Parliament and democracy in the twenty-first century: a guide to good practice

A framework for representative, transparent, accessible, accountable and effective parliaments

By: Beetham D
Published by: Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) , 2006
Via: Eldis

What is the parliamentary contribution to democracy? What makes a parliament or legislature itself democratic? How might it become more so? These are the questions which this Guide seeks to answer. It provides a comprehensive and systematic account of the central role that parliament plays in a democracy, and explains what it means for a parliament to be truly representative, transparent, accessible, accountable and effective in its many functions. The core of the Guide is a two-page outline framework in tabular form, which identifies each of the key values of democracy in turn, and itemises the typical institutional forms or practices through which a contemporary parliament can realise them. They key values are

• representation
• transparency
• accessibility
• accountability
• effectiveness

Rather than presenting a catalogue of externally generated prescriptions, the guide complements and builds on the framework by providing examples of good practice contributed by parliaments from every region of the world, to illustrate distinctive aspects of their own activity. From these examples the Guide shows the diversity of ways in which the key elements of a democratic parliament can be realised in practice. In particular, these examples show that parliaments are working hard:

• to be more inclusive in their composition and manner of working, especially in relation to women and minority and marginal communities
• to be more effective public communicators, through opening more of their work to the media, and through the development of their own websites and broadcasting channels
• to experiment with new ways of engaging with the public, including civil society, and enabling them to contribute to the legislative process
• to recover public confidence in the integrity of parliamentarians, through enforceable codes of conduct and reforms in party funding
• to streamline the legislative process without limiting the proper scrutiny of bills