The Evolution of Parliamentary Rules

Abstract

This panel aims to discuss the origins of informal and formal institutions of parliamentary democracies and their developments over time in all regions of the world. Special emphasis is paid to explain variations in parliamentary rules. The evolution of parliamentary rules (especially minority party rights) has so far been analyzed chiefly in presidential democracies, particularly in the United States, where scholars have mapped such rights and have explained any changes with institutional, partisan and ideological factors. In Europe, a comprehensive focus on the evolution of procedural rights of individual MPs and party groups has so far been largely absent. Against this background, the objective of this panel is to bring together scholars working on legislative politics and organization to examine the conditions under which the rights of individual members and party groups are curbed (or expanded) in legislatures. In particular, the panel will address the following questions: What rights do individual MPs and opposition parties have in European legislatures? Do such rules change over time and, if so, how and why? How can cross-country variation in the evolution of such rules be explained? How does the evolution of parliamentary rules relate to the (often asynchronic) process of democratization? Parliamentary rules are defined broadly to include a variety of formal and informal, constructive and obstructive, individual and partisan privileges such as agenda control rules, minority rights, investiture votes, and questioning rights (to name but a few). Interested participants are invited to submit both theoretical and empirical papers that explain the evolution of and variation in parliamentary rules in national legislatures in both established and newly emerging democracies around the world. Theoretically informed case studies and systematic cross-temporal and cross-country comparisons are particularly welcome.

Title	Details
Opposing the Opposition – Changing Minority Rights in the Hungarian Parliament	View Paper Details
The Influence of Political Parties on the Parliamentary Rules from Historical Perspective	View Paper Details
The How and Why of Scandinavian Legislative Committees	View Paper Details
Parliamentary Norms – Tool of the Party Group Leaders	View Paper Details
MPs, Factions and the Government: Levels of Legislative Activity in the German Imperial Reichstag	View Paper Details