Dramas at Westminster

Dramas at Westminster
Author: Marc Geddes
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2019-12-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1526136821

Based on unprecedented access to the UK Parliament, this book challenges how we understand and think about accountability between government and Parliament. Drawing on three months of research in Westminster, and over forty-five interviews, this book focuses on the everyday practices of Members of Parliament and officials to reveal how parliamentarians perform their scrutiny roles. Some MPs become specialists while others act as lone wolves; some are there to try to defend their party while others want to learn about policy. Amongst these different styles, chairs of committees have to try to reconcile these interpretations and either act as committee-orientated catalysts or attempt to impose order as leadership-orientated chieftains. All of this pushes and pulls scrutiny in competing directions, and tells us that accountability depends on individual beliefs, everyday practices and the negotiation of dilemmas. In this way, MPs and officials create a drama or spectacle of accountability and use their performance on the parliamentary stage to hold government to account. Dramas at Westminster: Select committees and the quest for accountability offers the most up-to-date and detailed research on committee practices in the House of Commons, following a range of reforms since 2010.

Constitutional Review in Europe

Constitutional Review in Europe
Author: Maartje De Visser
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 1118
Release: 2014-07-18
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1782252452

Constitutions serve to delineate state powers and enshrine basic rights. Such matters are hardly uncontroversial, but perhaps even more controversial are the questions of who (should) uphold(s) the Constitution and how constitutional review is organised. These two questions are the subject of this book by Maartje de Visser, which offers a comprehensive, comparative analysis of how 11 representative European countries answer these questions, as well as a critical appraisal of the EU legal order in light of these national experiences. Where possible, the book endeavours to identify Europe's common and diverse constitutional traditions of constitutional review. The raison d'être, jurisdiction and composition of constitutional courts are explored and so too are core features of the constitutional adjudicatory process. Yet, this book also deliberately draws attention to the role of non-judicial actors in upholding the Constitution, as well as the complex interplay amongst constitutional courts and other actors at the national and European level. The Member States featured are: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, and the United Kingdom. This book is intended for practitioners, academics and students with an interest in (European) constitutional law.

Organising the European Parliament

Organising the European Parliament
Author: Nikoleta Yordanova
Publisher: ECPR Press
Total Pages: 125
Release: 2024-10-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1910259837

The recent empowerment of the European Parliament makes this a timely study of the impact of its internal organisation on legislative politics, interest representation and democracy within the Union. Using data on all legislators and legislative proposals in the sixth parliamentary term, the book confronts alternative theories of legislative organisation in rigorous statistical analyses supported by rich interview information. The findings indicate that the internal setup and legislative output of the parliamentary committees serve the policy goals of parties in the European Parliament, and in particular the working majority party, rather than special interests or purely informational needs, which the author explains with the formal and informal parliamentary rules. As the committees advance party politics instead of particularistic policies, she concludes that legislating within the committees is positive for democracy in the European Union and raises concerns about the loss in transparency, legitimacy and accountability that the increasingly common fast-track bicameral decision-making outside the committees entails.

Scrutiny of European Business

Scrutiny of European Business
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2005
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780215023063

Incorporating HC 565-i to v, session 2003-04

The Crisis of Representation in Europe

The Crisis of Representation in Europe
Author: Jack Hayward
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2012-10-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136305394

The 1994 European Elections focused public attention on the perception that representatives put integration above public interest. The contributors here critically assess the diagnosis of the ailment and the solutions that have been canvassed to remedy its causes and consequences.

Parliamentary Diplomacy in European and Global Governance

Parliamentary Diplomacy in European and Global Governance
Author: Stelios Stavridis
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 411
Release: 2017-02-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9004336346

In Parliamentary Diplomacy in European and Global Governance, 27 experts from all over the world analyse the fast-expanding phenomenon of parliamentary diplomacy. Through a wealth of empirical case studies, the book demonstrates that parliamentarians and parliamentary assemblies have an increasingly important international role. The volume begins with parliamentary diplomacy in Europe, because the European Parliament is one of the strongest autonomous institutional actors in world politics. The study then examines parliamentary diplomacy in relations between Europe and third countries or regions (Mexico, Turkey, Russia, the Mediterranean), before turning attention to the rest of the world: North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. This pioneering volume confirms the worldwide nature and salience of parliamentary diplomacy in contemporary global politics.

Assuring the Quality of Health Care in the European Union

Assuring the Quality of Health Care in the European Union
Author: Helena Legido-Quigley
Publisher: World Health Organization
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2008
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9289071931

People have always travelled within Europe for work and leisure, although never before with the current intensity. Now, however, they are travelling for many other reasons, including the quest for key services such as health care. Whatever the reason for travelling, one question they ask is "If I fall ill, will the health care I receive be of a high standard?" This book examines, for the first time, the systems that have been put in place in all of the European Union's 27 Member States. The picture it paints is mixed. Some have well developed systems, setting standards based on the best available evidence, monitoring the care provided, and taking action where it falls short. Others need to overcome significant obstacles.

House of Commons - European Scrutiny Committee: Reforming the European Scrutiny Process in the House of Commons: Volume I - HC 109-I

House of Commons - European Scrutiny Committee: Reforming the European Scrutiny Process in the House of Commons: Volume I - HC 109-I
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: European Scrutiny Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 138
Release: 2013-11-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780215064653

The depth and pace of EU integration has demonstrated the need for effective democratic parliamentary scrutiny and accountability of Government at Westminster. This is the first major inquiry into the European scrutiny system in the House of Commons for eight years. There is more that the Committee could do to look at the impact of new proposals. There should be a new requirement to appoint ’Reporters' to take the lead within Committees on EU issues, as well as a more coordinated approach to the Commission Work Programme. Whilst the system need not be scrapped as some have said, it must be enhanced. Many problems arise from the fact that new Members are appointed for each document. The Committee argues forcefully for a return to the permanent membership system, new powers and a change of name to reflect the Committees' core purpose: EU Document Debate Committees. The Committee also examined how EU business is taken on the floor of the House, and the procedures which apply to it. They set out a series of recommendations about the way debates are scheduled and conducted and put the case for a new session of ’EU Questions'. They also review working practices and the visibility of the House's scrutiny of the EU in the media. It concluded that now is the time to propose the introduction of a form of national veto over EU legislative proposals, and then to explore the mechanics of disapplication of parts of existing EU obligations, notwithstanding the European Communities Act 1972

Review of Select Committee Activity and Proposals for New Committee Activity

Review of Select Committee Activity and Proposals for New Committee Activity
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: Liaison Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 46
Release: 2013-03-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780108550522

In this report the Liaison Committee conducts a brief review of House of Lords policy committees, in advance of the appointment of those committees in the new Parliament

Italy and the European Union

Italy and the European Union
Author: Federiga Bindi
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2011-02-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0815705093

A Brookings Institution Press and Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione (SSPA) publication Federiga Bindi provides, for the first time, an in-depth analysis of Italy's role within the European Union (EU) in this inaugural volume of a book series published jointly by the Brookings Institution Press and the Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione (Italian National School of Public Administration, or SSPA). Italy and the European Union relates in detail the historical, cultural, and sociological factors that have led to Italy's incomplete "Europeanization," or full integration, within the EU. It also brings the reader up-to-date on the steps taken by the country's leaders to improve Italy's standing and become a more effective member in the organization it helped to found. Discussing the author's extensive research, The Economist notes.... "Federiga Bindi identified a number of barriers to an effective European policy in Italy: a high turnover of governments; coalition partners with conflicting aims; the failure of bureaucrats to learn from other member states; and politicians' lack of interest in Europe... recently however, she found that matters had improved. An interdepartmental body for the coordination of EU policies has been created, Parliament operates an effective scrutiny system..., the administration has learnt to learn from others. But the other problems remain, and they are formidable. Her study ends on an exasperated note: 'Italy appears to be stuck in the age of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, in which the victory of one faction over another is what counts, and the fact that this may be damaging to the country matters little.'" —from The Economist, July 31, 2010