfil those characteristics. It is very clear that parliaments need to be prepared to do some soul-sear- ching to identify what they are doing well. Many of them are already doing so, a fact to which this guide amply testifies. That process also involves determi- ning where they are not successfully meeting the challenges of the age and where they can draw inspiration from the good practices of other parliaments. Collectively, their response will largely determine the extent to which the institution of parliament continues to be relevant in the coming years. I hope therefore that parliaments and all those who are involved, from near and afar, in parliamentary reform will put this modest first guide on the subject of democratic parliaments to good use. The stakes are indeed high: they concern no less than the quality of democracy in the twenty-first century. Pier Ferdinando Casini President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union •Anglais.qxd:Mise en page 1 3.12.2007 10:44 Page viii viii I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Foreword Today, more than ever, promoting democracy is at the core of the Inter- Parliamentary Union’s mandate. Gradually, democracy has come to be recog- nized as a universal value which does not belong to any country or region. The IPU promotes democracy in a variety of ways, ranging from its political pronouncements - most notably the 1997 Universal Declaration on Democracy - to its programmes to strengthen parliamentary institutions, pro- tect and promote human rights and build partnership between men and women in politics. Underpinning the work of the IPU is the simple idea that a strong parliament is a vital sign of a healthy democracy. In September 2005, the Speakers of Parliament who came to United Nations Headquarters from every corner of the globe stated unequivocally that within a democracy, ‘Parliament is the central institution through which the will of the people is expressed, laws are passed and government is held to account’. The IPU continues to explore and strengthen the relationship between parliament and democracy. This guide is an ambitious attempt to identify the core values of a democratic parliament. The guide also describes how parliaments are putting these values into practice, as they adapt to the challenges of the twenty-first century. What is striking is the sense of the common challenges facing parliaments. These include the changing relationships that parliament maintains with the public, the media, the executive branch and the international organizations. Similarly, the representation of all parts of society, men and women, minori- ties and marginalized groups is also evolving. Effective representation implies articulating and mediating between the competing interests of these groups and guaranteeing equal rights for all parliamentarians, particularly those belonging to

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