the parliament

role and functions

parliamentary democracy

the theory

• parliament is the most important political institution

  • only directly-elected representative of the people

  • assigns a government (investiture vote)

  • holds it accountable (control, vote of no-confidence)

• important (1) representative, (2) legislative and (3) oversight tasks

the practice

• executives (across Europe) gained power and importance

  • better equipped

  • intergovernmental decision-making (EU)

  • take the lead in law-making

• party discipline limits parliamentary autonomy

  • party-centered electoral rules → MPs dependent for future careers

  • loyally pass governmental legislation

  • control/oversight less effective and critical

patitocracy

• like in Belgium

• parties dominate every stage of policy-making (also in parliament)

• undermine parliamentary chain of delegation

• concentration of power (party leaderhip)

bicameralism

• 1831: bicameral parliamentary system

  • chamber of representatives: lower house

  • senate: higher house

    • conservative counterforce

    • higher electoral tax + minimal age of 40 (instead of 25)

  • true bicameralism

    • legislation (vote in chamber + senate)

    • cabinet oversight

  • housed together in palace of the nation

• 1993: reform of bicameral system

  • introduction of community senators; next to directly-elected and co-opted senators

  • 3 legislative procedures

    1. monocameral in chamber of representatives

    2. bicameral procedure (constitution, special laws)

    3. optional bicameral procedure (evocation right)

  • limitations on oversight powers

• 2014: sixth state reform

  • no more directly elected senators

    • meeting place of the regions and communities

  • legislative powers severely limited

    • monocameral procedure in chamber becomes the norm

      • exception: institutional reforms

      • second reading in chamber: possible laws read and checked

  • practically no more oversight powers

    • only written questions

composition and internal organization

composition

general trends: more young MPs, higher legislative turnover, electoral quota (more gender equality)

organization

• modern parliaments are characterized by

  1. hierarchy: party groups, group leaders

  2. issue specialization: MPs specialize in committees, working groups…

  → 2 central building blocks: party groups and committees

party groups

• MPs that unite in parliament to cooperate politically and logistically

• usually belong to the same political party

• formal recognition: at least 5 members (extra resources, staff, rights)

• within party groups: division of labor (specialization)

• useful?

  • necessary instruments of parliamentary business

  • more efficient decision-making, preference aggregation

  • but constraints of individual MPs autonomy

• party group leaders

  • each party group is led by a leader

  • unlike other countries it’s not the party president

  • still important player in parliament

    • manager of party group

    • go-between between MPs and party leader (frequent contacts)

    • represent party group in parliamentary governing bodies

    • most important spokesperson

    • ensure party unity

• dissidence (during votes)

  • rarely occurs (party discipline)

  • when it does:

    • symbolic: no impact on outcome

    • often more experienced MPs

    • abstention (no vote against party)

    • prior permission

• staff support

  • MPs have relatively little staff support

  • → pooled: often extracted from parliament by parties

  • ministers have far more staff members

committees

• standing committees (also investigation committees, temporary committees)

  • specialized legislative work

    • in-depth discussion of bill proposals, amendments, hearings

    • first vote

  • important part of oversight activities

    • oral quesions to ministers

    • interpellations

• composition

  • 17 permanent members (+ substitutes)

  • proportional representation of aprty groups

plenary meeting

• most important meeting

  • all members

  • chaired by speaker (member of majority)

  • most agenda items are prepared in committees

    • some exceptions: state of teh union, topical debates…

functioning, tasks and instruments

legislation

• 90% rule

  • way more accepted government bills

  • prioritized

  • implementation of European law

  • more technical expertise

• same at regional level

legislative majorities and special majorities

• simple majorities

  • most laws = simple majority

  • at least 50% present + 50% of these must support (yes, no or abstention)

  • follows majority-opposition divide (often also consensus)

  • no majority in linguistic group = possible

    • but: alarm bell-procedure

      • suspension of procedure

      • ¾ of linguistic group

      • only used twice in history

• special majorities

  • changing the constitution

    1. approval of list of articles open to change (by both chamber and senate 50%)

    2. parliament is automatically dissolved → new elections within 40 days

    3. new parliament: vote (2/3 majority → in both senate and chamber)

  • special majority laws

    • organization of federal state

    • 2/3 majority + 50% in each languistic group → in both senate and chamber

controlling the government

• written questions

  • not very influential or critical

  • obtain information from minister (build a case, represent local concern)

  • require written answer within 20 days (often more)

• oral questions

  • plenary or committee

  • more topical character (recent events)

  • require oral response by minister (+ reaction by MP)

• interpellations

  • most influential control instrument

  • plenary or committee

  • minister held accountable for actions, situation or position

  • concluded with a motion and vote

• investigation committees: special committees that investigate wehter government or administration made mistakes (powerful instrument, can summon witnesses)

• approval of the budget

  • important recurrent yearly process

    • discussion and vote of entire budget for next year (income, expenses)

    • must be voted before 1st of January (potential adjustments around summer)

    • problem: often submitted quite late

the regional parliaments

organization and functioning

• very similar to federal parliament

  • organization in committees, party groups, plenary

  • legislative and control functions

    • investigation committees

    • only a constructive vote of no-confidence

  • party discipline, limited autonomy for MPs + dominant executive

• main difference

  • monocameral

  • monolingual

  • no double majority needed (simple majorities and exceptionally 2/3 for institutional reforms)

• Brussels: mirror of federal level

  • all documents/debates in 2 languages (simultaneous translation)

  • mostly simple majorities → but special majorities for certain issues + alarmbell procedure too

conclusions: does parliament matter

• limited political influence

  • party discipline

  • MPs dependent from party for re-election (list position)

  • coalition agreement = Bible

  • parliament only involved late in the policy-making process

  • limited staff support compared to ministers + parties

  • high legislative turnover

  • complexity + need for rapid decision-making

• but tasks go beyond legislation

  • legitimation: democratic stamp of approval

  • agenda-setting

  • oversight

  • recruitment and training

  • constituency service

• party discipline is not exclusively dysfunctional

  • more efficient decision-making + political stability

  • MPs are elected on party lists (based on party program)

• MPs can (informally) weigh on policies behind the scenes

  • a lot of meetings

  • expertise and specialization is essential