Suchergebnisse

This is the most ambitious and comprehensive account of the institutions of democratic delegation in West European parliamentary democracies to date. It provides an unprecedented cross-national investigation of West European political institutions from 1945 until the present day, as well as situating modern parliamentary democracy in the context of changing political parties and the growing importance of the European Union.

Although in practice Norway has been a parliamentary democracy since 1884 its political institutions differ in a number of ways from the typical parliamentary model. Among its peculiar features is a lack of parliamentary dissolution powers & a set of informal & permissive cabinet formation rules which have contributed to Norway's high & increasing frequency of minority governments. This article explores the distinctive features of the democratic chain of delegation & accountability, from voters to ultimate policy-makers, in Norway. It focuses on three increasingly problematic aspects of this chain of delegation: (1) the growing constraints on popular sovereignty due to judicialisation & Europeanisation, (2) the declining importance of parties as vehicles of democratic delegation, & (3) most specifically the Norwegian inclination towards minority government & its consequences. The increasingly fragile minority governments since the 1980s have complicated prospective as well as retrospective accountability in Norway. 3 Tables, 5 Figures, 53 References. Adapted from the source document.

Throughout this volume, we have pointedly focused on accountability as a process of control rather than as >FTRI>an outcome, but both dimensions are clearly significant. The first part of this chapter more closely examines democratic accountability outcomes. Thereafter, we integrate the primary insights of this book about parliamentary democracy's strength & weaknesses, trends in parliamentary governance, & modifications to how we study political institutions. In the last section we contextualize this study amid present macro societal challenges, including the information technology revolution, the increasing power of the EU, globalization, & the growing capriciousness but also greater expectations of voters. 10 Tables, 89 References. K. Coddon

Introduces the volume & its concern with political delegation & accountability in seventeen parliamentary democracies of Western Europe. Our objective is to contribute to our empirical & theoretical comprehension of parliamentary democracy. We consider political institutions & how they at once articulate & delimit citizens' expression; governance dilemmas in parliamentary systems; & changes over time in dealing with delegation matters. This chapter also discusses the historical roots of parliamentary systems, the problematics of terminology for modern representative democracies, parliamentarism vs. presidentialism, & principal-agent strategy for addressing the difficulties of delegation & accountability. The other contributions to the volume are also briefly introduced. 1 Table, 115 References. K. Coddon

National chains of delegation & accountability in Western Europe's parliamentary democracies, primarily during the post-World War II period, are compared & contrasted. Twenty comparative tables & four figures are offered to describe these institutions. Sixteen of the 20 tables are based solely on the information given by our country experts; the other four tables are based on secondary sources along with constitutions, parliamentary standing orders, & other official records. It is shown that although the parliamentary chain of delegation & accountability is similar crossnationally, the parliamentary systems under consideration each have distinctive attributes. 20 Tables, 4 Figures, 170 References. K. Coddon

Discusses the role of political parties & external constraints in the chain of delegation & accountability in parliamentary systems, focusing on differences across space & time. Significant crossnational variation is shown in the diversity of accountability mechanisms utilized in democratic representation. There are also clear indications of intertemporal variation, notably in the enhancement of external constraints & ex post as opposed to ex ante controls. However, there are noteworthy crossnational variations in these aspects of citizen control as well as within the chain. Contemporary parliamentary democracies are thus shown to have almost as many dissimilarities as they have likenesses. 14 Tables, 2 Figures, 123 References. K. Coddon