Parliaments and Their Functions

Defining Parliament –  Parliament is the national legislature. There, a group of elected people, the Members of Parliament, make and change the laws of a country. This group of elected people is given a mandate by the citizens to represent them and be the voice for articulating their concerns at the national level.  Legislatures in democratic countries perform some basic functions in common. These are representation, lawmaking, and oversight functions.

Defining Representation – One major role of parliament in the governing process is to represent the opinions and interests of the citizens. Members of Parliament are elected by a set of eligible voters who form a group of constituencies representing the whole country. In some countries where the quota system is practiced some seats are reserved to ensure representation of special interest groups. For example in Uganda a parliamentary seat from each of the 39 districts is reserved for women. The objective is to increase women’s representation in Parliament.

Defining Lawmaking – Parliament enacts laws by subjecting issues of public interests to debate by drafting, modifying, and ratifying public policy into law Bills are introduced into Parliament either as public bills (related to public policy) or private bills (initiated by a particular interest group). When Bills are introduced in the house, they then go through a number of stages, this varies from country to country but the different stages can be summarized as follows: First reading, Committee stage, Second reading, the Consideration stage, and Third reading before being passed for presidential or royal assent.  Box 1.1 below shows the law-making process in Canada. (See also Appendix I.)