In modern politics and history, aparliament is alegislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions:representing theelectorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. The term is similar to the idea of asenate,synod orcongress and is commonly used in countries that are current or formermonarchies. Some contexts restrict the use of the wordparliament toparliamentary systems, although it is also used to describe the legislature in somepresidential systems (e.g., theParliament of Ghana), even where it is not in theofficial name.
Historically, parliaments included various kinds of deliberative, consultative, and judicial assemblies. What is considered to be the first modern parliament, was theCortes of León, held in theKingdom of León in 1188.[2][3][4] According to theUNESCO, the Decreta of Leon of 1188 is the oldest documentary manifestation of the European parliamentary system. In addition, UNESCO granted the 1188 Cortes of Alfonso IX the title of "Memory of the World" and the city ofLeon has been recognized as the "Cradle of Parliamentarism".[5][6]
The English term is derived fromAnglo-Norman and dates to the 14th century, coming from the 11th centuryOld French wordparlement'discussion, discourse', fromparler,'to talk'.[7] The meaning evolved over time, originally referring to any discussion, conversation, or negotiation through various kinds of deliberative or judicial groups, often summoned by a monarch. By the 15th century, in Britain, it had come to specifically mean the legislature.[8]
Since ancient times, when societies were tribal, there were councils or a headman whose decisions were assessed by village elders. This is calledtribalism.[9] Some scholars suggest that in ancientMesopotamia there was a primitive democratic government where the kings were assessed by council.[10] The same has been said about ancient India, where some form of deliberative assemblies existed, and therefore there was some form ofdemocracy.[11] However, these claims are not accepted by other scholars, who see these forms of government asoligarchies.[12][13][14][15][16]
Ancient Athens was the cradle ofdemocracy.[17] TheAthenian assembly (ἐκκλησία,ekklesia) was the most important institution, and every free malecitizen could take part in the discussions. Slaves and women could not. However,Athenian democracy was not representative, but rather direct, and therefore theekklesia was different from the parliamentary system.
TheRoman Republic hadlegislative assemblies, who had the final say regarding the election of magistrates, the enactment of newstatutes, the carrying out of capital punishment, the declaration of war and peace, and the creation (or dissolution) of alliances.[18] TheRoman Senate controlled money, administration, and the details of foreign policy.[19]
Some Muslim scholars argue that the Islamicshura (a method of taking decisions in Islamic societies) is analogous to the parliament.[20] However, other scholars (notably fromHizb ut-Tahrir) highlight what they consider fundamental differences between the shura system and the parliamentary system.[21][22][23]
England has long had a tradition of a body of men who would assist and advise the king on important matters. Under theAnglo-Saxon kings, there was an advisory council, theWitenagemot. The name derives from theOld English ƿitena ȝemōt, or witena gemōt, for "meeting of wise men". The first recorded act of a witenagemot wasthe law code issued by King Æthelberht of Kent around 600, the earliest document which survives in sustained Old English prose; however, the Witan was certainly in existence long before then.[24] The Witan, along with the folkmoots (local assemblies), is an important ancestor of the modern English parliament.[25]
As part of theNorman Conquest, the new king,William I, did away with the Witenagemot, replacing it with aCuria Regis ("King's Council"). Membership of the Curia was largely restricted to thetenants-in-chief, the few nobles who "rented" great estates directly from the king, along withecclesiastics. William brought to England thefeudal system of his nativeNormandy, and sought the advice of the Curia Regis before making laws. This is the original body from which the Parliament, the higher courts of law, and thePrivy Council and Cabinet descend. Of these, the legislature is formally the High Court of Parliament; judges sit in theSupreme Court of Judicature. Only the executive government is no longer conducted in a royal court.
Most historians date the emergence of a parliament with some degree of power, to which the throne had to defer, no later than the reign ofEdward I.[26] Like previous kings, Edward called leading nobles and church leaders to discuss government matters, especiallyfinance andtaxation. A meeting in 1295 became known as theModel Parliament because it set the pattern for later Parliaments. The significant difference between the Model Parliament and the earlier Curia Regis was the addition of the Commons: that is, the inclusion of elected representatives of rural landowners and of townsmen. In 1307, Edward agreed not to collect certain taxes without the "consent of the realm" through parliament. He also enlarged the court system.
A 1215 edition ofMagna Carta, as featured on display at the British Library
The tenants-in-chief often struggled for power with the ecclesiastics and the king. In 1215, they securedMagna Carta fromKing John of England. This established that the king may not levy or collect any taxes (except the feudal taxes to which they were hitherto accustomed), save with the consent of a council. It was also established that the most important tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics be summoned to the council by personal writs from the sovereign, and that all others be summoned to the council by general writs from thesheriffs of their counties. Modern government has its origins in the Curia Regis; parliament descends from the Great Council, later known as theparliamentum, established byMagna Carta.
During the reign ofKing Henry III (13th century),English Parliaments included elected representatives from shires and towns. Thus these parliaments are considered forerunners of the modern parliament.[27]
In 1265,Simon de Montfort, then in rebellion against Henry III, summoneda parliament of his supporters without royal authorisation. Thearchbishops,bishops,abbots,earls, andbarons were summoned, as were twoknights from each shire and twoburgesses from eachborough. Knights had been summoned to previous councils, but it was unprecedented for the boroughs to be represented. In 1295,Edward I adopted De Montfort's ideas for representation and election in the so-called "Model Parliament". At first, eachestate debated independently; by the reign ofEdward III, however, Parliament had grown closer to its modern form, with the legislative body having two separate chambers.
The purpose and structure of Parliament in Tudor England underwent a significant transformation under the reign ofHenry VIII. Originally its methods were primarily medieval, and the monarch still possessed a form of inarguable dominion over its decisions. According to Elton, it wasThomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, then chief minister to Henry VIII, who initiated still other changes within parliament.
TheActs of Supremacy established the monarch as head of the Church of England.
The power of Parliament, in its relationship with the monarch, increased considerably after theCivil War, and again at theGlorious Revolution. It also provided the country with unprecedented stability. More stability, in turn, helped assure more effective management, organisation, and efficiency. Parliament printed statutes and devised a more coherentparliamentary procedure.
The rise of Parliament proved especially important in the sense that it limited the repercussions of dynastic complications that had so often plunged England into civil war. Parliament still ran the country even in the absence of suitable heirs to the throne, and its legitimacy as a decision-making body reduced the royal prerogatives of kings like Henry VIII and the importance of their whims. For example, Henry VIII could not simply establish supremacy by proclamation; he required Parliament to enforce statutes and add felonies and treasons. An important liberty for Parliament was its freedom of speech; Henry allowed anything to be spoken openly within Parliament and speakers could not face arrest – a fact which they exploited incessantly. Nevertheless, Parliament in Henry VIII's time offered up very little objection to the monarch's desires. Under his andEdward's reign, the legislative body complied willingly with the majority of the kings' decisions.
Much of this compliance stemmed from how the English viewed and traditionally understood authority. As Williams described it, "King and parliament were not separate entities, but a single body, of which the monarch was the senior partner and the Lords and the Commons the lesser, but still essential, members."[28]
The statue ofOliver Cromwell, as it stands outside the House of Commons at the Palace of Westminster
Although its role in government had expanded significantly in the mid 16th century, the Parliament of England saw some of its most important gains in the 17th century. Aseries of conflicts between the Crown and Parliament culminated in the execution ofKing Charles I in 1649. For a brief period, England became acommonwealth, withOliver Cromwell the de facto ruler, with the title ofLord Protector. Frustrated with its decisions, Cromwell purged and suspended Parliament on several occasions.
A controversial figure notorious forhis actions in Ireland, Cromwell is nonetheless regarded as essential to the growth of democracy in England.[29] The years of the Commonwealth, coupled with therestoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the subsequentGlorious Revolution of 1688, helped reinforce and strengthen Parliament as an institution separate from the Crown.
Originally, there was only theParlement of Paris, born out of the Curia Regis in 1307, and located inside the medieval royal palace, now theParis Hall of Justice. The jurisdiction of theParliament of Paris covered the entire kingdom. In the thirteenth century, judicial functions were added. In 1443, following the turmoil of theHundred Years' War, KingCharles VII of France grantedLanguedoc its ownparliament by establishing theParliament ofToulouse, the firstparliament outside of Paris, whose jurisdiction extended over the most part of southern France. From 1443 until theFrench Revolution several otherparliaments were created in some provinces of France (Grenoble,Bordeaux).
All theparliaments could issue regulatory decrees for the application of royal edicts or of customary practices; they could also refuse to register laws that they judged contrary to fundamental law or simply as being untimely. Parliamentary power in France was suppressed more so than in England as a result ofabsolutism, and parliaments were eventually overshadowed by the largerEstates General, up until theFrench Revolution, when the last Estates General transformed itself into aNational Assembly, a legislative body whose existence is independent of the royal power.
Iceland's parliament house, theAlþingishúsið, atAusturvöllur inReykjavík, built in 1880–1881, home of one of the oldest still-acting parliaments in the world
The thing was the assembly of the free men of a country, province or ahundred(hundare/härad/herred). There were consequently, hierarchies of things, so that the local things were represented at the thing for a larger area, for a province or land. At the thing, disputes were solved and political decisions were made. The place for the thing was often also the place for public religious rites and for commerce.
The thing met at regular intervals, legislated, electedchieftains andkings, and judged according to the law, which was memorised and recited by the "law speaker" (the judge).
The Icelandic, Faroese and Manx parliaments trace their origins back to theViking expansion originating from thepetty kingdoms of Norway as well as Denmark, replicating Viking government systems in the conquered territories, such as those represented by theGulating near Bergen in western Norway:[citation needed]
Later national diets with chambers for different estates developed, e.g. in Sweden and in Finland (which was part of Sweden until 1809), each with aHouse of Knights for the nobility. In both these countries, the national parliaments are now calledriksdag (in Finland alsoeduskunta), a word used since the Middle Ages and equivalent of the German wordReichstag.
Today the term lives on in the official names of national legislatures and other institutions in the North Germanic[clarification needed] countries. InYorkshire and formerDanelaw areas of England, which were subject to Norse invasion and settlement, thewapentake was another name for the same institution.
The Diet of Hungary, or originally Parlamentum Publicum and Parlamentum Generale[37] (Hungarian:Országgyűlés), became the supreme legislative institution in themedieval kingdom of Hungary from the 1290s,[38] and in its successor states,Royal Hungary and theHabsburg kingdom of Hungary throughout theEarly Modern period. The name of the legislative body was originally "Parlamentum" during the Middle Ages, the "Diet" expression gained mostly in the Early Modern period.[39] It convened at regular intervals with interruptions during the period of 1527 to 1918, and again until 1946.
Some researchers have traced the roots of the Hungarian institution of national assemblies as far back as the 11th century. This based on documentary evidence that, on certain "important occasions" under the reigns ofKing Ladislaus I andKing Coloman "the Learned", assemblies were held on a national scale where both ecclesiastic and secular dignitaries made appearances.[40]The first exact written mention of the word "parlamentum" (Parliament) for the nation-wide assembly originated during the reign ofKing Andrew II in theGolden Bull of 1222, which reaffirmed the rights of the smaller nobles of the old and new classes of royal servants (servientes regis) against both the crown and the magnates, and to defend the rights of the whole nation against the crown by restricting the powers of the latter in certain fields and legalizing refusal to obey its unlawful/unconstitutional commands (the "ius resistendi").The lesser nobles also began to present Andrew with grievances, a practice that evolved into the institution of the Hungarian Diet.
An institutionalized Hungarian parliament emerged during the 14th and 15th centuries. Beginning underKing Charles I, continuing under subsequent kings through into the reign ofKing Matthias I, the Diet was essentially convened by the king. However, under the rule of heavy handed kings like Louis the Great and during reign of the early absolutist Matthias Corvinus the parliaments were often convened to announce the royal decisions, and had no significant power of its own. Since the reign of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the parliament has regained most of its former power.
The First Sejm in Łęczyca. Recording of laws. A.D. 1180
According to theChronicles ofGallus Anonymus, the first legendary Polish ruler,Siemowit, who began thePiast dynasty, was chosen by an ancientwiec council. The idea of thewiec led to the development of the Polish parliament, theSejm, in around 1180.
The term "sejm" comes from an old Polish expression denoting a meeting of the populace. The power of early sejms grew between 1146 and 1295, when the power of individual rulers waned and various councils grew stronger. Since the 14th century irregular sejms (described in variousLatin sources ascontentio generalis, conventio magna, conventio solemna, parlamentum, parlamentum generale, dieta) have been convened by Poland's monarchs. From 1374, the king had to receive permission from that assembly to raisetaxes and the 1454Nieszawa Statutes granted theszlachta (nobles) unprecedented concessions and authority. The General Sejm (Polishsejm generalny orsejm walny), first convoked by theJohn I Albert in 1493 nearPiotrków, evolved from earlier regional and provincial meetings calledsejmiks. Simultaneously, theSenate was founded on the earliercuria regis, convened at the king's discretion. Hence, the year 1493 marked the beginning of abicameral legislative body of government. With the subsequent development of PolishGolden Liberty in the next several decades, the Sejm's powers systematically increased. Poland was among the few countries in Europe where the parliament played an especially important role in its national identity as it contributed to the unity of the nation and the state.
The general parliament of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth consisted of three estates – the King of Poland, the Senate (consisting of Ministers, Palatines, Castellans and Roman Catholic Bishops) and the Chamber of Envoys comprising 170 nobles acting on behalf of their holdings as well as representatives of major cities, who did not possess any voting privileges. In 1573, a convocation sejm established anelective monarchy in the Commonwealth.
After its self-proclamation as an independent kingdom in 1139 byAfonso I of Portugal (followed by the recognition by theKingdom of León in theTreaty of Zamora of 1143), the first historically established Cortes of theKingdom of Portugal occurred in 1211 inCoimbra by initiative ofAfonso II of Portugal. These established the first general laws of the kingdom (Leis Gerais do Reino): protection of the king's property, stipulation of measures for the administration of justice and the rights of his subjects to be protected from abuses by royal officials, and confirming the clerical donations of the previous kingSancho I of Portugal. These Cortes also affirmed the validity of canon law for the Church in Portugal, while introducing the prohibition of the purchase of lands by churches or monasteries (although they can be acquired by donations and legacies).
After the conquest ofAlgarve in 1249, theKingdom of Portugal completed itsReconquista. In 1254 KingAfonso III of Portugal summonedPortuguese Cortes inLeiria, with the inclusion ofburghers from old and newly incorporated municipalities. This inclusion establishes the Cortes of Leiria of 1254 as the second sample of modernparliamentarism in the history of Europe (after theCortes of León in 1188). In these Cortes themonetagio was introduced: a fixed sum was to be paid by the burghers to the Crown as a substitute for theseptennium (the traditional revision of the face value of coinage by the Crown every seven years). These Cortes also introducedstaple laws on theDouro River, favoring the new royal city ofVila Nova de Gaia at the expense of the old episcopal city of Porto.
ThePortuguese Cortes met again under KingAfonso III of Portugal in 1256, 1261 and 1273, always by royal summon. Medieval Kings of Portugal continued to rely on small assemblies of notables, and only summoned the full Cortes on extraordinary occasions. A Cortes would be called if the king wanted to introduce new taxes, change some fundamental laws, announce significant shifts in foreign policy (e.g. ratify treaties), or settle matters of royal succession, issues where the cooperation and assent of the towns was thought necessary. Changing taxation (especially requesting war subsidies), was probably the most frequent reason for convening the Cortes. As the nobles and clergy were largely tax-exempt, setting taxation involved intensive negotiations between the royal council and theburgher delegates at the Cortes.
Delegates (procuradores) not only considered the king's proposals, but, in turn, also used the Cortes to submit petitions of their own to the royal council on a myriad of matters, e.g. extending and confirming town privileges, punishing abuses of officials, introducing new price controls, constraints onJews, pledges on coinage, etc. The royal response to these petitions became enshrined as ordinances and statutes, thus giving the Cortes the aspect of a legislature. These petitions were originally referred to asaggravamentos (grievances) thenartigos (articles) and eventuallycapitulos (chapters). In a Cortes-Gerais, petitions were discussed and voted upon separately by each estate and required the approval of at least two of the three estates before being passed up to the royal council. The proposal was then subject to royal veto (either accepted or rejected by the king in its entirety) before becoming law.
Nonetheless, the exact extent of Cortes power was ambiguous. Kings insisted on their ancient prerogative to promulgate laws independently of the Cortes. The compromise, in theory, was that ordinances enacted in Cortes could only be modified or repealed by Cortes. But even that principle was often circumvented or ignored in practice.
The Cortes probably had their heyday in the 14th and 15th centuries, reaching their apex whenJohn I of Portugal relied almost wholly upon the bourgeoisie for his power. For a period after the 1383–1385 Crisis, the Cortes were convened almost annually. But as time went on, they became less important. Portuguese monarchs, tapping into the riches of thePortuguese empire overseas, grew less dependent on Cortes subsidies and convened them less frequently.John II (r.1481-1495) used them to break the high nobility, but dispensed with them otherwise.Manuel I (r.1495-1521) convened them only four times in his long reign. By the time ofSebastian (r.1554–1578), the Cortes was practically an irrelevance.
Curiously, the Cortes gained a new importance with the Iberian Union of 1581, finding a role as the representative of Portuguese interests to the newHabsburg monarch. The Cortes played a critical role in the1640 Restoration, and enjoyed a brief period of resurgence during the reign ofJohn IV of Portugal (r.1640-1656). But by the end of the 17th century, it found itself sidelined once again. The last Cortes met in 1698, for the mere formality of confirming the appointment of Infante John (futureJohn V of Portugal) as the successor ofPeter II of Portugal. Thereafter, Portuguese kings ruled as absolute monarchs and no Cortes were assembled for over a century. This state of affairs came to an end with theLiberal Revolution of 1820, which set in motion the introduction of a new constitution, and a permanent and proper parliament, that however inherited the name of Cortes Gerais.
Thezemsky sobor (Russian: зе́мский собо́р) was the first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type, in the 16th and 17th centuries. The term roughly means assembly of the land.
It could be summoned either bytsar, orpatriarch, or theBoyar Duma. Three categories of population, comparable to the Estates-General of France but with the numbering of the first two Estates reversed, participated in the assembly:
Nobility and high bureaucracy, including the Boyar Duma
Representatives of merchants and townspeople (third estate)
The name of the parliament of nowadays Russian Federation is theFederal Assembly of Russia. The term for its lower house,State Duma (which is better known than the Federal Assembly itself, and is often mistaken for the entirety of the parliament) comes from the Russian wordдумать (dumat), "to think". TheBoyar Duma was an advisory council to thegrand princes andtsars ofMuscovy. The Duma was discontinued byPeter the Great, who transferred its functions to theGoverning Senate in 1711.
Theveche was the highest legislature and judicial authority in the republic ofNovgorod until 1478. In its sister state,Pskov, a separate veche operated until 1510.
Since the Novgorod revolution of 1137 ousted the rulinggrand prince, the veche became the supreme state authority. After the reforms of 1410, the veche was restructured on a model similar to that ofVenice, becoming theCommons chamber of the parliament. An upperSenate-like Council of Lords was also created, with title membership for all former city magistrates. Some sources indicate that veche membership may have become full-time, and parliament deputies were now calledvechniks. It is recounted that the Novgorod assembly could be summoned by anyone who rung the vechebell, although it is more likely that the common procedure was more complex. This bell was a symbol of republican sovereignty and independence. The whole population of the city—boyars, merchants, and common citizens—then gathered atYaroslav's Court. Separate assemblies could be held in the districts of Novgorod. In Pskov the veche assembled in the court of theTrinity cathedral.
"Conciliarism" or the "conciliar movement", was a reform movement in the 14th and 15th centuryRoman Catholic Church which held that final authority in spiritual matters resided with the Roman Church as corporation of Christians, embodied by ageneral church council, not with thepope. In effect, the movement sought – ultimately, in vain – to create an All-Catholic Parliament. Its struggle with the Papacy had many points in common with the struggle of parliaments in specific countries against the authority of Kings and other secular rulers.
The debating chamber of the reconvenedScottish Parliament from the public gallery
From the 10th century theKingdom of Alba was ruled by chiefs (toisechs) and subkings (mormaers) under thesuzerainty, real or nominal, of aHigh King. Popular assemblies, as in Ireland, were involved in law-making, and sometimes in king-making, although the introduction oftanistry—naming a successor in the lifetime of a king—made the second less than common. These early assemblies cannot be considered "parliaments" in the later sense of the word, and were entirely separate from the later, Norman-influenced, institution.
By the early fourteenth century the attendance of knights andfreeholders had become important, and from 1326burgh commissioners attended. Consisting of the Three Estates; ofclerics, laytenants-in-chief and burgh commissioners sitting in a single chamber, the Scottish parliament acquired significant powers over particular issues. Most obviously it was needed for consent fortaxation (although taxation was only raised irregularly in Scotland in themedieval period), but it also had a strong influence overjustice,foreign policy, war, and all manner of other legislation, whether political, ecclesiastical, social or economic. Parliamentary business was also carried out by "sister" institutions, before c. 1500 byGeneral Council and thereafter by theConvention of Estates. These could carry out much business also dealt with by Parliament – taxation, legislation and policy-making – but lacked the ultimate authority of a full parliament.
The parliament, which is also referred to as the Estates of Scotland, the Three Estates, the Scots Parliament or the auld Scots Parliament (Eng:old), met until theActs of Union merged the Parliament of Scotland and theParliament of England, creating the newParliament of Great Britain in 1707.
Although there are documented councils held in 873, 1020, 1050 and 1063, there was no representation of commoners. What is considered to be the first parliament, theCortes of León, was held in theKingdom of León in 1188.[41][42][43] According to the UNESCO, the Decreta of Leon of 1188 is the oldest documentary manifestation of the European parliamentary system. In addition, UNESCO granted the 1188 Cortes of Alfonso IX the title of "Memory of the World" and the city ofLeon has been recognized as the "Cradle of Parliamentarism".[44][45]
After coming to power, KingAlfonso IX, facing an attack by his two neighbors,Castile andPortugal, decided to summon hisroyal council (Latin:curia regis). This was a medieval organization composed of aristocrats and bishops but because of the seriousness of the situation and the need to maximize political support, Alfonso IX took the decision to also call the representatives of the urban middle class from the most important cities of the kingdom to the assembly.[46] León's Cortes dealt with matters like the right toprivate property, the inviolability of domicile, the right to appeal to justice opposite the King and the obligation of the King to consult the Cortes before entering a war.[47] Prelates, nobles, and commoners met separately in the three estates of the Cortes. In this meeting, new laws were approved to protect commoners against the arbitrarities of nobles, prelates, and the king. This important set of laws is known as theCarta Magna Leonesa.
After the union of the Kingdoms of Leon and Castile under theCrown of Castile, their Cortes were united as well in 1258. The Castilian Cortes had representatives from Burgos, Toledo, León, Seville, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, Zamora, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Cuenca, Toro, Valladolid, Soria, Madrid, Guadalajara and Granada (after 1492). The Cortes' assent was required to pass new taxes, and could also advise the king on other matters. Thecomunero rebels intended a stronger role for the Cortes, but were defeated by the forces ofHabsburg EmperorCharles V in 1521. The Cortes maintained some power, however, though it became more of a consultative entity. However, by the time ofKing Philip II, Charles's son, the Castilian Cortes had come under functionally complete royal control, with its delegates dependent on the Crown for their income.[48]
The first Cortes representing the whole of Spain (and the Spanish empire of the day) assembled in 1812, inCadiz, where it operated as a government in exile as at that time most of the rest of Spain was in the hands ofNapoleon's army.
Stemming from the tribal assemblies of the ancient Slavs, theviche (from Proto-Slavonic *větje, meaning 'council', 'counsel' or 'talk') functioned not only as a form of self-organization in cities of medievalKievan Rusʹ but also as a form of protect against policies of the Princes.[49] The tradition of viche contributed to the culture of peaceful assemblies in contemporary Ukraine.[50][51]
TheSich Rada (council) was an institution ofCossack administration from the 16th to the 18th century. With the establishment of theCossack Hetmanate in 1648, it was officially known as the General Military Council, orCossack Rada, until 1750.
The British Parliament is often referred to as theMother of Parliaments (in fact a misquotation ofJohn Bright, who remarked in 1865 that "England is the Mother of Parliaments") because theBritish Parliament has been the model for most other parliamentary systems, and itsActs have created many other parliaments.[52] Many nations with parliaments have to some degree emulated the British "three-tier" model known as theWestminster system. Most countries in Europe and theCommonwealth have similarly organised parliaments with a largely ceremonialhead of state who formally opens and closes parliament, a large elected lower house and a smaller, upper house.[53][54] The Parliament of the United Kingdom has been described as characterised by the stability of its governing institutions and its capacity to absorb change.[55]
In the United Kingdom, Parliament consists of theHouse of Commons, theHouse of Lords, and theMonarch. The House of Commons is composed of 650 members who are directly elected by British citizens to represent single-member constituencies. The leader of a party that wins more than half the seats, or less than half but is able to gain the support of smaller parties to achieve a majority in the house, is invited by the Monarch to form a government. The House of Lords is a body of long-serving, unelected members:Lords Temporal (92 of whom inherit their titles, of whom 90 are elected internally by members of the House to lifetime seats), 588 of whom have been appointed to lifetime seats, andLords Spiritual (26 bishops, who are part of the house while they remain in office).
Legislation can originate from either the Lords or the Commons. It is voted on in several distinct stages, calledreadings, in each house. First reading is merely a formality. Second reading is where the bill as a whole is considered. Third reading is detailed consideration of clauses of the bill.
In addition to the three readings a bill also goes through a committee stage where it is considered in great detail. Once the bill has been passed by one house it goes to the other and essentially repeats the process. If after the two sets of readings, there are disagreements between the versions that the two houses passed it is returned to the first house for consideration of the amendments made by the second. If it passes through the amendment stageRoyal Assent is granted and the bill becomes law as anAct of Parliament.
The House of Lords is the less powerful of the two houses as a result of theParliament Acts 1911 and 1949. These Acts removed the veto power of the Lords over a great deal of legislation. If a bill is certified by theSpeaker of the House of Commons as amoney bill (i.e. acts raising taxes and similar) then the Lords can only block it for a month. If an ordinary bill originates in the Commons the Lords can only block it for a maximum of onesession of Parliament. The exceptions to this rule are things like bills to prolong the life of a Parliament beyond five years.
In addition to functioning as the second chamber of Parliament, the House of Lords was also the final court ofappeal for much of the law of the United Kingdom—a combination of judicial and legislative function that recalls its origin in the Curia Regis. This changed in October 2009 when theSupreme Court of the United Kingdom opened and acquired the former jurisdiction of the House of Lords.
Since 1999, there has been aScottish Parliament inEdinburgh, and, since 2020, aSenedd—or Welsh Parliament—inCardiff. However, these national, unicamerallegislatures do not have complete power over their respectivecountries of the United Kingdom, holding only those powers devolved to them by Westminster from 1997. They cannot legislate on defence issues, currency, or national taxation (e.g. VAT, or Income Tax). Additionally, the bodies can be theoretically dissolved, at any given time, by the British Parliament without the consent of the devolved government.
InSweden, the half-century period of parliamentary government beginning withCharles XII's death in 1718 and ending withGustav III'sself-coup in 1772 is known as theAge of Liberty. During this period,civil rights were expanded and power shifted from the monarch to parliament.
Whilesuffrage did not become universal, the taxed peasantry was represented in Parliament, although with little influence and commoners without taxed property had no suffrage at all.
Changes in Poland's internal situation in the 1980s led to the Round Table Talks which ended in the signing of the famous Round Table Agreement on 5 April 1989. The Agreement spearheaded the evolutionary transformation of the country's political system; independence was regained once again. The document Position on Political Reforms provided grounds for amending the Constitution. The amended Constitution restored the office of the President of the Polish People's Republic and the Senate – both to be elected in free and democratic elections. In the Sejm, the opposition was allocated 35% of the mandates. Thus the so called "contract" elections could not be fully democratic. The Sejm (first chamber) became superior to the Senate (second chamber). In addition, the institution of National Assembly was established, consisting of the Sejm and the Senate sitting jointly to elect the President of the Polish People's Republic. A declaration of the Solidarity Citizens' Committee heralded the prompt enactment of a new, democratic constitution and electoral law. As a result of Solidarity's success in elections to the Sejm and the Senate, profound reforms of the political system were undertaken by adopting an amendment to the Constitution on 29 December 1989. In the Constitution, the Republic of Poland was defined as a democratic state ruled by law. As the provisional constitution lasted too long, it was decided to adopt a provisional regulation in the form of the so called Small Constitution. The President signed it on 17 October 1992. The Small Constitution regulated above all the relationship between the executive and legislative powers, on the basis of the doctrine of separation of powers. A bicameral parliament was maintained.
After long years of legislative work, on 2 April 1997, the National Assembly adopted The Constitution of the Republic of Poland. It entered into force on 17 October 1997. The new Constitution introduced a "rationalised" parliamentary-cabinet system in Poland. It is the first Constitution of the Third Republic. That was the first Constitution of the Third Republic. The act defined the position of the Sejm and the Senate within the system without using the term "parliament". It adopted the doctrine of separation of powers, which provided for a balance between the legislative and executive powers. In practice the binding provisions of the Constitution ensure the supremacy of the legislative power. Both chambers are autonomous bodies, independent of each other, with their own powers. The Constitution retained the principle of bicameralism of the legislature. The Sejm and the Senate sitting jointly constitute the National Assembly. Characteristically, the new Constitution conferred very extensive powers on the Sejm. On the other hand, the powers of the Senate are limited, as in the Constitutions of 1921 and 1992.
Many parliaments are part of aparliamentary system of government, in which theexecutive is constitutionally answerable to the parliament from the genetic moment of the birth of Government (Motion of confidence), to the final moment of his termination (Motion of no confidence), through all the commitments that can be added to thegovernment contract from time to time throughmotions andresolutions.[56] Some restrict the use of the wordparliament to parliamentary systems, while others use the word for any elected legislative body. Parliaments usually consist ofchambers orhouses, and are usually eitherbicameral orunicameral although more complex models exist, or have existed (seeTricameralism).
In some parliamentary systems, theprime minister is a member of the parliament (e.g.in the United Kingdom), whereas in others they are not (e.g.in the Netherlands). They are commonly the leader of the majority party in the lower house of parliament, but only hold the office as long as the "confidence of the house" is maintained. If members of the lower house lose faith in the leader for whatever reason, they can call avote of no confidence and force the prime minister to resign.
This can be particularly dangerous to a government when the distribution of seats among different parties is relatively even, in which case a new election is often called shortly thereafter. However, in case of general discontent with the head of government, their replacement can be made very smoothly without all the complications that it represents in the case of a presidential system.
The parliamentary system can be contrasted with apresidential system, such as theAmerican congressional system, which operates under a stricterseparation of powers, whereby the executive does not form part of, nor is it appointed by, the parliamentary or legislative body. In such a system, congresses do not select or dismissheads of governments, and governments cannot request an early dissolution as may be the case for parliaments. Some states, such asFrance, have asemi-presidential system which falls between parliamentary and congressional systems, combining a powerful head of state (president) with a head of government, the prime minister, who is responsible to parliament.
In the federal (bicameral) kingdom of Belgium, there is a curious asymmetrical constellation serving as directly elected legislatures for three "territorial"regions—Flanders (Dutch),Brussels (bilingual, certain peculiarities of competence, also the only region not comprising any of the 10 provinces) andWallonia (French)—and three culturalcommunities—Flemish (Dutch, competent in Flanders and for the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Brussels), Francophone (French, for Wallonia and for Francophones in Brussels) and German (for speakers of that language in a few designated municipalities in the east of the Walloon Region, living alongside Francophones but under two different regimes):
Flemish Parliament serves both the Flemish Community and the region of Flanders (in all matters of regional competence, its decisions have no effect in Brussels-Capital Region)
Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (within the capital's regional assembly, however, there also exist twoCommunity Commissions, aDutch-speaking one and aFrancophone one, for various matters split up by linguistic community but under Brussels' regional competence, and even "joint community commissions" consisting of both for certain institutions that could be split up but are not.
^Jacobsen, T. (July 1943). "Primitive Democracy in Ancient Mesopotamia". Journal of Near Eastern Studies 2 (3): 159–172.doi:10.1086/370672.JSTOR542482.
^Haliczer, Stephen (1981).The Comuneros of Castile: The Forging of a Revolution, 1475–1521. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 227.ISBN0-299-08500-7.
^Yermolaiev, V. (2002). Viche in Kievan Rus: issues of competence (9th – middle of the 12th century). Bulletin of the Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, No. 4, pp. 45–55. [In Ukrainian]
^Drozd, O., Romanov, M., Moroz, V., Stremenovskyi, S., & Zelenyi, V. (2022). The right of citizens to assemble peacefully, unarmed, to hold rallies and demonstrations: historical origins and genesis of formation. Amazonia Investiga, 11(51), 257-266.https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.51.03.26
^Emmanuel Karagiannis (2016) Ukrainian volunteer fighters in the eastern front: ideas, political-social norms and emotions as mobilization mechanisms, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 16:1, 139-153, DOI: 10.1080/14683857.2016.1148413
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