Description
Book SynopsisLegislatures are political bodies essential to democracy and the rule of law. They present social scientists with numerous intriguing puzzles, with far-reaching implications for our understanding of political institutions. Why, and how, have these ancient assemblies, established in pre-democratic times, survived the transition to mass democracies? How have they adapted? How do they structure such processes as budgeting, legislation, and executive oversight? How do their members get selected, and what consequences flow from differences in these rules? What roles do committees and political parties play in contemporary legislatures? What functions do legislatures perform in autocratic, semi-democratic or recently democratized societies? What explains the similarities and differences in legislative rules, powers and recruitment? What are the policy and other consequences of variation in how legislatures are organized and function? The 33 chapters in The Oxford Handbook of Legislative Stud
Trade ReviewThis Handbook is fundamental reading for all scholars devoted to the study of political institutions, political parties and legislative studies. * Eugenio Salvati, Political Studies Review *
Table of ContentsPART I: THEORIES; PART II: METHODS; PART III: REPRESENTATION AND LEGISLATIVE CAREERS; PART IV: ORGANISATION AND RULES; PART V: PARTIES IN THE LEGISLATURE; PART VI: POLICY MAKING AND OVERSIGHT; PART VII: EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF LEGISLATIVE ANALYSIS
