Recurring bills and the legislative process in the US congress

Recurring bills may be interpreted in two very different ways. First, there is the ‘legislative loser’ perspective, which posits that legislators introduce bills repeatedly for symbolic reasons, not intending or expecting them to go very far. Alternatively, there is the ‘softening up’ perspective, which assumes that legislators introduce bills more than once for policy reasons. They first test the waters, making a second attempt more successful. In this research article, we test these assumptions by examining the legislative impact of recurring bill status at various stages in the US House and Senate: initial committee attention, committee passage, attachment to an omnibus package and enactment. The evidence is mixed for the first stage of the process, while the findings for subsequent stages support the softening up interpretation. We discuss the implications for representation and future research.     

Parliamentary Questioning in 17 European Parliaments: Some Steps towards Comparison

All democratic parliaments have some procedures to allow representatives to put questions to ministers. However, there are no two parliaments with exactly the same procedures. Cross-national comparisons are hindered by the lack of agreed-upon scientific criteria to group similar procedures, which are too often classified on the basis of their names rather than on their substantive characteristics. To overcome this problem, this article devises a typology of parliamentary questions based on relevant procedural features in 17 European countries. A ranking of parliaments according to the criteria of the effectiveness of procedures is developed and a discussion of the relationship of this ranking to the coalitional characteristics of the parliaments is provided. Finally, the article develops some tentative arguments to explain what influences the development of more or less effective questioning procedures, testing the hypothesis that countries dominated by coalition governments tend to have more effective procedures. In contrast with the authors' expectations, with regard to the countries included in the present analysis, the frequent presence of coalition government is associated with weaker procedures.     

Mixed Rules,Different Roles? An Analysis of the Typical Pathways into the Bundestag and of MPs' Parliamentary Behaviour

Does the German mixed electoral system produce two types of representatives – MPs elected in the district who aim primarily to represent the interests of their constituencies and list MPs who are primarily loyal to their party or seek to serve ‘functional’ interest groups? The paper addresses this controversial question in two steps. It first uses sequence analysis in order to discover empirically just how prominent the exclusive ‘path into the Bundestag’ actually was by way of either the party list or the electoral district. The empirical basis is a data set covering all 3581 members of parliament from 1949 to 2009. Secondly, after having identified MPs with clear district or list careers, the paper replicates a study on committee membership asking whether district MPs sat more often in committees that are of relevance for their districts while list MPs more often sit in so-called ‘policy’ committees. The paper finds no evidence for a clear ‘mandate divide’ between MPs elected in a district and those numerous MPs entering parliament via the party list but also contesting a district.     

Role-Switching in the Dutch Parliament: Reinvigorating Role Theory?

The lack of explanatory power of roles in the study of legislative behaviour has led to questioning of the utility of role theory. The problem may be that scholars tend to focus on classifying legislators according to one role orientation, thereby running the risk of oversimplification. Using questions from the 1990, 2001 and 2006 Dutch Parliamentary Studies, this study explores whether MPs specialise in a particular role or switch between roles depending on the situation at hand. A general trend towards specialisation in the partisan role is detected, accompanied by a decrease in the number of role-switching MPs. Furthermore, it is found that whereas government MPs tend to specialise in the role of the parliamentarian, opposition MPs are more prone to put on their partisan hats.     

Legislative Strengthening Meets Party Support in International Assistance: A Closer Relationship?

Recent reports recommend that international efforts to help strengthen legislatures in emerging democracies should work more closely with support for building stronger political parties and competitive party systems. This article locates the recommendations within international assistance more generally and reviews the arguments. It explores problems that must be addressed if the recommendations are to be implemented effectively. The article argues that an alternative, issue-based approach to strengthening legislatures and closer links with civil society could gain more traction. However, that is directed more centrally at promoting good governance for the purpose of furthering development than at democratisation goals sought by party aid and legislative strengtheners in the democracy assistance industry.     

The Impact of Parliamentary Specialisation on Cosponsorship

This study seeks to establish the effect of parliamentary specialisation on cosponsorship of parliamentary proposals in parliamentary systems with high levels of party unity. Existing studies on presidential systems suggest that cosponsorship is mainly related to legislators’ policy preferences. It is proposed that in parliamentary systems cosponsorship is, in the first place, structured by the division of labour in parliamentary party groups: MPs who do not have overlapping policy portfolios will not cosponsor proposals. Other explanations, such as policy distance and the government–opposition divide, only come into play when MPs are specialised in the same field. This expectation is tested using data from the Netherlands, a parliamentary system with a clear division of labour between MPs. It is found that specialisation has a very large impact on cosponsorship.     

Budgetary Negotiations: How the Chilean Congress Overcomes its Constitutional Limitations

Recent research suggests that the Chilean Congress is marginalised in the policymaking process, especially when setting the budget. This paper argues that previous studies have overlooked the fact that the legislature uses two amendment tools – specifications and marginal notes – to increase the national budget and reallocate resources within ministries. This behaviour contradicts the constitution, which only allows Congress to reduce the executive's budget bill. To test this empirically, a pooled two-stage time-series cross-sectional analysis is conducted on ministries for the years 1991–2010. The findings clarify how the legislature surpasses its constitutional limits and demonstrate that specifications are useful to predict when Congress increases or decreases a ministry's budget.     

论我国集体土地征收中公共利益规定的完善

公共利益是土地征收的前提性要件,而相关立法对公共利益的规定较为原则,造成实践中征收目的被泛化.文章从集体土地征收的公共利益理论出发,针对在我国现行集体土地征收中公共利益规定本身存在的问题,从实体与程序两方面对集体土地征收中的公共利益规定予以完善.     

社区矫正制度若干问题探析

社区矫正制度是与监狱内矫正制度相对应的一种行刑模式,是刑罚人道化和罪犯再社会化理论的制度结晶。兼顾社会的安全利益和罪犯的人权利益平衡,是国际上罪犯矫正的潮流,也是我国和谐社会的必然要求。研究社区矫正理论与我国现行刑罚制度的嫁接,社区矫正的理论逻辑起点与定义的厘定,以及对社区矫正的适用对象的科学选择,都是十分必要的。     

我国反恐立法的进程与前景——犯罪学视角的解析

我国反恐立法在刑事实体、刑事程序以及反恐法律制定上均取得了一定的进展,但整体进步仍显得比较迟缓。从反恐立法整体层面看,已开创了反恐立法的新格局,但尚存不足,需要调整与完善;从法制与法治建设框架下分析,有可圈可点之处,但在基本理念、定位上还不够明晰,推进方向、目标不够明确;从我国治理犯罪宏观背景透视,已开启了治理恐怖主义的立法思路,但需要加以完善与探索。展望反恐法律体系整体发展前景：以预防为主导的反恐治理的立法思路向前推进;惩治恐怖活动犯罪法制化与法治化的方向逐渐明确,凸显保障人权与被害人权益的立法精神;突出区域、国际合作反恐的立法思路。