Introduced as a ‘heuristic for capturing the distinctive traits of the EU’s structure of democratic representation’ (Crum and Fossum 2009: 250), the concept of a ‘Multilevel Parliamentary Field’ can be used to derive analytical tools for comprehending the structure and evolution of democratic governance in multilevel (confederal, federal and regionalized) systems. The paper will outline an analytical framework for comparative research. Taking the concept of the Multilevel Parliamentary Field as a point of departure, it distinguishes and categorizes pattern of relations between executives and parliaments at different levels, depending on the extend of institutionalization of multilevel governance, the effective power of parliaments to control the executive and the relations between parliaments (in the vertical as well as in the horizontal dimension).
This framework should allow us to cover varieties of parliamentary systems in federal or regionalized states. Moreover, it can be used to describe changes and dynamics in multilevel parliamentary relations which shift between the different types. As will be explained in the paper, multilevel structures provide opportunities for strategic action for actors interested to make policies and extend or maintain their power. Therefore we should not expect a stable constellation but an ever changing field. This dynamics must be taken into account when we qualify the democratic legitimacy of multilevel governance. Evidence from Canada, Germany and the EU will be provided to illustrate the argument.
