Parliamentary Studies

The quantity and complexity of scientific and technological information provided to policymakers have been on the rise for decades. Yet little is known about how to provide science advice to legislatures, even though scientific information is widely acknowledged as valuable for decision-making in many policy domains. We asked academics, science advisers, and policymakers from both developed and developing nations to identify, review and refine, and then rank the most pressing research questions on legislative science advice (LSA). Experts generally agree that the state of evidence is poor, especially regarding developing and lower-middle income countries. Many fundamental questions about science advice processes remain unanswered and are of great interest: whether legislative use of scientific evidence improves the implementation and outcome of social programs and policies ; under what conditions legislators and staff seek out scientific information or use what is presented to them; and how different communication channels affect informational trust and use. Environment and health are the highest priority policy domains for the field. The context-specific nature of many of the submitted questions-whether to policy issues, institutions, or locations-suggests one of the significant challenges is aggregating generalizable evidence on LSA practices. Understanding these research needs represents a first step in advancing a global agenda for LSA research.

In recent years, several national congresses have adopted gender quotas for the selection of candidates for political office. These provisions include measures that reserve a certain number of seats for women, quotas within political parties that aim to increase the proportion of women among party candidates and legislative quotas, which require all political parties to designate a certain percentage of women on their electoral lists. The vast majority of these proposals have emerged over the last two decades, suggesting that gender quotas are a global phenomenon driven by a process of dissemination or transfer of policies. However, the existing literature on gender quotas does not offer explanations about the factors that have allowed the diffusion and adoption of this innovation in terms of gender equality. Therefore, this essay aims to explain the process of gender parity diffusion in Mexico. In this regard, it is argued that one of the key factors in this process was the existence of a support structure in favor of gender quotas. Within this support structure, the role of political entrepreneurs was decisive in facilitating dissemination to other policy domains. In that sense, the essay is divided into four main sections. The first section presents concepts and ideas of two theoretical bodies to analyze the phenomenon of the expansion of gender parity: literature on transfer and on dissemination of public policies. The second section briefly reviews the history of the adoption of gender quotas in Mexico and examines the normative, legal and political changes that have taken place as new provisions have been formulated to achieve gender parity. The third section describes the process of dissemination of the principle of parity in the candidacies for parity in the integration of Congress. The fourth section deals with the transfer of the normative principles of parity in Congress to other spheres of government.

The way the Westminster Parliamentary System adopted in Bangladesh is inherently problematic. Apart from Institutional and Structural weaknesses, the parliament of Bangladesh is marred by its illiberal politics and party system. Our Parliament therefore needs substantial institutional reform. Arguments for reform being our prime focus, four important hypotheses must be kept in mind in the journey.

Haarlems Dagblad (1/10/2019) put forward the thesis that the Partij voor de Dieren (Party for the Animals) can be dissolved since the founder and leader of the party, Marianne Thieme, has left the Dutch parliament, as her main points (animal welfare; pollution and exhaustion of the planet) are on the agenda of other political parties. Many people argue that the name of the party is not suitable for a political party. I argue that the mission of the party is far from accomplished. And why do people not criticize the name of other parties, such as D66 (has no meaning), Partij van de Arbeid (Labour Party), a party that shook off her socialist principles, the Christian Democrats who are no longer Christian and whose aim (right to start Christian schools) is accomplished since long, the Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (People's Party for Freedom and  Democracy) - who is nowadays against freedom and democracy? Etc. etc. The Party for the Animals is the only party with a long term vision on the limits of economic growth, the unsustainabilitity of the farm industry, and whose scientific bureau has published important studies with impact indeed. Still necessary.

In Switzerland, the compensation of MPs, which is key to the professionalization of the parliamentary office (Borchert 2008), remained purely symbolic for a very long time, due to the importance of the “militia” principle. According to this principle, the responsibilities of Swiss MPs are conceived as a service to the community, performed in an honorary capacity, and thus as not warranting the payment of a genuine compensation. This view remained very much dominant until at least the 1970s–1980s (Wiesli 2003; Pilotti 2017). During the last thirty years, Switzerland has undergone a process of parliamentary professionalization. However, when compared to other Western countries, parliamentary professionalization in Switzerland not only lags behind and is unfinished but also remains contested by a segment of the economic right and, since the early 1990s also by the nationalist right (i.e. the Swiss People’s Party, SVP).

Based on the typology of legislators developed by Cotta and Best (2000: 524), our analysis will demonstrate that the weak professionalization among the Swiss parliamentary elites has facilitated the persistence of the figure of the dignitary and delayed the transition to the figure of the professional politician. When compared to other European countries, the professional profile of Swiss MPs throughout the 20th century is characterized, on the one hand, by a strong domination of lawyers, entrepreneurs and farmers. On the other hand, the presence of public employees instead remains very low, while it is predominant in other European countries (Cotta and Tavares de Almeida 2007).

ln 1956, the Socialist faction in the Common Assembly of the European Coal & Steel Community put forth a wide-ranging and unprecedented critique of the High Authority, the Community's executive body. The faction's move elicited harsh rebukes from the assembly's Christian-Democratic and Liberal factions and was the first instance of overt and coordinated transnational partisanship. This afticle argues that this bitter exchange would have been unthinkable under the High Authority's previous president, Jean Monnet, who was widely admired by all factions. The Socialist critique encompassed a range of Community policies. Yet the personality of the new High Authority President, René Mayer, proved an important factor in this first exercise in transnational partisanship in the early history of European integration,

Resum: Malgrat la representació política corporativa i privilegiada dels règims preliberals, aquells regnes d'Europa on els estaments transcendiren les divisions internes i forjaren uns consensos de caràcter general o "nacional" estaven millor preparats per fer front al creixent poder regi a través d'uns parlaments potents, en els que l'home comú canalitzés els seus interessos en la construcció de l'estat des de baix. Tres elements ho facilitaven: la forta pertinença a una mateixa comunitat política, la manca d'hegemonia d'algun dels seus membres i un important dinamisme socioeconòmic. Experimentats pel Principat de Catalunya, la seva Cort general resistí el control de la monarquia, compartida amb els altres regnes d'Espanya, i, augmentant-hi la participació política, generà una important legislació política i econòmica en nom del bé comú de la Generalitat i la seva república.

Paraules clau: Parlamentarisme; republicanisme; Catalunya; Espanya; Europa.

(General Community, General Court and Commonwealth. The Principality of Catalonia until 1714 Compared to the other Realms of Spain and of Europe)

Abstract: In spite of the corporative and privileged character of the political representation in the preliberal regimes, those realms of Europe where the estates transcended the internal divisions and forged general or “national” consensus, they were better prepared to face the rising of the royal power through powerful parliaments, where the common man could steer his interests in the statebuilding from bellow. Three elements explain this achievement: the strong sense of belonging to the same political community, the lack of hegemony of any of its members and an important social and economic dynamism. We can observe them in the Principality of Catalonia. Its General Court resisted the attempt to control it from the monarchy, shared with the other realms of Spain, and, with a growth of the political participation, made an important political and economic legislation for the sake of the common good of the Community and its commonwealth.

Keywords: Parliamentarism; Republicanism; Catalonia; Spain; Europe.

RESUM
La Cort general del Principat de Catalunya, representació suprema de la independent comunitat política dels catalans, des d’una perspectiva comparada europea i espanyola tingué la fortalesa suficient: per resistir l’intent de la monarquia, compartida amb els altres regnes d’Espanya, de clientelitzar-la el 1599; i per consagrar el fracàs del mateix a la reunió inconclusa de 1626 i 1632. La qual cosa fou possible per la capacitat dels tres braços de transcendir les limitacions de la representació corporativa preliberal forjant uns consensos de caràcter general o “nacional”, gràcies a: la forta pertinença a una mateixa comunitat política, la manca d’hegemonia d’algun dels seus membres i un important dinamisme socioeconòmic. En la línia de la historiografia europea més recent, el creixement català experimentat des de finals del segle XVI incentivà la participació parlamentària de l’home comú per canalitzar els seus interessos socials i econòmics en la construcció de l’estat des de baix. És la seva represa a finals del segle XVII la que explica: tant la important legislació política i econòmica de les corts de 1701-1702 i de 1705-1706, així com l’augment de la participació ciutadana en una tercera part entre ambdues i la presència de dotze pagesos a la darrera.

PARAULES CLAU
Home comú, participació política, representació política, corts generals,
parlaments, Catalunya, Espanya, Europa.

ABSTRACT
The General Court (Parliament) of the Principality of Catalonia, supreme representation of the independent politic community of Catalans, from a comparative European and Spanish perspective had the sufficient strength: to resist the attempt of the monarchy, shared with the other kingdoms of Spain, to use it in 1599 to establish a stable network of patronage for its dynastic interests; and to permit the failure of that politic in the inconclusive meeting of 1626 and 1632. This was possible thanks to the capacity of the three estates to transcend the limitations of the corporative and privileged representation of the previous liberal regimes, setting up general or “national” consensus. Three elements explain this achievement: the strong sense of Catalans of belonging to the same politic community, the lack of hegemony of any of its members and an important social and economic dynamism. Accordingly of the most recent European historiography, the Catalan growth since the final 16th Century helped the parliamentary participation of the common man to steer his social and economic interests in the statebuilding from bellow. So, the recovery of that growth
at end of 17th Century explains: the important politic and economic legislation of the two last courts of 1701-1702 and 1705-1706, and the increment of the popular participation in a third between both parliaments and the presence of twelve countrymen in the last.

KEYWORDS
Common man, politic participation, politic representation, statebuilding,
parliaments, Catalonia, Spain, Europe.

Agrarian issue in the Austro-Hungarian period of Bosnia and Herzegovina was a key economic social and political issue. Besides those that were directly concerned (landowners and farmers who worked on that land), it involved the representatives of authorities, and local political, even religious organizations. The stenograms of the sessions of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Assembly, as the main source for the paper, show that this issue was subject through the entire period of the functioning of the BH Assembly, both before and after the enactment of the Law on Optional Purchase of the Serf Farms in 1911. That is the reason why the author of this paper aimed at a comprehensive research of this issue as it was treated in the BH Assembly. He presents the arguments stated by the delegates to justify their desired solutions to the issue and draws attention to all the social issues initiated in relation to the agrarian issue – terminological and substantial ones alike (the scope of agrarian issue, the distinction between a serf and a lesser, origins of orthodox Christians and Muslims of Bosnia, motives of external colonization, etc.) Particular attention was paid to the attempt of revision of the Law on Optional Purchase that was linked to the outcome of the Balkan Wars. The analysis of the treatment of agrarian issue in the Assembly and relations among its delegates sheds light on the way the political forces treated the role of their Parliament in the case of one of the key issues that arose in the Austro-Hungarian period.

Trilogues have become 'normal' structures in European Union (EU) decision-making but their functioning, based on secluded decision-making, makes it difficult to understand how institutional positions are formed and managed and which actors are better positioned to influence policy outputs. These are, however, important questions because, first, a coherent position in trilogues (one that withstands the scrutiny of the Council) enhances the European Parliament's (EP) chances of achieving a favourable outcome following negotiation; second, because it has become more complicated to find a common position within the EP due to increased levels of politicisation and polarisation (especially in the form of Euroscepticism) in EU policy-making. Therefore, this article focuses on preparatory bodies preceding trilogues and the role they play in building Parliament's positions. With the shift of political conflict from plenary to committees and now to shadows meetings, the latter have become de facto decision-making bodies. Not only do they serve to mediate intra-institutional conflict but also to anticipate Council and Commission positions. This article compares the use of shadows meetings in politicised and non-politicised issues. With the use of ethnographic data provided by participant observation and elite interviews, we aim to provide explanations on how these new instruments serve to informally manage politicisation, focusing in particular on the advantages of insularity in highly publicised negotiations.

This academic opinion assesses the constitutionality of the contemporary application of the "money message" procedure under Article 17.2 of the Constitution. It begins by outlining the procedure's basis in the Constitution and the Standing Orders. It goes on to examine current use of the procedure, looking at the treatment of certain pieces of legislation from the current Dáil term to illuminate the practice, and noting that the procedure is used very expansively, much more so than the very similar Westminster procedure around "money resolutions". It continues by assessing the compatibility of the procedure as currently practiced and instantiated in the standing orders with the Constitution, and concludes that there are several potential constitutional problems that arise. First, the broad interpretation of the procedure seems to place unjustified limits on the capacity of the legislature to pass any legislation independently of the executive organ of the State, in contravention of the separation of powers and the exclusive lawmaking power of the Oireachtas contained in Article 15.2. Secondly, there are judicially-established constitutional limitations on the ability of the legislature to delegate lawmaking power to the executive (the principles and policies test); the logic that underlies this test should mean that Article 17.2 is not read to vest a veto over lawmaking in the executive, and that the legislature's power must be respected and protected. Thirdly, the government's power under Article 17.2 is not entirely discretionary; it must be exercised responsibly for a purpose related to finances and not for any other purpose, such as purely political opposition to a Bill. We conclude that, based on the overall framework set down by the Constitution with regard to the separation of powers, the use of the money message procedure must be at least in some way limited to ensure that the legislature can, in some real sense, make law, which is its exclusive constitutional responsibility under Article 15. 2

Mit der vorliegende Fallstudie gehe ich der frage nach, wie heute politische Positionen gefertigt werden und wie diese Antworten geben, auf existentielle Fragen. Ich frage, welche sachlichen Kapazitäten diese Art der fraktionellen Programmarbeit entfaltet und, wie diese Kapazitäten durch existentielle Probleme herausgefordert und womöglich systematisch eingeschränkt sind. Im Ergebnis zeigen sich grundlegende Beschränkungen einer Normalpolitik und Konturen radikaler Politik angesichts radikaler Problemstellungen.