Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Parliamentary administration'

This study aims to provide an analysis of the factors which facilitate or impede the capacity of the portfolio committees of the South African National Assembly in the carrying out of the primary function of oversight. Parliamentary oversight presents itself as a key function of legislatures and further than this, serves as a primary indicator of the effectiveness of the legislature as a principle institution in the system of democratic governance. There has not been much contribution to the field of study of the committee system of the South African Parliament much less its institutional capacity. The dissertation conceptualised capacity as the "hard" physical resources available to the committees as well as the "soft" political environment in which the committee operates. The study made use of a number secondary documents relating to the work of committees along with data collected from interviews carried out with chairpersons and committee researchers. From an analysis of these variables in relation to a sample of committees, findings present a varied picture where capacity, in terms of both hard and soft variables, differ from one committee to the next. Overall committees differ from one to the next whether in terms of the scope of their oversight or their workload and this study found that capacity has to mirror these distinctions for effective oversight.

This article discusses Parliamentary control over bureaucracies. In the first place, it reviews a number of studies that explain how the American Parliament influences public administration with the intention of guarantying that their intererst and preferences are protected in the decision making process. The American example demonstrates that the model of separation of powers does not take into account that Parliaments should avoid attempts to control the bureaucracy. In the second place, it analyses the Peruvian case and proposes a series of informal mechanisms by which the Parliament exerts influence over the bureaucracy and the public policy cycle.
Este artículo discute el control que los Congresos pueden ejercer sobre los cuerpos burocráticos. En primer lugar, se revisa una serie de estudios que explican cómo el Parlamento en Estados Unidos influye sobre la administración pública con la intención de garantizar que sus intereses y preferencias sean considerados en la toma de decisiones. El ejemplo estadounidense demuestra que el modelo  de separación de poderes  no supone que los  parlamentos deban renunciar a controlar activamente a la burocracia. En segundo lugar, se desarrolla el caso peruano y se expone una serie de mecanismos informales a través de los cuales el Congreso influye sobrela burocracia y el proceso de las políticas.

Literature on legislatures in developing countries shows two opposing views on their effectiveness and efficiency. In the light of these views, this study chronicles the rise of the GCC States' assemblies, focusing on their role, structure, legitimacy and mechanism, as well as their relevance and contributions to the GCC States' political system. Studying national assemblies is important for understanding the GCC democratic experience, in which the assemblies played a pivotal and positive role. This study leads to the conclusion that despite the fact that the constitutional framework of the GCC States imposes limitations on the functions of the assemblies, they laid the groundwork for institutionalising the legitimacy of the political system of the GCC States, allowing room for various groups to participate in the policy process. Indeed, the GCC parliamentary experience can be appreciated when it is viewed as part of a political system aimed to reduce GCC State's vulnerability and contain external and internal threat. However, viewing the experience in the context of the Islamic teaching and from the perspective of Western democratic principles, the relevance and contribution of the GCC States' legislatures is not only elusive and intangible, but insignificant and undemocratic.

In this dissertation I explore the redistributive effects of second-dimensional identity politics in parliamentary democracies. Specifically, I focus on parties’ electoral incentives to manipulate the salience of the territorial-identity cleavage. My main argument is that a greater electoral salience of the second dimension distorts the nature of redistributive outcomes. Although the redistributive effects of second dimensions of political competition have been explored in majoritarian democracies, much less is known about their effects in democracies with proportional representation (PR). The dissertation brings “bad news” in that regard: when the territorial second dimension is salient, it is no longer true that parliamentary democracies with proportional electoral systems redistribute more –which is the prevalent view in the existing literature. In fact, the so called “left-bias” of PR systems vanishes when the territorial-identity cleavage is politically activated. This key insight therefore offers a fundamental qualification to the institutionalism literature, by making an effort to understand the way in which regional diversity interacts with institutions through multidimensional political competition. The dissertation is divided in two parts: one theoretical and one empirical. First, I develop a formal model that illustrates the way in which parties’ second-dimension electoral incentives affect both the electoral stage and the subsequent post-electoral coalition bargaining among parties in national parliaments. The reason is that both right-wing and regionalist parties have incentives to increase the salience of the second dimension at the electoral stage to attract voters, and subsequently the coalition bargaining among parties in parliaments offers new opportunities for legislative coalitions. In the second part of the dissertation, I test the empirical implications at the macro-level, the meso-level and the individual-level. The main empirical results can be summarised as follows. First, I present empirical evidence according to which the legislative salience of the second dimension induces a negative effect on redistribution and a positive effect on the regionalisation of public policy. Second, I provide evidence which shows that both right-wing and regionalist parties strategically increase the electoral salience of the second dimension when they are “losers” on the first dimension. Finally, I illustrate the way in which the salience of the second dimension affects the formation of individual preferences for redistribution. In sum, this dissertation provides new arguments and empirical evidence that demonstrates how second dimensional politics can have profound redistributive consequences in parliamentary democracies.

This essay examines to what extent institutional factors can explain the variation among EU-countries regarding the differences between their turnout in the 2014 European election and their latest national parliamentary elections. On different levels, the countries of the European Union tend to have smaller turnouts in the European elections than in their national parliamentary election. Can separate formal political institutions on a system level among member countries of the European Union explain the variation of turnout differences in elections to the European parliament and national general elections?  Through a regression analysis the study is testing theories based on what fields that are investigated in related studies. Hypothesises are created from each theory to reach a conclusion. The result proves that only compulsory voting, by itself and interacting with other variables, along with the difference between the number of parties in a country’s representation in the European parliament and its national parliament, interacting with other variables, decreases this variation. All the other theories are falsified to the due to insignificance. It is not possible to say that institutional factors in general give an explanation to the variation among EU-countries regarding the differences between their turnout in the 2014 European election and their latest national parliamentary elections.

The values politicians relate with public administration are likely to affect the way that they want the public administration to be organised. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine which values Swedish parliamentary parties relate with public administration and more particularly how they emphasise these values.

The study is conducted as an analysis of theoretically relevant bills that the government party and the parliamentary parties have introduced to the Riksdag, and reports and statements of opinion from the parliamentary committees. The documents are from the Riksdag´s sessions from 2000/01 to 2005/06. After examining the documents the conclusion can be drawn that the value that is most emphasised during the period is legal security. This might mean that legal security will have more influence on the decisions taken about the organisation of Swedish public administration.

Based on widespread public debate prior to Swedish EMU-referendum 2003, the main purpose of this thesis is to examine and analyze the standpoint of the Swedish parliamentary parties in the EMU-issue, from perspektive of the following questions;

1) What is the official standpoint of the parliamentary parties in the EMU-issue?

2) What claimed effects of a Swedish EMU-membership or non-membership have the parties presented?

3) What rifts can be found within the parties, in relation to their official standpoint in the EMU-issue?

The Sweidish parliamentary parties´ standpoint in the EMU-issue will be analyze from the point of view of a number of current theories. These theories are basically democrazy theories that all have transnationalization and Europeanization as a common ground.

The conclusions are, among others, that the parliamentary parties` standpoints in the EMU-issue are based on ideological values about whether or not a Swedish EMU-membership is good for Sweden. The Liberal Party, the Christian Democrats, the Moderate Party and the Social Party have a positive view on EMU and a deeper European integration, and basically value the economic efficency of the EMU higher than democratic decision making and a national currency and monetary policy. As for the EMU-critical parties such as the Centre Party, the Green Party and the Left Party, their view in the EMU-issue can be regarded as more nationalistic, since they say no to an exapanded financial cooperation. A contibuting factor to their standpoint in this issue is that they value the national influence over currency and monetary policies, and democratic decision making higher than the economic effciency of the EMU.

The Swedish parliamentary parties have suggested a number of effects of a Swedish EMU-membership or non-membership. In general; all parties tend to exaggerate the factors which benefit their own EMU-standpoint, and to some extent discard those which oppose their stand in the EMU-issue.

This thesis makes it clear that regarding the EMU-issue all of the parliamentary parties are more or less divided. The Moderate Party and the Liberal Party are seen as the most united for a Swedish EMU-membership, whereas the Left Party and the Green Party are the most united against Sweden joining the EMU. The Centre Party is resonably united in their opposition to a Swedish membership, apart from a small minority of EMU-advocates. The Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats, on the other hand, are the most devided parties in the EMU-issue.

Med anledning av den omfattande debatten inför den svenska EMU-folkomröstningen år 2003 är det huvudsakliga syftet med denna uppsats att undersöka samt analysera de svenska riksdagspartiernas ställningstagande i EMU-frågan utifrån följande frågeställningar:

1) Vilka är de svenska riksdagspartiernas officiella ståndpunkter i EMU-frågan?

2) Vilka påstådda effekter har riksdagspartierna fört fram vid ett svenskt EMU-medlemskap eller ett EMU-utanförskap?

3) Vilka splittringar finns det inom riksdagspartierna i relation till partiernas officiella ställningstagande i EMU-frågan?

De svenska riksdagspartiernas förhållningssätt i EMU-frågan behandlas utifrån flera demokratiteorier som har transnationaliseringen och europeiseringen som gemensam bas.

Slutsatserna är bland andra att riksdagspartiernas ställningstagande i EMU-frågan bottnar i ideologiska värderingar om att ett svenskt EMU-medlemskap är bra respektive dåligt för Sverige. Folkpartiet, kristdemokraterna, moderaterna och socialdemokraterna är positiva till EMU och till en fördjupad europeisk integration där de i grund och botten värderar EMU:s ekonomiska effektivitet mer än en demokratisk beslutsordning och en nationell valuta- och penningpolitik. När det gäller EMU-kritiska partierna som centerpartiet, miljöpartiet och vänsterpartiet är deras synsätt i EMU-frågan att betrakta som mer nationalistiskt eftersom de säger nej till ett utökat ekonomiskt samarbete. En bidragande orsak till deras uppfattning i denna fråga är att de värdesätter det nationella inflytandet över valuta- och penningpolitiken samt en demokratisk bestlutsordning mer än EMU:s ekonomiska effektivitet.

Sveriges riksdagspartier har fört fram många påstådda effekter vid ett svenskt EMU-medlemskap eller ett EMU-utanförskap. Generellt sett tenderar alla riksdagspartier förstora de faktorer som främjar deras egna EMU-ståndpunkter och i viss mån förkasta det som går tvärt emot deras ställningstagande i EMU-frågan.

Moderaterna och folkpartiet bedöms vara de mest enade partierna för ett svenskt EMU-medlemskap medan vänsterpartiet och miljöpartiet är de mest sammanhållna partierna mot en svensk EMU-anslutning. Centerpartiet är förhållandevis överens i sitt EMU-motstånd bortsett från en mindre minoritet med EMU-förespråkare. Kristdemokraterna och socialdemokraterna är däremot de mest splittrade partierna i EMU-frågan.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the importance of personal election for candidates of foreign background. I made this, first, by map and comparing the candidates of foreign background in the recent Swedish and Finnish parliamentary election. Second, I analyze what conceptions candidates of foreign background, who was nominated in the 2006 municipal election in Örebro, have about the personal election. The result from the first study shows that personal election had a negative impact on candidates of foreign background in both the Swedish and Finnish parliamentary elections. The result from the second study shows that candidates of foreign background have both positive and negative conceptions about the personal election.

Cette thèse pose la question de la transformation d'une institution politique d'État, l'Assemblée nationale française, du fait de l’apparition des technologies de communication électriques et numériques depuis la fin du XIXe siècle. Elle prend pour hypothèse que l’évolution des moyens de communiquer pourrait avoir engendré une évolution des modalités d’existence des États modernes. Elle s’inscrit en cela dans une anthropologie politique et technique dont le projet est de décrire le changement de l’ordre social.Afin de vérifier cette assertion, une enquête ethnographique a été entreprise au Palais Bourbon à Paris, avec pour objet d’étudier l’infrastructure parlementaire. Un travail aux archives de l’administration de l’Assemblée a été menée en parallèle, afin de conférer une profondeur historique aux observations réalisées in situ. Dans une telle approche, les élus de l’Assemblée ne sont pas considérés comme les seuls protagonistes du monde parlementaire, mais seulement comme une catégorie spécifique d’individus qui le constitue. Ce travail s’intéresse en effet à l'ensemble des réseaux de coopérations qui permettent au pouvoir législatif de concrétiser l’idéal d’une souveraineté nationale.Du fait de la spécificité du corpus de données, cinq études de cas ont été réalisées, qui sont autant de chapitres de ce manuscrit. Le premier s’attache à dépeindre la fragmentation de l’espace parlementaire que permettent les technologies de contrôle d’accès. Le second détaille la manière dont les outils de travail collaboratif permettent d’envisager autrement l’activité de représentation parlementaire. Le troisième présente la réorganisation de l’administration parlementaire à la suite de la création du service des systèmes d’information. Le quatrième s’attarde sur les enjeux médiatiques qui s’articulent aujourd’hui autour de la machine de vote électronique de l’hémicycle. Le cinquième expose la stratégie médiatique déployée par l’Assemblée pour lutter contre l’antiparlementarisme.Finalement, s’il est clair que l’Assemblée d’aujourd’hui ne ressemble plus à l’Assemblée d’autrefois, il est tout aussi net que l’ensemble des évolutions de son infrastructure de communication a eu pour visée de préserver un certain nombre de principes considérés comme fondateurs de l’ordre parlementaire. De ce point de vue, l’Assemblée s’est tout autant transformée qu’elle est restée immuable, ce qui invite à interroger l'idée même du changement de l'ordre social. De la sorte, cette thèse entend proposer aussi bien des éléments de contribution à la réflexion sur les enjeux de la « révolution numérique », que sur ceux du devenir de la démocratie représentative dans le cadre de l'État-nation
This thesis raises the question of the transformation of a state political institution, the French National Assembly, due to the emergence of electrical and digital communication technologies from the end of the 19th century. It suggests that the evolution of the means of communication may have led to the evolution in the way of life of modern States. In this respect, it is part of a political and technical anthropology whose purpose is to describe the change in the social order.In order to verify this proposition, an ethnographic survey was undertaken at the Palais Bourbon in Paris, with the aim of studying parliamentary infrastructure. Work in the archives of the Assembly's administration was carried out in parallel, in order to give historical depth to the observations made in situ. In such an approach, the elected representatives of the Assembly are not considered as the only protagonists of the parliamentary world, but simply a specific category of individuals who constitute it. This task focuses on all the networks of cooperation that enable the legislative power to give concrete expression to the ideal of national sovereignty.Due to the specificity of the data set, five case studies have been carried out, which correspond to chapters of this manuscript. The first depicts the fragmentation of parliamentary space that access control technologies allow. The second chapter details how collaborative work tools can be used to rethink the activity of parliamentary representation. The third presents the reorganization of the parliamentary administration following the creation of the information systems department. The fourth focuses on the media issues that currently revolve around the electronic voting machine in the Chamber. The fifth outlines the Assembly's media strategy to combat anti-parliamentarianism.Finally, while it is clear that today's Assembly no longer resembles the Assembly of yesteryear, it is just as clear that all the developments in its communication infrastructure have been aimed at preserving a number of principles considered to be fundamental to the parliamentary order. From this point of view, the Assembly has been transformed as much as it has remained immutable, which raises questions about the very idea of changing the social order. In this way, this thesis aims to propose both elements for contributing to the reflection on the challenges of the "digital revolution", as well as those of the future of representative democracy within the framework of the nation-state

This thesis is rooted in the research tradition known as coalition politics, where governments, political parties and political institutions are the central focus. The main emphasis here is on government instability and the question of why governments in modern parliamentary democracies often come to an end before the next regular election. In five distinct but interrelated papers, the thesis explores the issue of early government termination and how it is affected by public support, economic developments and the functioning of the state apparatus. The studies included in this thesis generally take a quantitative approach and make use of a dataset that contains 640 governments in 29 European democracies. Their joint goal is to improve our understanding of when early termination happens by introducing and testing new explanatory factors as well as by improving how previously identified factors are modelled. The first paper focuses on Central and Eastern Europe. It shows that the stability of governments in that region is affected by slightly different factors than those that impact on governments in Western Europe. In particular, ideological factors and political institutions are found to be less important in Central and Eastern Europe while the formal power basis of the government and the country’s economic performance matter more. In the second paper, co-authored with Professor Torbjörn Bergman, the state is brought into government stability research. The paper shows that countries with a lower quality of governance and a less efficient public sector have less stable governments. This is mainly because government parties struggle to achieve their policy goals when the state apparatus is inefficient and corrupt. Paper 3, co-written with Associate Professor Johan Hellström, looks at how different types of governments respond to economic challenges. In particular, this paper demonstrates that the same changes in economic circumstances (e.g. increases in unemployment or inflation) have different effects on cabinet stability depending on which type of government is in charge. Single party governments are better equipped to deal with economic changes, because they are better positioned to devise new policy responses without having to compromise with other parties. Coalition governments, in contrast, become significantly more likely to terminate early when the economy takes a turn for the worse. Finally, over the course of two papers I first explore new techniques for analysing polling data and then use them to empirically test whether governments sometimes choose termination as a way to cope with bad poll numbers. Most of the existing techniques for pooling polls and forecasting elections were explicitly designed with two party systems in mind. In Paper 4, I test some of these techniques to determine their usefulness in complex, multiparty systems, and I develop some improvements that enable us to take advantage of more of the information in the data. In the final paper, I combine the two themes of polling and government stability by looking at how changes in government popularity affect the likelihood of premature dissolution. I find that governments, particularly single party governments, do, in fact, use terminations as a strategic response to changes in their popularity among the public. When support is high, governments tend to opportunistically call an early election, whereas they tend to abandon or reshuffle the government when support is low.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the medially conveyed open-door refugee policy approach of the German government, in light of the recent refugee crisis in Europe. To gain an understanding of the reasons for this policy approach, a thematic content analysis is carried out, identifying and extracting themes, as portrayed in the national, international media, and political debates in the German Bundestag. These themes are then used in a comparison with actual refugee polices and further analysed from a constructivist and a structural realist perspective so as to investigate underlying motivations behind them.Fifteen themes and reasons were identified, with the three most frequently occurring themes, Capacity and Capability, Humanitarian Responsibility, and Demography and Economy, making up about half of the number of themes found. The analysis also showed that both constructivist concepts – such as identity – as well as structural realist notions – for example national interests and capabilities – were largely contributing factors with regards to guiding, shaping and deciding on Germany’s refugee policies. Germany’s intake of about one million refugees was – in the context of identity – an acceptable decision, following its normative, national, moral, historical and humanitarian standards; and the perceived benefits of the policy provide strong arguments in regards to the country’s capabilities and national interests.The thesis concludes that because Germany’s highly internal-moral-driven identity aligned well with its capabilities and national interests, Germany was able to continuously pursue its “open-doors” refugee policy despite resistance from a vocal opposition.

A dissertação trata da existência do foro por prerrogativa de função, previsto na Constituição Brasileira de 1988, para assegurar a algumas autoridades o direito de terem seus crimes comuns e os de responsabilidade julgados nas mais altas Cortes de Justiça do Poder Judiciário. De forma mais específica, examina-se a concessão de foro especial para os membros do Congresso Nacional perante o Supremo Tribunal Federal, medida introduzida no sistema constitucional brasileiro a partir da Emenda Constitucional n. 1/1969 e que tem recebido severas críticas da opinião pública, sobretudo com o aumento do número de deputados e senadores envolvidos em processos criminais. A questão desperta inúmeras polêmicas e alimenta constantes debates na política, na sociedade e na doutrina. Isso porque, diferente dos cidadãos comuns, é conferido um tratamento diferenciado para alguns ocupantes de funções públicas, como uma espécie de garantia, tendo em vista a sua importância no cenário estatal. Argumenta-se, porém, que o foro especial seria um privilégio, o que violaria os princípios da isonomia e do juiz natural, razão pela qual não poderia subsistir no atual desenho do ordenamento jurídico brasileiro. Contribuem para aumentar as divergências as tentativas de se ampliar o rol de indivíduos que dele gozam e as hipóteses em que deve ser aplicado. Neste sentido, a partir do enfoque de questões relativas à jurisdição, com a demonstração dos critérios utilizados para se realizar a fixação da competência no direito brasileiro, incluindo-se a prerrogativa de função, é apresentado o instituto das imunidades parlamentares, destacando suas origens, bem como a evolução histórica do foro especial nas Constituições brasileiras e a experiência de outros países. Em seguida, discutem-se as atuais divergências sobre o foro constitucional, incluindo o cancelamento do verbete n. 394, da Súmula do Supremo Tribunal Federal e as propostas legislativas existentes sobre a matéria. Aborda-se, também, a questão da improbidade administrativa, incluindo-se as controvérsias sobre a natureza jurídica e competência para julgamento de agentes políticos. Por fim, disponibilizam-se alguns dados relativos ao processo e julgamento de parlamentares perante o Supremo Tribunal Federal e expõem-se possíveis soluções alternativas para a questão.
The dissertation deals with the existence of the original jurisdiction, foreseen in the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, to assure to some authorities the right of being judged by the countrys highest Courts. More specifically, it examines the privilege given to Congressmen to be judged by the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court, introduced via a constitutional amendment in 1969, and which has, at late, received severe public criticism, due to the increase in politicians who are suspected of criminal involvement. Such privilege has not only drawn public criticism, but has also given rise to a number of academic debates, not to mention questionings from the political arena. The reason is that, different from common citizens, a special treatment is granted to some occupants of public offices, as a sort of guarantee, considering their importance in the state scene. It is argued that special jurisdiction is not more than a privilege, violating the basic tenets of isonomy and justice. And as such, it should not prosper within the Brazilian legal system. The recent attempts to include other individuals within the jurisdiction of the countrys high courts have only contributed to increase the divergences. In this direction, from the approach of questions of jurisdiction, with the demonstration of the usual criterions known in Brazil, including the special jurisdiction, is presented the institute of parliamentary immunity, detaching its origins, as well as the historical evolution of the phenomenon in the Brazilians Constitutions and the experience of other countries. After that, the current divergences about the subject are argued, including the cancellation of the Supreme Federal Courts Abridgement n. 394 and the related legislative proposals. Administrative improbity is also approached, including the controversies on its legal nature and the venue jurisdiction to judge political agents. In closing, some data is provided about the process and judgment of parliamentarians on Supreme Federal Court and exposed possible alternative solutions to the questions arisen.

I den här masteruppsatsen frågar vi oss vilka faktorer som har betydelse för riksdagsmandatets representation. En stor del av den allmänna bilden är att svensk politik i huvudsak är nationellt partiorienterad och att basen för folkviljans förverkligande är åsiktsrepresentation. Tidigare forskning tycks också ge stöd åt detta antagande. Uppsatsen frågar sig om detta verkligen är fallet. I studien används en kvalitativ intervjumetod för att ta sig ann forskningsproblemet. För att närmare förstå frågan använder vi oss också av en bredd av respondenter som inkluderar inte enbart riksdagsledamöter utan även regionala partiföreträdare. Förhoppningen är att detta ska ge en tydligare bild av hur olika politiska företrädare förstår riksdagsuppdragets representation.Med hjälp av representationsteori som referens visar analysen att även den regionala nivån har betydelse för riksdagsuppdraget. Både riksdagsledamöter och regionala partiföreträdare öppnar upp för att, även om den nationella nivåns betydelse inte är oviktig behöver man också införliva den regionala nivån och erkänna den betydelse. Detta tar bland annat uttryck i att så länge den nationella partilinjen fortfarande formas finns en förväntan att riksdagsledamöter ska driva länsfrågor och detta är något som ledamöter även menar sig göra. Men när den gemensamma partilinjen har formats finns också en utbredd acceptans för att riksdagsledamöter måste hålla sig till denna.Här finns en grund för fortsatt diskussion och forskning om vad som är fundamentet för den parlamentariska representationen i Sverige. Vad folkviljan baseras på och hur denna representation förstås är en hörnsten i hur vi förstår svensk politik. Genom att öppna upp för att mer än en enskild faktor är av betydelse då man definierar riksdagsuppdraget är uppsatsens viktigaste bidrag följande; att enbart förstå och tolka riksdagsuppdraget in i den nationella partipolitikens ramar blir en alltför snäv förståelse. Istället behöver man väga in fler faktorer för att förstå hur folkviljan förverkligas och som denna uppsats visar är den regionala nivån ett viktigt exempel på detta.
In this master's thesis, we ask which factors are important for the understanding of the representation of the parliamentary mandate in Sweden. A large part of the general picture is that Swedish politics is mainly nationally party-oriented and that the basis for the realization of the will of the people is representation of opinion. Previous research also seems to support this assumption. The essay asks if this is really the case. The study uses a qualitative interview method to address the research problem. To better understand the issue, we also use a breadth of respondents that includes not only members of parliament (MPs) but also regional party representatives. The hope is that this will provide a clearer picture of how different political representatives understand the parliamentary representation.With the help of representation theory as a reference, the analysis shows that the regional level is also important for the representation of MPs. Both members of the Riksdag and regional party representatives are open to the fact that, although the importance of the national level is not unimportant, it is also necessary to incorporate the regional level and recognize its importance. This is expressed, among other things, in the fact that as long as the national party line is still being formed, there is an expectation that members of the Riksdag will pursue county issues, and this is something that MPs also claim’s to do. But when the central party line has been formed, there is also widespread acceptance that MPs must adhere to it.Here is a basis for further discussion and research on what is the foundation for parliamentary representation in Sweden. What the will of the people is based on and how this representation is understood is a cornerstone in how we understand Swedish politics. By opening to the fact that more than one individual factor is important when defining political representation, the thesis' most important contribution is the following; to only understand and interpret representation within the framework of national party politics becomes an overly narrow understanding. Instead, more factors need to be considered to understand how the will of the people is realized and as this essay shows, the regional level is an important example of this.

The European Parliament (EP) is the scene where certain issues concerning over 500 million ‘Europeans’ are publicly debated and where politically relevant groupings are discursively coconstructed. While the Members of the Parliament (MEPs) pursue their political agendas, intergroup boundaries are drawn, reinforced, and/or transgressed. Speakers constantly take stances on behalf of groupings in relation to some presupposed other groupings and argue what differentiates ‘Self’ from ‘Others’. This study examines patterns of language use by the MEPs as they engage in the contextually and historically situated dialogical processes of intergroup positioning and stance-taking. It further focuses on the strategic and competitive activities of grouping, grounding, and alignment in order to reveal the dynamic construction of intergroup boundaries. The study is based on a collection of Blue-card question-answer sequences from the plenary debates held at the EP in 2011, when the Sovereign Debt Crisis had been stabilized to some degree but still evoked plenty of controversy. Theoretically the study builds on Stance Theory (Du Bois, 2007), Positioning Theory (Davies & Harré, 1990), and several broadly social constructivist approaches to discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1995). The analysis shows that intergroup positioning in the EP emerges as what I call a ‘collaborative competition’ between contradictory ideologies and political agendas. The MEPs strategically manipulate their opponents' prior or projected utterances in order to set up positions for self, a grouping he or she stands for, and thereby its adversaries. All participants engage in the maintenance and negotiation of intergroup boundaries, even though the boundaries hardly ever coincide between the different speakers. They discursively fence off some imaginary territories, leaving their adversaries with vague positions. When asking Blue-card questions, the MEPs use a particular turn organization, which involves routine forms of interactional units, namely addressing, question framing and question forms, each of which is shown to contribute to stance-taking. A dynamic model of stance-taking is suggested, allowing for a fluid transformation of the stance object as well as the discursively constructed stance-takers. While Blue-card questions are meant to serve as a structured procedure for eliciting information from a speaker, the analysis demonstrates that the MEPs accomplish various divergent actions that serve intergroup positioning. The dissertation thus contributes to the understanding of the discursive games played in the EP as the MEPs strive to construct social realities that fit their political ends.
Europaparlamentet (EP) är scenen där vissa frågor rörande mer än 500 miljoner ‘européer’ officiellt debatteras och där politiskt relevanta grupperingar diskursivt konstrueras [co-constructed]. Medan parlamentsmedlemmarna (MEPs) driver sina egna politiska agendor dras gränser mellan grupperna, och dessa gränser förstärks och/eller överträds. Talare intar oavbrutet vad man skulle kunna kalla för olika ‘hållningar’ (stances) för olika grupperingar i relation till vissa förutsatta andra grupperingar, och argumenterar för vad som skiljer ‘jaget/det egna’ (Self) från ‘de andra’ (Others). Denna studie undersöker språkmönster som används av parlamentsledamöterna när de hänger sig åt kontextuellt och historiskt situerade dialogiska processer rörande positionering mellan grupper (intergroup positioning) och stance-taking. Den fokuserar vidare på de strategiska och konkurrensutsatta aktiviteterna grouping (gruppformering), grounding (ung. legitimering av en talares stance) och alignment (när man placerar sig i linje med eller tar avstånd från en annan talares åsikter) för att urskilja den dynamiska konstruktionen av gränser mellan grupper. Studien baseras på en korpus av så kallade ‘Blue-card question-answer sequences’ från plenardebatter som hölls i EP under 2011, när statsskuldkrisen hade stabiliserats något men fortfarande utgjorde grunden för många kontroverser. Teoretiskt sett bygger studien på Stance-teori (Du Bois, 2007), Positionerings-teori (Davies & Harré, 1990) och ett flertal breda socialkonstruktivistiska infallsvinklar till diskursanalys (Fairclough, 1995). Analysen visar att positioneringen mellan de olika grupperingarna i EP framstår som något jag kallar ‘kollaborativ konkurrens’ mellan motstridiga ideologier och politiska agendor. Parlamentsledamöterna manipulerar strategiskt sina motståndares tidigare eller förutsedda yttranden för att positionera sig själva, en gruppering de står för, och därigenom dess meningsmotståndare. Alla deltagare agerar för att upprätthålla och förhandla gränsdragningen mellan grupperna, trots att gränserna nästan aldrig överensstämmer mellan de olika talarna. Diskursivt styckar de av några imaginära territorier, vilket lämnar deras motståndare i vaga positioner. När de ställer Blue-card questions använder sig parlamentsledamöterna av en särskild turtagningsorganisation, vilken inbegriper rutinformer av interaktionsenheter (interactional units), tilltal (addressing), hur frågor initieras (question framing), och frågeformer (question forms), av vilka var och en visar sig bidra till stance-taking. En dynamisk modell för stance-taking föreslås, vilket möjliggör en transformation av det kontinuerligt omdefinierade stance-objektet såväl som av de diskursivt konstruerade stance-takers. Medan Blue-card questions är avsedda att fungera som en strukturerad procedur för att få fram information från en talare demonstrerar analysen att parlamentsledamöterna lyckas med olika avledande manövrer som tjänar positioneringen mellan grupper. Avhandlingen bidrar på så vis till förståelsen av det diskursiva spelet i Europaparlamentet där parlamentsledamöterna strävar efter att konstruera sociala realiteter som tjänar deras politiska mål.

L’action extérieure du Parlement écossais est l’objet de notre étude. D’abord, nous avons identifié la capacité opérationnelle de cette institution au sein du système institutionnel britannique, sur la scène communautaire et dans les échanges internationaux. Puis, nous avons détecté les facteurs structurant cette action. Selon notre étude, trois pôles prennent forme dans l’action parlementaire tels que les îles Britanniques, l’Europe qui couvre l’espace géographique européen, l’environnement institutionnel communautaire. Enfin, le troisième pôle est l’espace hors d’Europe, notamment les pays du Commonwealth et les Etats-Unis d’Amérique. Nous avons également établi une certaine spécialisation des méthodes et des moyens d’action dans les trois pôles évoqués
The focus of my dissertation is the external action of the Scottish Parliament. My study identifies the operational capacity of this institution within the British institutional system, on the European Union arena and in international relations. I have identified the factors structuring the parliamentary action that shaped three poles such as the British Isles, Europe and outside the geographic European space. The pole of Europe covers both Continental Europe and the EC institutional environment. I have also identified the specialisation of methods and tools of action within the above mentioned poles

The political debate concerning parent education and parenting support between 1964 and 2009 has been scrutinized in this study in the light of the development of and changes in the welfare state. The investigation is based upon the analysis of official government inquiries and parliamentary papers dealing with parent education and parenting support. This study analyzes the different choices in the organization of welfare relevant to children and the family for which political actors have argued, and it examines the views on the relations between children, parents, family and the welfare state that were expressed in the argumentation. Parent education and parenting support aim at changing the living conditions of children by means of the parents. The study shows that the interest in this type of investment has been shared by both the political left and center-right, but from different arguments and political visions on how welfare for children and families with children should be organized, as well as from different views of the role of parent education and parenting support in the welfare.
I den här avhandlingen granskas den politiska debatten om föräldrautbildning och föräldrastöd mellan 1964 och 2009 i ljuset av välfärdssamhällets utveckling och förändring. Studien bygger på en analys av betänkanden från statliga utredningar och riksdagstryck i frågan om föräldrautbildning och föräldrastöd. I studien granskas vilka vägval i organiseringen av välfärden kring barn och familj som politiska aktörer har argumenterat för och vilken syn på relationerna mellan barn, föräldrar, familj och välfärdsstat som kommit till uttryck i argumentationen. Föräldrautbildning och föräldrastöd syftar till att förändra barns villkor genom att påverka föräldrarna. Analysen visar att intresset för denna typ av åtgärd har delats av såväl vänster som borgerliga, men utifrån skilda argument och politiska visioner för hur välfärden kring barn och barnfamiljen ska organiseras, såväl som utifrån olika sätt att se på föräldrautbildningens och föräldrastödets roll i välfärden.

This thesis challenges some of the current limits to the grounds for judicial review of legislation accepted by most Canadian jurists. More specifically, it makes a common law-based argument in favour of the priority over legislation of principles which are implied from the Imperial Constitution Acts 1867-1982 and which originally derive from the English constitution – namely implied constitutional principles. The argument faces two main interrelated legal objections: Parliamentary sovereignty and the Framers’ intentions. The first objection is rebutted by arguing that Parliamentary sovereignty possesses an ability to change in a way that can incorporate substantive legal limitations. The most prevalent common law-based theories of change to Parliamentary sovereignty suggest that the courts can authoritatively determine if implied constitutional principles can check legislation. The second objection is rebutted by reference to the notion of progressive interpretation as conceived under Hartian and Dworkinian theories of law and adjudication. Under these theories, progressive interpretation is an aspect of the courts’ best overall interpretation of the constitution, which includes implied constitutional principles. Such progressive interpretation can result in these principles constraining legislative authority. Justification of the progressive interpretation of implied constitutional principles can be based on the rule of law from which derive a number of these principles. One plausible conception of the Canadian rule of law is that it rejects the view that implied constitutional principles can prevail when in conflict with legislation. However, the better conception is that, as an attempt to adapt implied constitutional principles to relevant changes in society and to protect their underlying values, the judiciary should interpret these principles as capable of checking legislation to the extent that they form part of the core content of the rule of law. Such a conception and an operation of implied constitutional principles can properly be explained by Hartian or Dworkinian common law-based progressive interpretation of these principles and by their relationship with legislative authority.

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Universidade de São Paulo
This master dissertation aims to systematize and provide discussions on the chances of acquiring ineligibility that follow bad representatives, especially after the introduction or modification of conducts arranged in Complementary Law No. 135/2010, popularly titled lei da ficha limpa amending the Supplementary Law No. 64/1990. It aims to systematize, in a single text, all the situations covered by the new legislation restricting the eligibility of those who are already in the exercise of political elective office, discussing what are the main legal nuances that, while restricting eligibility, concern, in general, the whole Brazilian society. Besides the specific subject of great legal significance which concerns the hypotheses about the acquisition of ineligibility during the period of elective office, this work will hold a debate about the principle of good governance and how it has been dealed by the international doctrine. This principle postulated in the Federal Constitution in Article 37, but also found throughout the constitutional text, argues that public managers, especially those agents with electoral and political mandate, with special emphasis on those dealing with public funds, have, as a functional duty, the obligation of providing proper accountability and transparency in their political- administrative acts featuring what can be named positive provisions of the State.
A presente dissertação de mestrado tem por objetivo sistematizar e estabelecer discussões sobre as hipóteses de aquisição de inelegibilidade a que estão sujeitos os maus mandatários de cargos eletivos, sobretudo após a introdução ou alteração de condutas dispostas na Lei Complementar n° 135/2010, popularmente intitulada Lei da Ficha Limpa, que alterou a Lei Complementar nº 64/1990. Objetiva-se sistematizar, em um único texto, todas as situações previstas pela nova legislação que restrinjam a elegibilidade daqueles que já se encontram no exercício de mandato político-eletivo, discutindo quais são as principais nuances jurídicas que, ao restringir a elegibilidade, atingem, de forma geral, toda a sociedade brasileira. Além da temática específica e de grande relevância jurídica sobre hipóteses de aquisição de inelegibilidade no exercício de mandato eletivo, este trabalho terá como pano de fundo o debate acerca do princípio da boa governança ou good governance, como é tratado pela doutrina internacional. Tal princípio, postulado na Constituição Federal principalmente no artigo 37, mas encontrado também ao longo de todo texto constitucional, dispõe que os gestores públicos, sobretudo os agentes com mandato político-eleitoral, com especial ênfase naqueles que lidam com recursos públicos, possuem, como dever funcional, a devida prestação de contas e a transparência em seus atos político-administrativos, caracterizando, desta forma, o que se pode chamar de uma prestação positiva do Estado.

Le cabinet ministériel représente depuis plus d’un siècle un élément incontournable du système politique français. Équipe formée par les collaborateurs immédiats du ministre, nommée par lui, le cabinet est situé à un carrefour complexe d’interactions qui comporte les administrations, le Parlement, les groupes d’intérêt et les médias. Délaissée par les juristes, l’étude institutionnelle du cabinet ministériel est aujourd’hui l’apanage de la sociologie et des sciences politiques. À de rares exceptions près, la doctrine constitutionnelle l’a toujours considéré comme une institution juridiquement indissociable de la personne du ministre. Malgré l’ampleur du phénomène, elle observe à son égard un silence quasi unanime qui ne laisse pas de surprendre. Cette indifférence doctrinale ne peut être véritablement expliquée qu’à l’aune de l’histoire des représentations constitutionnelles. L’apparition et le développement des cabinets ministériels procèdent en effet des mutations subies par le Conseil d’État napoléonien tout au long du XIXe siècle. Par-delà les vicissitudes de l’histoire politique, les cabinets expriment la persistance coutumière d’un principe issu du constitutionnalisme révolutionnaire, selon lequel la fonction gouvernementale doit être organiquement séparée de la fonction administrative. Confondues à l’échelon du ministre, conformément à la logique propre du régime parlementaire, ces deux fonctions vont rester dissociées à l’intérieur même des ministères, grâce aux cabinets ministériels. Les réticences traditionnelles de la doctrine publiciste à l’égard de la notion de « fonction gouvernementale » expliquent en grande partie le caractère inédit d’une telle lecture de l’histoire constitutionnelle
Since more than a century, the ministerial cabinet is an essential organ of the French political system. This team appointed by the Minister gathers his immediate staff. It is connected to administrations, to Parliament, to lobbies, to Medias, and sometimes to citizens. There are very few legal studies on this subject, which interests especially the political sciences and the sociology. With few exceptions, constitutional doctrine has always regarded the cabinet as an institution legally inseparable from the person of the Minister. Given the magnitude of this practice, the almost unanimous silence of doctrine is rather surprising. This doctrinal indifference finds an explanation in the history of constitutional representations. The emergence and development of ministerial cabinets since the monarchy’s Restoration in 1814 are related to the alterations undergone by the Napoleonic Council of State throughout the nineteenth century. Beyond the vicissitudes of political history, they express the persisting of a customary principle stemming from French revolutionary constitutionalism, according to which the governmental function must be organically separated from the administrative function. These two functions – merged at the Minister's level in accordance with the logic of the parliamentary system – will remain separated inside the ministry, by means of cabinets. The conventional reluctance of the French constitutional doctrine with regard to the notion of "governmental function" largely explains the novelty of such a reading of constitutional history

L’objet de cette étude est d’identifier une constitution « britannique » distincte de la constitution anglaise. Si le langage commun tend trop souvent à confondre une partie pour le tout, l’Angleterre pour le Royaume-Uni, cet écueil n’épargne pas les juristes. La notion de constitution britannique vise précisément à rendre compte de la manière dont le droit constitutionnel a pu appréhender et saisir la tension fondamentale qui l’anime entre deux exigences en apparence contraires, l’unité et la diversité. Depuis les lois de dévolution adoptées à la fin du XXe siècle, l’Ecosse, le Pays de Galles et l’Irlande du Nord disposent d’institutions de gouvernement autonomes, soumises théoriquement à la souveraineté du Parlement de Westminster. Le corps de lois, règles et principes qui régissent cet arrangement institutionnel permettent d’identifier un cadre constitutionnel spécifiquement britannique. Mais celui-ci n’est pas pour autant né à la fin du XXe siècle. Il nous semble en effet que cette constitution britannique trouve ses sources et son origine dans les relations qui ont pu s’établir entre le Royaume-Uni et certaines de ses colonies dotées d’un statut particulier et d’un gouvernement autonome, les Dominions. C’est dans ce cadre historique et intellectuel qu’a pu apparaître une manière spécifiquement britannique d’organiser cette tension entre l’unité et la diversité. Celle-ci puise d’ailleurs dans les ressources propres du constitutionnalisme britannique, qui résulte d’un entrelacement ingénieux de règles et principes juridiques et de pratiques institutionnalisées, les conventions de la constitution. Cette rencontre entre le droit et les conventions dessine un droit constitutionnel original et peut-être fédéral
This study aims at identifying a « British » constitution distinct from the English constitution. If popular language tends to confuse one part with the whole, England with the United Kingdom, so do jurists. The concept of a British constitution aims at capturing the way in which constitutional law may have grasped the fundamental tension between two seemingly antagonist ideas, unity and diversity. Since the devolution Acts have been enacted in the end of the XXth century, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland enjoy responsible government, under the asserted sovereignty of the Parliament of Westminster. The body of statutes, rules and principles that govern this institutional arrangement thus form a specifically British constitutional framework. But this framework was not necessarily born in the end of the XXth century. We intend to show that this British constitution can be traced back to the constitutional relations established between the United Kingdom and some of her colonies, the Dominions. It is within this historical and intellectual framework that may have appeared a specifically British way of dealing with this tension between unity and diversity. It seems to have resorted to the resources of British constitutionalism, which is produced by the ingenious imbrication of legal rules and principles and of institutionalized practices, i.e. the conventions of the Constitution. This confluence of law and conventions sketches a constitutional law that is both original and possibly federal

Dissertação de Mestrado em Direito apresentada à Faculdade de Direito
O presente trabalho busca aliar, mediante um estudo sistemático da dogmática jurídico-política, os titulares de cargos no âmbito do poder executivo, em especial, os membros do Governo (Primeiro-Ministro, Ministros, Secretários e Subsecretários de Estado) e os titulares de cargos nos órgãos superiores da Administração Pública não mencionados na Constituição (Diretores-Gerais), ao instituto secular de proteção daqueles que detêm um cargo eletivo no poder legislativo (deputados na Assembleia da República), qual seja, a imunidade parlamentar. Para isso, é feita uma análise pormenorizada no contexto sociológico, histórico e normativo do Governo, definindo o sistema de governo implementado em Portugal com a Constituição de 1976, estruturando as funções e competências do Governo e identificando os seus membros. Logo em seguida, adentra-se no estudo das imunidades parlamentares, examinando individualmente a figura da irresponsabilidade e a da inviolabilidade, estabelecendo seus conceitos, características e procedimentos, terminando a investigação das imunidades com a menção à crescente contestação a estas prerrogativas, em especial a inviolabilidade. Por último, com base na doutrina constitucional, administrativa e parlamentar, é apresentado o tema para discussão. Indaga-se a possibilidade de aplicação das imunidades parlamentares aos membros do Governo e aos membros dos órgãos infraconstitucionais da Administração Pública, analisando por comparação com os parlamentares, a viabilidade e legitimidade de uma tal extensão.
The present work seeks to combine, through a systematic study of legal-political dogmatics, the holders of positions within the executive branch, in particular, the members of the Government (Prime Ministers, Ministers, Secretaries and Undersecretaries of State) and positions in the superior organs of the Public Administration not mentioned in the Constitution (Directors General), to the secular institute of protection of those who hold an elective position in the legislative power (deputies in the Assembly of the Republic), that is, parliamentary immunity. For that, a detailed analysis is made in the sociological, historical and normative context of the Government, defining the system of government implemented in Portugal with the Constitution of 1976, structuring the functions and competencies of the Government and identifying its members. Immediately afterwards, it examines parliamentary immunities, examining individually the irresponsibility and inviolability, establishing its concepts, characteristics and procedures, ending the investigation of immunities with the mention of the growing challenge to these prerogatives, especially the inviolability. Finally, based on constitutional, administrative and parliamentary doctrine, the topic for discussion is presented. The possibility of applying parliamentary immunities to the members of the Government and to the members of the infraconstitutional organs of the Public Administration is examined, analyzing, by comparison with the parliamentarians, the viability and legitimacy of such an extension.

A responsabilidade relativa à gestão dos recursos públicos, desde os recursos coletivos, património, educação, ambiente, ações administrativas, entre outras, ao dinheiro dos cidadãos, é um tema que engloba condutas, ações e procedimentos. A função do organismo político competente para controlar e fiscalizar, é essencial para responsabilizar e garantir a boa aplicação dos recursos públicos. O presente trabalho encontra-se dividido em três capítulos. No primeiro capítulo, expõe-se a evolução do Estado e da Administração Pública, assim como o controlo financeiro em geral. No segundo capítulo, trata-se o controlo financeiro parlamentar do Estado, os mecanismos utilizados para o efeito e a Unidade Técnica de Apoio Orçamental. No terceiro capítulo, analisa-se o quadro teórico de controlo e fiscalização parlamentar de vários países, e por último é apresentada a conclusão.
The responsibility for the management of public resources, from collective resources, heritage, education, environment, administrative actions, among others, to citizens' money, is a theme that encompasses conduct, actions and procedures. The role of the political body responsible for monitoring and supervising is essential to make public resources accountable and ensure good employment. This work is divided into three chapters. In the first chapter, it sets out the development of the State and Public Administration, as well as financial control in general. The second chapter deals with parliamentary financial control of the State, the mechanisms used for this purpose and technical unit for budgetary support. The third chapter examines the theoretical framework for parliamentary control and supervision in several countries, and finally draws the conclusion.

The legislative supremacy of Parliament has dominated the constitutional law of South Africa for a very long time. In the pre-constitutional era, the judiciary had no power to question the deeds of Parliament. Despite the need for the judiciary to be independent from the two other governmental branches to execute its function effectively, it was surely dependent on them. However, the creation of the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) as a separate governmental department by the Constitutional Seventeenth Amendment Act, read together with Superior Court Act, mandated by the requirements of a supreme Constitution (and not Parliament), changed things so that the judiciary is no longer dependent on government for its day-to-day administration. This thesis examines the independence of the OCJ and its role in promoting judicial transformation in the new South Africa.
Public, Constitutional and International Law
LL. M. (Human Rights Law)

Desde as últimas décadas do Século XX até ao presente, que o Estado se tem vindo a deparar com a necessidade de alteração das suas funções, como forma de as adaptar às exigências de um contexto que o transfere, da sua tradicional autoridade de Estado soberano, para um novo papel de mediador e regulador, num cenário de governança globalizada, multinivelada e multipolarizada. Tendo como base esta reflexão, o presente trabalho concretiza quais as principais perspectivas teóricas subjacentes aos movimentos de reforma que Administrações Públicas e Parlamentos, incluindo o português, têm vindo a experimentar na busca de um novo paradigma de funcionamento do Estado. A partir deste enquadramento analítico, o segundo capítulo desenvolve o modelo de gestão pública proposto. Este consiste na criação de uma base de dados de iniciativas europeias, através da qual seja possível, não só aceder à documentação europeia relevante para efeitos de um acompanhamento parlamentar condigno do processo de decisão europeu, como, sobretudo, tornar visível o referido acompanhamento, para que este se assuma como uma verdadeira actividade política institucionalizada no Parlamento português. O modelo poderá encontrar no contexto – jurídico e político, nacional e europeu – uma ameaça ou uma oportunidade ao seu bom funcionamento. O seu sucesso dependerá, igualmente, do grau de envolvimento dos recursos humanos afectos ao apoio da Comissão de Assuntos Europeus. Por fim, defendemos que a base de dados de iniciativas europeias contribuirá para o reforço dos princípios orientadores da reforma da Assembleia da República de 2007, transformando-a num Parlamento mais autónomo, mais eficaz, que presta contas e está próximo dos cidadãos, mais transparente e mais activo na construção europeia e no Mundo.
From the last decades of the 20th century to the present day, the State has been confronted with the need of adjusting its functions, in order to adapt them to the demands of a context that transfers it from its traditional authority of sovereign State to a new role of mediator and regulator in a scenario of multi-polarised and multileveled global governance. Using this consideration as a starting point, this work identifies the main theoretical perspectives of the reform movements that Public Administrations and Parliaments, including the Portuguese Parliament, have been experimenting with a view to searching for a new paradigm of the functioning of the State. Based on this analytical framework, the second chapter develops the proposed model of public administration, which consists of creating a database of European initiatives, through which it is possible, not only to access relevant European documentation, for the purposes of an adequate parliamentary scrutiny of the European decision-making process, but also to provide visibility to this activity, in order to transform it in a true institutionalised political activity of the Portuguese Parliament. The context in which the model is included – legal and political, national and European – might represent a threat or an opportunity for its proper functioning. Its success will also depend on the degree of involvement of the staff of the European Affairs Committee. Finally, we sustain that the database of European initiatives will contribute to the strengthening of the principles that guided the Reform of the Assembly of the Republic, that took place in 2007, transforming it in a more autonomous and more effective Parliament, accountable and close to the citizens, more transparent and more active in the European construction and in the world.