• Well pumps
• Filters for cleaning
• Well drilling
• Borehole pumps
• Wells

Social studies what is parliament. The Parliament of the Russian Federation consists of two chambers - the State Duma and the Federation Council. The Parliament of the Russian Federation is the Federal Assembly

Definition of Parliament

The essential expression of representative democracy is parliament - a nationwide representative body of power that exists on a permanent basis and has the title function of lawmaking. The functioning of parliament is real only under a democratic political regime.

The term "parliament" comes from medieval Latin. In France, the word parlamentum at first it was used to refer to any meeting. Subsequently, in the XV century. the royal court chambers (courts), which ceased to exist with the beginning of the 18th century revolution, were called parliaments.

In England in the same XV century. parliament began to be called caste-representative institutions. However, during the period of the estate-representative monarchy, the term "parliament" was not used to designate the corresponding institutions in other countries, therefore it did not become generic. This situation did not change until the end of the 18th century.

In the next century, the term "parliament" as its own legislative body was used only in certain countries. The legislature was called differently - national congress, national assembly, legislature and the like. In Spain and the Netherlands, such a body was named historically as an estate-representative institution - the Cortes General and the States General, respectively.

Now all such names are also used in constitutions, although the generic and most frequently used proper name of the legislature is parliament.

In Soviet literature, the term "parliament" was associated with the transcription of the verb "speak" (from fr. Parier) and proclaimed the thesis that parliament is a "talking shop". This thesis is an ideologeme and in its meaning does not correspond to the realities of democratic countries.

Parliament's names usually reflect its representative character. The most common such name for parliament or its lower house is the national assembly. The word "assembly" and its correspondence to other languages ​​(assembly, congress, assembly, sabor, etc.) is used in other names, which indicates the collegial nature of the parliament. Collegiality is also evidenced by the presence of the word "council" in the name of the parliament.

In Cyprus, Malta and New Zealand, the parliament is called the House of Representatives, in Australia, Belgium, Ireland, the USA, Japan and in a number of other countries, the lower house of parliament is called that.

The nature of parliament as a representative body can be indicated by its constitutional definitions. For example, in Lithuania the parliament is defined as such, which includes representatives of the people, in Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Uzbekistan - as a representative body. In Andorra, Spain and the Netherlands, parliament is constituted as a body representing the people or citizens, in Portugal - as a representative assembly of the people and the like.

Some basic laws formulate the definition of parliament as the supreme or supreme representative body (Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Tajikistan, Hungary, Uzbekistan).

Such a definition can be perceived as a statement of the existence of a system of representative bodies of power, similar to the "system of councils" that existed in the Soviet period. In the theory and practice of constitutionalism, which is based on the idea of ​​separation of powers, the corresponding system is disputed.

The nature of the parliament as a representative body is reflected in the title of its members as deputy. The term "deputy" means that a member of parliament is elected (literally - sent, sent) for the purpose of appropriate political representation.

As the highest representative body of public interest, parliament performs a number of important functions. Its main functions include: representative, power, lawmaking, control (control over the budget and government activities); constituent (adoption of a constitution, participation in the formation of judicial and executive authorities); publicity and legitimacy.

The representative function is manifested in the expression of the differentiation of society according to interests and in the comparison of attitudes that are dictated by these interests. Parliament is called upon to disclose conflicts of interest and find possible compromises.

Parliament performs this function on the basis of democratic electoral law and a democratic electoral system; the implementation of this function is ensured by the functioning of parties as an organized political force, which is the spokesman and mediator of the interests and will of voters. The guarantee of the implementation of the representative function of parliament is a democratic electoral system combined with competition in a multi-party system. The content and nature of the representation of interests in modern parliamentarism are complex and have many principles. The most important of these are party representation, territorial representation, corporate representation and ethnic representation.

Party representation consists in parliamentary representation of various socio-economic alternatives in proportion to the support they have in society. This principle can be guaranteed both in the hands and in a bicameral parliamentary system. To implement other principles of representation - territorial, corporate and ethnic - a system of simple or complex bicameral parliament is needed. A simple bicameral system takes place when, next to the Chamber of Deputies, which arose through direct elections, membership in another chamber is due to a single (for example, genealogical) personal principle. Typical examples of this are the House of Lords, the Upper House, the Senate, etc. The Second House can be based on another single principle - territorial, in the interests of proportional representation of individual federations, provinces, etc. Based on several principles, the second chamber is characterized by a combination of personal and territorial principles with each other or with some others. For example, with positional, departmental, when the deputies of the second chamber are also persons who occupy the appropriate position in the field of science, culture or religion, but the deputy in this case is not personified, not inherited or delegated, but simply due to the position in society. The most widespread is the unicameral parliament, which is based on direct elections and is characterized by one principle, or the so-called simple bicameral parliamentary system, in which one chamber arises as a result of direct elections by the population, and the other is based on territorial proportionality.

The parliament implements the functions of power through the adoption of political decisions. He chooses alternatives to socio-economic and political development society as a whole and its main subsystems, their structure, political content.

In modern political systems, socio-political alternatives are formulated by parliamentary parties. Voters cast their votes according to the assessment of the political alternatives reflected in their programs. They support precisely the parties whose participation in parliament reflects the will of the voters, legitimizes the strategy and program of the parties that won the elections.

After winning the elections and obtaining a parliamentary majority, the political program of the party (parties) is transformed into parliamentary decisions. This transformation takes place within the framework of a specific decision-making procedure. The day-to-day functioning and implementation of parliamentary power is conditioned by this procedure, which simultaneously combines legal and professional rationality and the appropriateness of the decisions taken, as well as the requirements of parliamentary democracy.

The lawmaking, legislative function of the parliament is one of the priorities. The ultimate consequence of parliamentary activity is predominantly the creation of a legal norm. The parliament exercises legislative powers in accordance with the procedure provided for by the regulations of the chambers. The first stage of the legislative process is the introduction of a bill. Parliament is obliged to accept a bill for consideration only on condition that it has been submitted in accordance with the established rules by a person or body that has the right to initiate legislation. There are such types of legislative initiative: 1) government initiative; 2) a parliamentary initiative; 3) popular initiative; 4) a special initiative (introduction of a bill by the bodies specified in the constitution). Government and parliamentary initiatives are of the greatest importance.

The legislative process is divided into stages, the sequence and content of which in different countries slightly different. The initial stage of the legislative process is the submission of a bill to parliament. The content of this stage is associated with the right to legislative initiative, the range of subjects of which depends on the form of government.

In presidential republics, only individual parliamentarians are recognized as subjects of the right to legislative initiative, and collective legislative initiative is prohibited. Representatives of the executive branch are also deprived of the right to initiate legislation. However, the executive branch is not excluded from the legislative process. In particular, the president can act through trusted deputies who will allegedly carry out their own initiative, or send messages to Congress and special messages to the chairmen of the chambers. The message is intended to familiarize parliamentarians and the public with the position of the head of state on important political issues, and special messages are intended for the manifestation of legislative initiative on the part of parliamentary committees.

In countries with parliamentary and mixed forms of government, the subjects of legislative initiative are individual deputies of parliament and members of the government, and sometimes (in particular in the Benelux countries) - the head of state. Governments in these countries play a dominant role in the implementation of the right to legislative initiative. He can introduce bills directly or through deputies who constitute a parliamentary majority. Government bills are recognized as a priority during parliamentary consideration. In addition to the legislative initiative of individual deputies in countries such as Austria, Spain, Germany and Japan, it is allowed to collectively introduce bills, under which there must be such a number of signatures of deputies equal to the number of members of parliamentary factions.

In some countries, notably Austria, Spain and Italy, there is a popular legislative initiative, which means that parliament must consider a bill proposed by voters. The basis for such initiatives is the number of voters, which varies with the size of the population. If, for example, in Italy fifty thousand signatures are needed, in Spain - ten times more. However, the people's legislative initiative does not apply to all bills without exception.

Individual administrative units can also be subjects of legislative initiative (for example, in Switzerland - cantons, in Italy - regions).

The procedure for the implementation of the bill is closely related to internal structure representative bodies. In - bicameral parliaments, where the chambers are equal, a bill can be introduced in each of them. This practice exists in the legislatures of Austria, Belgium, Italy, USA, Switzerland and Japan. In countries where the chambers of parliaments are unequal, the legislative process begins in the lower chambers and concerns, first of all, bills related to the budgetary sphere.

Work on a bill in the House begins with its acceptance for consideration. A bill initiated and developed is submitted to the chamber for registration. After that, the governing body of the chamber includes the bill on the agenda and circulates it among the deputies.

The first stage of consideration of a bill in parliament is called the first reading. At this stage, in general, debate on the draft law is not held, and its fate depends on the governing body of the chamber: it can be decided already during the voting on the agenda.

The next stage of the legislative process - the second reading - provides for the discussion of the draft law. Debates, depending on the regulations, are held before (Great Britain, Germany) or after (Italy, USA, France) the consideration of the bill in the standing parliamentary commission (committee). If the bill is sent to the commission after general debate, then it acts in accordance with the conceptual line of the chamber, and if for discussion, then the commission itself determines the content of this bill.

If the general debate on the draft law is prior to consideration in the commissions, then it is considered twice: during the general discussion before being transferred to the commission and during the article-by-article - after returning from the commission. Sometimes the stage of the third reading is introduced, during which the bill is put to a vote and adopted almost without discussion.

Adopted by the chambers (or unicameral parliament), a bill must be sanctioned by the head of state to become law. In the constitutional law of foreign countries (with the exception of Switzerland and Sweden) there is a special stage of the legislative process, which is called promulgation - the proclamation of a law adopted by parliament. The promulgation provides for the signing of the bill by the head of state and the solemn proclamation of it.

The head of state (president or monarch) can promulgate or veto a law, after which the law must be reviewed in parliament again. To overcome the presidential veto, the parliament must re-vote on the bill with a simple majority or, in some countries, two-thirds of the entire membership (USA, Portugal).

The final stage of the legislative process is the publication of the law, i.e. officially bringing it to the public. The entry into force of the law is associated with this procedure, although sometimes the law takes effect immediately after promulgation.

One of the important powers of parliament is to participate in the formation of the government and the judiciary. In countries with parliamentary and mixed forms of government, there are two ways to form government:

• 1) the parliament forms it from the party of the parliamentary majority or a coalition of parties (Great Britain);
• 2) the head of state appoints the prime minister with the consent of parliament and on the proposal of the latter - other members of the government (Italy, France, Greece).

The extra-parliamentary way of forming the government is used in all presidential republics. The parliament is not directly involved in the process of forming the government, or its role in this regard is limited. An example is the United States, where the president appoints members of the government with the consent of the Senate.

In English-speaking countries, parliament is vested with judicial powers. For example, the House of Lords in Great Britain is both the highest court of appeal and, in some cases, performs the function of the court of first instance. It can bring to justice both its members and outsiders for crimes committed against parliament. A similar practice exists in the United States, where each of the chambers can bring legal proceedings against a person accused of contempt of Congress.

In formation judiciary the parliament is involved together with the executive branch. So, in the United States, members supreme court appoints the president with the "advice and consent" of the Senate. In France, the members of the supreme court are elected by the chambers themselves from their own warehouse, and the constitutional council, the body of constitutional control, consisting of nine people, is appointed equally by the president and the chairmen of the chambers of parliament. In Germany, the members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the Minister of Justice, together with a special commission for the election of judges, which includes the Minister of Justice and representatives elected by the Bundestag. And the constitutional court is elected equally by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. In Italy, one third of the constitutional court is elected by the chambers of parliament, the second third is appointed by the president, and the last third is appointed by the Superior Council of Magistrates, the governing body of the general and administrative courts.

In the system of separation of powers, along with the presence of mechanisms of inhibition and counterbalances, parliament is also endowed with certain powers: in some cases, exceptional (bringing the president of the republic to justice), in others - special (turning distrust in the government) or special (for example, depriving a deputy of the right to immunity , suspension, interpellation, etc.). Parliament's powers of oversight, accountability, and accountability are overwhelming, but are used essentially as exceptional.

Thus, the procedure for a vote of no confidence in the government has different aspects. In Great Britain, the opposition is proposing a vote of no confidence in the government (a censure resolution). If the House votes in favor of this proposal, then the government must resign or propose to dissolve parliament. The government can raise the issue of confidence in him.

In Italy, each of the chambers adopts a reasoned resolution of confidence or no confidence in the government based on a roll-call vote. A resolution of no confidence must be signed by at least one tenth of the permanent composition of the chamber and submitted for consideration after three days from the date of its submission.

In France, only the lower house of one tenth of the deputies can pass a resolution of no confidence in the government and vote only two days after it was passed.

In Germany, the Bundestag can remove the chancellor from office by a vote of no confidence and thus force the entire government to resign. However, at the same time, the Bundestag must choose from among its members a successor to the chancellor and apply to the president with a request for an appropriate personnel change.

The President is obliged to grant such a request only if the Chancellor's own motion for a vote of confidence is not supported by the Bundestag, otherwise he may dissolve the Bundestag.

The counterbalance to votes of no confidence in the government is the right to dissolve parliament by the head of state. The exercise of this right depends not only on the constitutional right of the head of state to dissolve parliament, but also on the real balance of political forces in parliament. An early dissolution of parliament is possible under the following circumstances:

• 1) the president himself dissolves parliament (as in Russia and France);
• 2) the government coalition disintegrates;
• 3) the government of the party majority is interested in the dissolution of parliament, with the aim of strengthening its position thanks to the victory of the ruling party in the parliamentary elections.

Deprivation of powers of the head of state through impeachment procedure applies to the highest official if she commits a state crime. This procedure takes different forms in different countries.

So, in Great Britain, the impeachment process takes place within the walls of parliament: the House of Commons formulates the accusation and initiates a case, and the House of Lords makes the final decision.

The American impeachment procedure is slightly different from the English one: after a Senate decision to remove the president of his powers, he can be prosecuted by a regular court.

In France, charges against the president or members of the government are presented by both chambers, and the case itself is heard by the supreme court.

In Austria, Italy and Germany, the parliament blames high-ranking officials, and the final decision is made by the constitutional court.

The relationship between parliament and the judiciary is manifested in the fact that, on the one hand, parliament can perform judicial functions, and on the other, take part in the formation of the judiciary.

The modern parliament is the main forum of political glasnost, its concentrated manifestation. Parliament is an institution where representatives of parties, independent deputies, the government, deputies who offer various alternatives to the decision, parliamentary factions and commissions are obliged to openly declare their position and intentions, professionally, politically arguing and developing them. If this does not happen, then any deputy, be it a commission or a faction (or a representative of such) of any member of the government, can be forced to openly argue his position.

Parliament, as a forum for political transparency, demands open political polemics from parties, government and deputies. Parliamentary restrictions on publicity at plenary and commission meetings are acceptable only in emergency cases and are strictly stipulated certain conditions... A democratically elected parliament, which carries out its functions, is the most important institution of legitimation. The modern parliament as a whole, as an organization and system of institutions, carries out its legitimate function through a legally enshrined and regulated functioning. Parliamentary legitimation is the legitimation of an organization, an institution, and not an individual; this function does not belong to the deputy and not to the deputies, but to the parliament as a whole.

On the one hand, parliamentary legitimation is a consequence of the democratic election of the parliament, the democratism of its functioning and transparency, on the other hand, the legitimate effect of the parliament extends to the entire political system, including extra-parliamentary state institutions.

As a conclusion on this issue, it should be noted: the power of parliament is a derivative of the sovereignty of the people on the basis of democratic elections. In the interests of fulfilling certain functions, parliament is vested with legitimate power; in the system of separation of powers, parliamentary power is isolated from other subsystems of power, but at the same time it is forced to interact with them; the power of the parliament is constitutional, the authorities are guaranteed normatively; parliamentary power is connected with the performance of certain functions. It has a guaranteed scale and character, and the functions themselves objectively determine both the breadth of the parliament's powers and their limits; parliamentary power and parliamentarism as a specific structure and system of power are part of the party political system, in which the parties are fighting with each other for power in parliament.

The essence of modern parliamentarism is exhausted by these criteria, all other existing characteristics are their derivatives. These are parliamentary elections, the internal functioning of the parliament, its structure, organizational system, its relationship with other factors of power, the status of a deputy, etc. In Ukraine, the full development of parliament and parliamentarism as a system of representative bodies of power became possible with the proclamation of independence and independence. The entire previous period during the years of Soviet power, the Verkhovna Rada was a session-acting body, and its powers in the period between sessions actually belonged to such bodies as the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, which made it impossible to clearly distribute the functions of legislative and executive bodies, to effectively represent the interests of citizens ...

With the adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine in 1996, the Verkhovna Rada acquires the status of a permanent body, becomes the only legislative body of the state, which is created on the basis of the election by citizens of 450 deputies.

The powers of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine are defined in Art. 85 of the Constitution, which approved the relevant legislative, budgetary, financial, control and personnel powers (see the topic "The state as the main institution of the political system").

Everything considered above allows us to conclude that the modern parliament is an institution of power that has many functions, a special internal and organizational structure.

The constitutional definition of the statuses of the parliament and the deputy, the range of issues that are regulated exclusively by law, did not unleash at this stage the problem of the lag of Ukrainian parliamentarism from the requirements of the present. This primarily concerns the limitation of the oligarchic privileges of deputies, which contradict the modern civilized practice of parliamentarism:

• - budgetary expenditures per deputy (salary, expenses for referents and technical, communication and consumer services, recreation) exceed the average salary by more than 20 times;
• - a deputy cannot be held criminally liable, arrested, and administrative measures cannot be applied against him without the consent of the Verkhovna Rada;
• - inspection, search of personal belongings, luggage, transport, residential or office premises of the deputy is not allowed;
• - after the end of his powers, a deputy is given a previous or equivalent job, for the period of employment, a deputy's salary is paid for one or two years;
• - in case of impossibility of employment and the presence of 20 years of experience, deputies receive 50 percent of the deputy's salary;
• - within five years after the termination of his powers, a deputy cannot be dismissed from his job without the consent of parliament;
• - Regardless of the length of stay in the legislature, the deputy receives a pension in the amount of 80 percent of the deputy's salary, retains the right to free medical care.

In addition, parliamentary deputies are trying to secure the ownership of a service apartment in amendments to the law on the status of a deputy, and their enrollment in the government's personnel reserve. Such privileges stimulate the coming to power of people not of a social-centered, but of a corysty-loving orientation.

Such issues as a clear definition of the disciplinary responsibility of a deputy before parliament remain unresolved; public availability of materials on the authorship of bills and voting of the deputy corps, participation of deputies in the work of commissions; improvement of the procedures of the legislative process, delimitation of its stages, discussion of bills and voting on them. This results in:

• - firstly, before the emphasis is shifted from work in commissions to work in plenary sessions;
• - secondly, to the fact that the deputies are not directly involved in the development of draft laws, which creates the possibility of changing the conceptual content of draft laws;
• - thirdly, to weakening factional responsibility for the quality of the bill;
• - fourthly, to vote for themselves and for their "like-minded people";
• - Fifthly, to the strengthening of collective pressure on the position of the deputy in situations of special emotional upsurge during parliamentary debates.

The procedures for taking into account expert assessments and the positions of lobbying groups during the discussion of the draft law remain undeveloped.

In addition, it should be noted that the civilized level of parliamentarism depends not only on the legal procedures regulating this process, but above all on the mature social structure and the party system, political culture elite and electorate. In transitional societies, parliaments generally reflect the complexity and contradictory nature of the social situation, do not always keep up with the kaleidoscopic dynamics of political events and therefore become a brake on social transformations both through their oligarchic privileges and illegal lobbying of the interests of economically dominant groups, and through populist flirting with voters.

English parliament from fr. parler - to speak) is the generic name of the highest representative and legislative body in democratic states. Actually "P." this body is named in Great Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Belgium, etc .; in the United States and most Latin American countries it is called a congress, in the Russian Federation it is called the Federal Assembly, in Lithuania and Latvia it is called the Seim, and so on. The unicameral and bicameral structure of P. is distinguished (see. Bicameral system. Unicameral system).

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

PARLIAMENT

or the legislature - the highest national (state) representative body state power, authorized to perform legislative, control and some other functions in the constitutionally specified parameters. P. in different countries are called differently: in Great Britain and Japan - the parliament, in Russia and Switzerland - the Federal Assembly, in the USA - the Congress, in France - the National Assembly and the Senate, etc. They can be generally subdivided into P • with unlimited powers, with limited powers and advisory. P. of the first two categories, i.e. Legislatures with unlimited and limited powers occupy a central place in the political and legal mechanisms of their countries, largely predetermining the very content and features of the chosen form of government (actually parliamentary, presidential, mixed). The establishment of advisory legislatures, or quasi-parliaments, is characterized by political regimes type of absolute monarchies in Muslim countries with fundamentalist traditions (for example, in Kuwait, UAE). As for the highest representative bodies of state power in the countries of totalitarian socialism, they are generally not P., since the whole procedure for their organization and activity is built on principles that are opposite to the principles of parliamentarism. Usually P. are unicameral and bicameral. P. with a large number of chambers, as was the case in Yugoslavia or South Africa, is a rare exception. In bicameral P., the so-called lower and upper chambers are created (for example, in Great Britain - the House of Commons and Lords, in Russia - the State Duma and the Federation Council, in Switzerland - the National Council and the Council of Cantons (Council of States according to the 1999 Constitution), in the USA - the House representatives and the Senate, in France - the National Assembly and the Senate, in Japan - the House of Representatives and Councilors, etc.). In any case, the constitution of the upper chambers is more connected in modern era with the tasks of strengthening P.'s responsibility and professionalism as a whole, rather than with the goals of establishing an instrument of restraint, braking the lower chambers in their "ultra-democratic" aspirations, as was the case at the dawn of parliamentarism. The upper chambers are able to more broadly and rationally represent and defend regional and local interests: federal states- their subjects of the federation, in unitary - territorial collectives. Chambers differ significantly in their methods of formation - from elective (lower and many upper) to occupying a place in the chamber by office, by appointment (many upper). The House of Lords in Great Britain, to a certain extent, was formed until 1999 by inheritance law. In terms of numerical composition, on average, the lower chambers consist of 400-600 deputies, the upper ones - from 100 to 300 members. The lower chambers are usually elected for 4-5 years, the upper ones are formed for 6-9 years with periodic rotation of a certain part of the total composition. The competence of each chamber is enshrined in the Constitution, has its own exclusive range of rights and obligations that reveal its social and legal purpose. However, in principle, only jointly, in the creative unity of both chambers, can P. can fully realize its functions as the highest representative body of state power. The main purpose of P. is primarily a legislative function, i.e. development and adoption of laws, incl. financial and budgetary purposes, which constitute the fundamental basis of the entire legal system of the country. The control function is to control P. over the activities of the government and other higher bodies of state power and is expressed in such forms as hearing reports, checking the quality and effectiveness of the norms of delegated legislation, ratifying international treaties, etc. (see also Parliamentary Control). In addition, the functional prerogatives of P. include a number of administrative and managerial powers (for example, the appointment and dismissal of some senior officials), judicial, more precisely quasi-judicial (impeachment, amnesty), as well as a constituent plan (creation of state institutions or participation in them formation). By definition, a government should be a sovereign authoritative body, the formation and operation of which is entirely subordinate to the tasks of implementing national tasks. This is the essence of its representative function. See also Federal Assembly, State Duma, Federation Council. THEM. Stepanov

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

German Parlament, eng. parliament, fr. parlement parler - to speak) - the highest representative body of power in many countries, built entirely or ch. arr. on an elective basis.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

Parliament

from fr. parler - speak, confer).

1) Estates-representative institution. The emergence of the English. n. refers to 1265, when Simon de Montfort first convened a meeting of the largest prelates and barons, also inviting two knights from each county and two townspeople from the most important cities. Finally English. n. was formed by the end of the XIII century. to the reign of Edward I. Eng. the state took the form of an estate monarchy. In the first floor. XIV century. The item was divided into two chambers (before that there was a unicameral item): the upper one - the House of Lords and the lower - the House of Commons. In a personal letter, the king invited major secular and spiritual feudal lords (barons, archbishops, bishops, abbots of influential monasteries) to the House of Lords. Knights were elected to the House of Commons (they were elected at meetings of the counties by open vote, two knights from the county. In total, the county was sent to item 74 knights) and representatives of cities (under Edward I, two representatives from 165 cities were invited to n. small towns). Together they had a numerical superiority over the barons and began to be collectively referred to as "communities". Ch. the function of the item was to approve taxes and provide subsidies to the crown. In the XIV century. has acquired the right to participate in the publication of laws (statutes, bills). The House of Lords was the highest court. body for polit, affairs. Lower layers of mountains. population and peasantry were not represented in the item.

Incomplete definition ↓

Parliament is the highest legislative and representative body in those countries where power is divided into legislative (it belongs to parliament) and executive (in the hands of the President and the Prime Minister).

Names of parliament around the world

In some countries, the parliament has the same name. For example, in Moldova and Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, Italy, South Ossetia, Greece, Great Britain, Canada, Romania, Kazakhstan, Australia and Georgia, Nauru and New Zealand, and others.

In a number of countries, MPs have established their own names for parliament through the Constitution. For example,
- in Russia, the parliament is called the Federal Assembly (the Federation Council is the upper chamber and the State Duma is the lower chamber of parliament),
- Sweden - Riksdag,
- Finland - Eduskunta,
- USA - bicameral parliament Congress (consists of the upper house - the Senate and the lower - the House of Representatives)
- in Germany - the Bundestag,
- China - the parliament is called the National People's Congress
- Turkmenistan - Mejlis,
- Israel - Knesset,
- Mongolia - Khural,
- Ukraine - Verkhovna Rada
- Bulgaria's parliament is called the People's Assembly
- in Lithuania, Poland and Latvia, the name of the parliament is the Seim
- Switzerland - the parliament is called the Federal Assembly (Stenderat and Nationalrat)
- Serbia - Assembly
- Estonia - Riigikogu
- in Japan - the parliament is called Kokkai (House of Councilors and House of Representatives)
- in Croatia - Sabor
- in Tajikistan - the bicameral parliament is called Majlisi Oli (Majlisi Milli and Majlisi Namoyandagon)
- in Turkmenistan - Mejlis
- in Uzbekistan - the bicameral parliament is called the Oliy Majlis (Senate and Legislative Chamber)
- in Syria - the name of the parliament People's Council

Parliament is called a representative body, since the regions of the country and the entire population in it have representatives - deputies who are elected
- or in a single-mandate constituency - voting for political parties
- or in multi-mandate (majority) constituencies, in each of which the population elects its own candidate.

Parliament can consist of one or two chambers, which are called lower and upper. Usually the entire parliament or its lower house is formed through general elections. So, in Russia - the lower house is called the State Duma, the upper house is called the Federation Council.

The parliament is named as a legislative body due to the fact that it is empowered to pass laws obliged for citizens of the entire state, incl. for all branches of government, including the President, cabinet of ministers, courts.

In some cases, parliament is also vested with powers such as forming and controlling the executive branch. For example, he can pass a vote of no confidence to the government or impeach the president.

Which countries do not have parliaments

There are no parliaments in monarchical states where the power of the head of the country is not limited.

• The Vatican is an absolute monarchy, the state is ruled by the Holy See. All power belongs to the Pope, who is elected by the cardinals for life.
• Saudi Arabia- an absolute monarchy, where since 2005. appeared (according to Western media, clearly sympathetic to the main US ally in the Middle East) "signs of parliamentarism" in the form of "municipal elections" to local authorities. Only men over the age of 21 were admitted to the elections. As a rule, imams of local mosques were elected to local authorities.
• Oman is an absolute monarchy in which the Sultan (again under pressure from the United States and Great Britain) introduced the "Shura Council" since 1998 - an advisory body in which the "speaker" is appointed by the Sultan himself, and 82 deputies have the right to recommend to the Sultans measures for the economic and environmental development of the state without touching international issues.
• Qatar is an absolute monarchy in which the emir himself appoints the prototype of a "parliament" (Consultative Council) of 45 members, promising in the future that 30 of them will be elected.
• Brunei - an absolute monarchy, there is not even a prototype of parliament, the sultan himself appoints the executive branch - a government consisting of his closest relatives who lead the armed forces, oil production, govern the regions (4 administrative districts - daera)
• The Order of Malta is an elective monarchy ruled by the Sovereign Council. The state is headed by the Grand Master, elected for a life term. Together with the Grand Master, four main officials of the state are elected for 5 years (Grand Commander, Grand Chancellor, Keeper of the General Treasury, Grand Hospitaller).

Any democracy requires sacrifices, including funds for the maintenance of parliament and the work of deputies. They consist of
- direct costs - financing of the parliamentary apparatus (from the speaker's salary to building cleaners, utility bills, car park, etc.)
- indirect payments - free travel of deputies around the country by rail and air, business trips abroad, free medicine and treatment of deputies, free tourism and recreation of parliament members in sanatoriums and rest homes, free real estate (renting an apartment or building a deputy's apartment), free car etc.

So,
- the budget of the State Duma of Russia is just over 6.1 billion rubles (about 190 million US dollars), of which 4 billion rubles is the salary fund for parliament members.
- maintenance of the Verkhovna Rada - the apparatus of the parliament of Ukraine in 2012. cost the people of Ukraine 865 hryvnia (or 105.5 million US dollars)
- in Greece, which is experiencing the deepest crisis - the maintenance of the parliament costs the people of Greece 148.751 million euros (in 2012 it was 22 million more), incl. financing of the members of parliament themselves costs 19.326 million euros (against 21.226 million euros in 2012)
- Seimas - the Parliament of Latvia spends 11.462 million lats (about 21 million US dollars) on its maintenance

Benefits for Members of Parliament

In each of the countries of the world, the benefits of parliament members differ from each other, but they also have a lot in common. So, the deputies of the State Duma of Russia have
- parliamentary immunity according to which a member of parliament does not have the right to be detained and arrested by the police, the prosecutor's office, or the court.
- the right to free travel by air, water, rail, road transport (except for taxis), the right to purchase free tickets for this transport out of turn.
- free use of official transport
- having arrived on a business trip, the deputy is obliged to meet a car from the local authority at the gangway
- free hotel
- free accommodation in Moscow in a hotel room of the "Higher-A" category
- at the end of parliamentary powers in parliament, the state pays them all the costs of moving and is issued lump sum"For a device" in the amount of 1/2 the salary of a deputy and 1/4 of the salary of family members of a parliamentarian
- the leave of deputies of both chambers of the Russian parliament (members of the Federation Council and deputies of the State Duma) is 48 working days (according to the norms of the most harmful and dangerous profession in Russia)
- in addition to vacation pay, the so-called treatment allowance is paid to the deputies of the Russian parliament in the amount of two parliamentary salaries.
- after the retirement of a deputy (if he has worked in the Federation Council or the State Duma of Russia for more than 1 year), a monthly salary supplement in the amount of 55 to 75% of the deputy's salary is due, which is indexed annually.
- a State Duma deputy is issued a diplomatic passport.

History of the creation of parliament

In the ancient states, organs of people's representation already existed. For example, in Ancient rome there was the Senate. The oldest parliaments are Tynwald (Isle of Man) and Althingi (Iceland). They were created in the 10th century. In other states, there were popular assemblies, councils of elders, veche and so on. In the Middle Ages, the estate-representative system spread. That is, the bodies, which consisted of representatives of different classes, performed a role similar to the parliament. For example, in France there were the States General, in Spain - the Cortes, in Russia - the Zemsky Sobor.

It is believed that the ancestor of the modern parliament is England. Back in the 13th century, a prototype of the parliament was formed there. It happened at the moment when the “Magna Carta” was signed by King John Lackland. This document stated that the king has no right to introduce new taxes without the consent of the royal council. So Great Britain became the first country in which parliament assumed full power.

History testifies to the fact that parliament was assigned the role of a shock absorber between society and government. Also, thanks to him, the society had the power of its representatives. During social upheavals, parliament often played a decisive role. An example is the English Revolution of the 17th century.

At first, the parliament was still a secondary body, designed to simply smooth out conflict situations between the people and the government. But gradually, in most countries, it turned into the highest state body.

Parliamentary elections

By democratic standards, it is necessary that the parliament is elected directly by the population. At least one of his wards. Elections, as an indicator, show the mood of the society. They find their expression in political parties with different orientations. The government is usually formed by the party that won the majority of the votes. Sometimes it can be a coalition. Elections can be held according to two systems: proportional, when parties are elected, and majoritarian, when deputies from electoral districts are elected. Elections are held regularly (usually once every 4-5 years).

On the composition of parliaments

The parliamentarians of the lower house are called MPs, and the upper ones are called senators. The parliament may include a different number of people - from several tens to two or three thousand, but on average it is 300-500 people.

If the parliament is bicameral, they are called differently. For example, the lower house in Great Britain is called the House of Commons, and the upper house is called the House of Lords. In Russia, the parliament is divided into the State Duma and the Federation Council, in the USA - into the House of Representatives and the Senate, in Kazakhstan - into the Mazhilis and the Senate. The upper house is usually not formed in the same democratic way as the lower one.

Parliament is divided into chambers so that bills that are initiated and adopted by the lower house are approved by the upper one. The latter most often takes positions that are close to the government. There is a variant of a multi-chamber parliament, but only in one country - Spain.

Within parliament, as a rule, commissions and committees are created to oversee certain issues. For example, questions of economics or foreign affairs. The tasks of such units are to prepare parliamentary decisions on the relevant topic.

There are also factions in parliament. They are created according to the political principle, usually from the representatives of the party. The deputies who are not included in the factions are united in deputy groups.

An example of countries in which the parliament is unicameral: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Latvia, China, Ukraine, Finland, Estonia.

An example of countries with a bicameral parliament: Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Russia, Romania, USA, France, Switzerland.

International parliaments

Some of the established international bodies can also be defined as parliament. Usually their work takes place in a structure of some kind international organization... These bodies can also be elected by the population of the countries. However, most often they are formed by representatives of national parliaments.

The European Union, the Central American Parliament and the Andean Council hold popular elections for the legislature. It is planned to hold such elections to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Russia and Belarus, as well as to the Arab Parliament.

In the CIS, OSCE, NATO and the Council of Europe, there are Parliamentary Assemblies from representatives of parliaments. The Interparliamentary Union is based in Geneva. It is the association of the world's parliaments. There is also the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking countries. It was established in Istanbul in 2008.