Suchergebnisse

Committees are an under-studied aspect of parliamentary life and the policy process. Yet as registered in activity and output, committees occupy a significant proportion of the time of Members of the House of Representatives and Senators. This chapter offers a preliminary appraisal of committee activity - in particular, their actual and potential significance in the political and policy development process.

THIS ANALYSIS IDENTIFIED THREE PERSPECTIVES ON COMMITTEES IN THE LITERATURE ON LEGISLATIVE ORGANIZATION, IN WHICH COMMITTEES ARE VIEWED AS VEHICLES FOR GAINS FROM TRADE, INFORMATION ACQUISITION AND PARTISAN CO-ORDINATION. IT SURVEYS THE STRUCTURE, PROCEDURES AND POWERS OF THESE COMMITTEES IN 18 WESTERN EUROPEAN DEMOCRACIES FROM 1990.

Abstract: Scrutiny committees of the Thirty‐Third Parliament (1983‐84) are classified as undertaking work in one or more of the following categories: legislation; nonlegislative policy; administrative oversight; and information systems for increased accountability. Only Senate committees scrutinise legislation. The majority of scrutiny committees examine non‐legislative policy. In contrast, administrative oversight work (compliance and efficiency) is undertaken by a relatively small number of committees. Information systems for increased accountability are a special category and represent the work of several committees particularly in respect of statutory authorities. Reports on non‐legislative policy and administrative oversight are classified against the functional classifications of expenditure used in Budget Statement No. 3. In seeking to explain limited policy scrutiny in areas such as taxation and social security and welfare, one cannot ignore the effects that the strategic priorities of adversary politics have on bi‐partisan committee inquiry. From classification and related comment one can question whether there is insufficient scrutiny of legislation, insufficient oversight of the administration and too much policy scrutiny. This in turn opens up the broader question of the overall direction and scope of scrutiny committee activity.

List of figures -- List of tables -- List of contributors -- Investigating the role of parliamentary committees in the policy process / Sven T. Siefken and Hilmar Rommetvedt -- A black box that deserves more light: comparative findings on parliamentary committees in the policy process / Sven T. Siefken and Hilmar Rommetvedt -- Assess -- to assist: a preliminary analysis of committees in Arab parliaments / Ali Sawi -- The role of parliamentary committees and legislative agreements in party bargaining during minority government in Denmark / Flemming Juul Christiansen and Henrik Jensen -- Committees in the Finnish Eduskunta: cross-party cooperation and legislative scrutiny behind closed doors / Tapio Raunio -- Twenty years of attempts at reforming committees: a tale of reforms missing the mark at the French National Assembly / Claire Bloquet -- No paradise of policy making: the role of parliamentary committees in the German Bundestag / Sven T. Siefken -- From 'a rubber stamp' to influencing policy: a critical view of committees in the parliament of Ghana / Ernest Darfour -- Parliamentary committees in the Hungarian Parliament: instruments of political parties and government agenda control / Csaba Nikolenyi -- Strength and weakness: legislative and oversight powers of the parliamentary committee system in Israel / Chen Friedberg -- Japan's unusual but interesting parliament committees: an arena and transformative model? / Ellis S. Krauss and Kuniaki Nemoto -- Exploring the gap between theory and practice in law-making and oversight by committees of the Nigerian National Assembly / Benjamin Ekeyi -- Norwegian parliamentary committees: split and sidelined in the policy process / Hilmar Rommetvedt -- Committees in a party-dominated parliament: the Spanish Congreso de los Diputados / Pablo Oñate and Bernabé Aldeguer -- Parliamentary committees in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, 2002 to 2020 / Ömer Faruk Gençkaya -- The role of legislative committees in the policy process: The case of the Ukrainian parliament / Irina Khmelko, Oleksii Bruslyk and Liudmyla Vasylieva -- Still deviant? the development and reform of the UK House of Commons committee system, 1979 to present / Stephen Holden Bates, Louise Thompson, Mark Goodwin and Stephen McKay -- "Specially-commissioned minorities": committee governance and political parties in the United States Congress / Anne Marie Cammisa.

Scrutiny committees of the Thirty-Third Parliament (1983-84) are classified as undertaking work in one or more of the following categories: legislation; non-legislative policy; administrative oversight; and information systems for increased accountability. Only Senate committees scrutinise legislation. The majority of scrutiny committees examine non-legislative policy. In contrast, administrative oversight work (compliance and efficiency) is undertaken by a relatively small number of committees. Information systems for increased accountability are a special category and represent the work of several committees particularly in respect of statutory authorities. Reports on non-legislative policy and administrative oversight are classified against the functional classifications of expenditure used in Budget Statement No. 3. In seeking to explain limited policy scrutiny in areas such as taxation and social security and welfare, one cannot ignore the effects that the strategic priorities of adversary politics have on bi-partisan committee inquiry. From classification and related comment one can question whether there is insufficient scrutiny of legislation, insufficient oversight of the administration and too much policy scrutiny. This in turn opens up the broader question of the overall direction and scope of scrutiny committee activity. (Internat. Political Science Association)