In Legislatures in the Policy Process leading specialists in comparative governments reassess the conventional view that legislatures are either marginal to the policy-making process or becoming increasingly so. In the opening chapter, David Olson and Michael Mezey identify three categories of variables--external influences, internal influences and policy attributes--which can affect the policy-making role of legislatures. They specify sixteen hypotheses that describe the relationship among these variables and the policy participation of legislatures. In subsequent chapters, these hypotheses...

In Legislatures in the Policy Process leading specialists in comparative governments reassess the conventional view that legislatures are either marginal to the policy-making process or becoming increasingly so. In the opening chapter, David Olson and Michael Mezey identify three categories of variables--external influences, internal influences and policy attributes--which can affect the policy-making role of legislatures. They specify sixteen hypotheses that describe the relationship among these variables and the policy participation of legislatures. In subsequent chapters, these hypotheses...

Although we tend to use the terms "representative democracy" and "democracy" as synonyms, they are not. Democracy means that the people govern; representative democracy means that the people elect others to govern for them. This raises the question of the extent to which representative government approximates democracy, a question that turns on the relationship between representatives and those whom they represent. Rich in thoughtful analysis, Representative Democracy incorporates normative, empirical, and comparative perspectives on representation. It is perfectly suited for use in an...

Although we tend to use the terms 'representative democracy' and 'democracy' as synonyms, they are not. Democracy means that the people govern; representative democracy means that the people elect others to govern for them. This raises the question of the extent to which representative government approximates democracy, a question that turns on the relationship between representatives and those whom they represent. Rich in thoughtful analysis, Representative Democracy incorporates normative, empirical, and comparative perspectives on representation. It is perfectly suited for use in an...

This book explores the increasing use of Constituency Development Funds (CDFs) in emerging democratic governments in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Oceania. CDFs dedicate public money to benefit parliamentary constituencies through allocations and/or spending decisions influenced by Members of Parliament (MPs). The contributors employ the term CDF as a generic term although such funds have a different names, such as electoral development funds (Papua New Guinea), constituency development catalyst funds (Tanzania), or Member of Parliament Local Area Development Fund (India), etc. In some...