The introduction of legislation aimed at decreasing gender imbalances in Mauritius has not led to an increase in women's access to parliament. While Mauritius is not unique in this, it is an interesting case to examine because Mauritius prides itself on being a leader in Africa as a democratic and strong middle-income country that has achieved success in many socio-economic areas. But Mauritius is faced with a paradox: despite its abundance of gender-related legislation, it is lagging behind in gender equality at the national level, as manifest by the few women in parliament. Regarding this issue, little research has been done to examine the challenges of translating legislative gains into actual change. Albie Sachs, former judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa (2002), summarizes the Mauritian case by stating: Mauritius can justly be proud of the admiration which its democratic life enjoys internationally. It cannot, however, hold up its head in terms of participation of women in political life. When half the population ends up with only a one-twentieth share of representation, it manifests a grave democratic deficit (as cited in Athal, 2012, p. 17).

This dissertation by publication which focuses on gender and the Australian federal parliament has resulted in the submission of three refereed journal articles. Data for the study were obtained from 30 semi-structured interviews undertaken in 2006 with fifteen (15) male and fifteen (15) female members of the Australian parliament. The first of the articles is methodological and has been accepted for publication in the Australian Journal of Political Science. The paper argues that feminist political science is guided by five important principles. These are placing gender at the centre of the research, giving emphasis to women’s voice, challenging the public/private divide, using research to transform society and taking a reflexive approach to positionality. It is the latter principle, that of the importance of taking a reflexive approach to research which I explore in the paper. Through drawing on my own experiences as a member of the House of Representatives (Forde 1987-1996) I reflexively investigate the intersections between my background and my identity as a researcher. The second of the articles views the data through the lens of Acker’s (1990) notion of the ‘gendered organization’ which posits that there are four dimensions by which organizations are gendered. These are via the division of labour, through symbols, images and ideologies, by workplace interactions and through the gendered components of individual identity. In this paper which has been submitted to the British Journal of Political Science, each of Acker’s (1990) dimensions is examined in terms of the data from interviews with male and female politicians. The central question investigated is thus to what extent does the Australian parliament conform to Acker’s (1990) concept of the ‘gendered organization’? The third of the papers focuses specifically on data from interviews with the 15 male politicians and investigates how they view gender equality and the Australian parliament. The article, which has been submitted to the European Journal of Political Science asks to what extent contemporary male politicians view the Australian parliament as gendered? Discourse analysis that is ‘ways of viewing’ (Bacchi, 1999, p. 40) is used as an approach to analyse the data. Three discursive frameworks by which male politicians view gender in the Australian parliament are identified. These are: that the parliament is gendered as masculine but this is unavoidable; that the parliament is gendered as feminine and women are actually advantaged; and that the parliament is gender neutral and gender is irrelevant. It is argued that collectively these framing devices operate to mask the many constraints which exist to marginalise women from political participation and undermine attempts to address women’s political disadvantage as political participants. The article concludes by highlighting the significance of the paper beyond the Australian context and calling for further research which names and critiques political men and their discourses on gender and parliamentary practices and processes.

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to identify if different levels of young members of parliament have a noticeable effect on young voters. This is done by examining electoral turnout and trust in parliament through statistical analysis using Denmark and Sweden as comparative cases. This paper is grounded in recent studies and research into young voter behaviour and relevant factors for political participation, it also takes into account the increasing volume of argumentative writings on increasing representation of young voters in official offices such as parliaments. The data used for the statistical analysis is the European Social Survey, specifically round 9. In 2018 both Sweden and Denmark were at the end of government periods and therefore the data takes into account a period of differing levels in young members of parliament. The findings of this study confirm differences between young voters of Sweden and Denmark, trust does not differ despite different levels of young members of parliament between Denmark and Sweden but electoral turnout does and young age is much less important for young voter turnout in Sweden compared to Denmark. Which could be related to the different levels of young members of parliament.

This thesis analyses the legal status and the importance of short titles in the legislative processes of the Westminster Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, and the US Congress. Through a large quantitative survey of US short titles that spanned over 30 years and 18 Congresses, it was demonstrated that there has been a paradigm shift in the way the US Congress titles its bills, in which it transitioned from a largely descriptive, technical style to a wider range of styles, among which a more explicitly evocative style became both acceptable and frequently used. Such titles are permeating the legislative process and the US statute book with what I argue is overly political language, and are blurring the lines between proselytizing and what has historically been regarded as a formally descriptive (not political) element of legislative drafting. Conversely, save for a few choice titles, the Westminster Parliament and Scottish Parliament continue to employ mostly descriptive short titles, similar to the previously innocuous style of the US Congress. From a contemporary and historical perspective in all three jurisdictions, the short titles of bills have been viewed as relatively insignificant reference points for those engaged and/or interacting with legislation from a drafting, legislative process or larger legal or political perspective, and have subsequently received little attention in the academic community. By employing a comparative research approach primarily focused on a cross-disciplinary literature review and hypothesis testing through three empirical projects, this thesis draws upon both qualitative and quantitative methods of research to answer the primary research questions. The main empirical method used was a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with lawmakers, staffers, bill drafters, government officials and media members from all three jurisdictions. Although the legal status of short bill titles in each jurisdiction differed, many individuals from each jurisdiction viewed short bill titles as a considerably important part of the lawmaking process. Also, to varying degrees in each jurisdiction, interviewees repeatedly offered the opinion that short titles: may affect a bill’s chances of becoming law; are at times misleading; serve as more than referential points; at times may pressure legislators to vote for a bill; may be used as framing devices; and sometimes employ language that is not justified during the legislative process. These support the proposition that short titles have legislative process and political implications. The interviews support the legislative process analysis of the three jurisdictions that Chapter IV discusses, which is that the Scottish Parliament operates with the strictest regulations in regards to short title accuracy. In addition to being the only jurisdiction studied that openly endorses a ‘proper form’ in which bills must be drafted (which explicitly mentions short titles), many Scottish interviewees stated that such titles were important in the legislative process for different reasons than US and Westminster interviewees, stressing descriptive legal accuracy and taking care in regard to bill scope, among other concerns. The thesis’ quantitative survey portion includes separate surveys and sample populations from the US and Scotland. Though data collection was marred by an error in the US, thus hindering the analysis of such data, the Scottish results suggested that short bill titles may have psychological effects when analysing the favourability of proposals: all four evocative naming types produced higher favourability ratings than bland titles, and some results were statistically significant. However, the naming types were not statistically significant in assessing why the measure was supported or whether participants desired more information on bills. In response to the absence of short bill title standards in the US Congress and Westminster Parliament, and with the aim of describing how the Scottish Parliament standards might be made more thorough, the thesis provides short title recommendations that are suitable for all three jurisdictions. These recommendations largely accentuate proper form for language and processes in order to ensure short title accuracy, and have the potential, if applied consistently, to significantly reduce the chances of overtly political or evocative language entering the country’s legislative processes or statute books. While acknowledging that in all three institutions studied short bill titling may be in many respects a small aspect of the monumental and lengthy policy process, this thesis advances the proposition that it is considerably important to those who interact with and encounter legislation frequently, and that preventing evocative language from entering short bill titles is a benefit for the legislative processes of all three jurisdictions.

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Constitutional Development in England from the beginning until the 17th century This thesis analyses the constitutional development and the evolution of the law and the society on the English territory from the formation of the first Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until the beginning of the 17th century. The aim of this work is to study the constitutional and legal development on the basis of historical events and thus offer an integrated interpretation and explanation of the issue. The thesis consists of eleven chronological chapters, in each of which the most important aspects of the constitutional development of the period are scrutinized. The emphasis is put on the most importan law heritage on the evolution of the law and law institutes, of the central as well as local state authorities and of the position and role of the sovereign/monarch in the given period. Particular attention is paid to the origin and the development of parliamentarism, its relation towards the monarch and their mutual interaction. The first chapter deals with the Anglo-Saxon period and the genesis of the origins of the legal development on the current English territory, with the arrival of Anglo-Saxon tribes and with the formation of the first political statehoods in this territory. The chapter focuses on the analysis of the most important...

Le Parlement européen est une assemblée supranationale élue au suffrage universel direct, qui occupe aujourd'hui une place essentielle dans le système politique communautaire. Il légifère avec le Conseil des normes législatives qui ont un impact direct sur les États et les individus de l'Union européenne. Cette thèse se propose d'étudier la problématique de la délibération au Parlement européen, autrement dit de la place croissante de l'Assemblée au sein de l'Union européenne. Il s'agit donc d'analyser comment le Parlement européen a conquis cette place et cette influence dans le système politique de l'Union européenne dans la période allant du Traité de Nice au Traité du Lisbonne. Aujourd'hui, le Parlement européen participe à la décision européenne par la délibération des députés issus de 28 États : il s'impose comme un co-Législateur, placé sur un pied d'égalité avec le Conseil dans la procédure législative, dispose d'un pouvoir budgétaire et joue un rôle de contrôle démocratique important sur toutes les instances européennes. Cette revalorisation des pouvoirs du Parlement européen se traduit par une modification de ses relations avec la Commission et le Conseil et par une influence plus sensible dans l'élaboration et la mise en œuvre des politiques de l'Union. Ce rôle institutionnel a été renforcé de manière significative avec l'entrée en vigueur du traité de Lisbonne. L'accroissement des pouvoirs de l'Assemblée, l' affirmation de son rôle au sein du triangle institutionnel et le renforcement du rôle des parlements nationaux dans le fonctionnement de l'Union européenne sont considérés comme des grandes évolutions du système politique de l'Union vers la parlementarisation. En dépit de multiples contraintes qui pèsent sur son fonctionnement, le Parlement européen dispose d'une grande autonomie organisationnelle et conduit sa délibération de manière efficace. / The European Parliament is a supranational assembly elected at direct universal suffrage, which is central in the Community's political system. It builds legislative norms together with the Council, which have a direct impact on the States and on the citizens of the European Union. This thesis dissertation studies the deliberation issue in the European Parliament, i.e. the growing weight of the Assembly within the European Union. The aim is to analyze how the European Parliament has won this place and such an influence in the European Union's political system in the period between the Nice and Lisbon Treaties. Today, the European Parliament is part of the European decision through the deliberation of the MPs of the 28 states : it established itself as a co-Legislator, on an equal footing with the Council into the legislative procedure; it also has a budgetary power and a major function of democratic control over all European authorities. This rise of the European Parliament's power led to a modification of its relation to the Commission and to the Council and to a greater influence in the elaboration and implementation of the EU's policies. This institutional role has been significantly reinforced by the Lisbon Treaty. The growth of the assembly's powers, the affirmation of its role within the institutional triangle and the reinforcement of the national Parliaments at the European level can be considered as major evolutions of the Union's political system towards parliamentarization. Despite the constraints weighing on its work, the European's Parliament has a genuine organizational autonomy and it deliberates efficiently.

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This article examines the multiple governments of independent Estonia since 1992 referring to their stability. Confronted with the immense problems of democratic transition, the multi-party governments of Estonia change comparatively often. Following the elections of March 2003 the ninth government since 1992 was formed. A detailed examination of government stability and the example of Estonia is accordingly warranted, given that the country is seen as the most successful Central Eastern European transition country in spite of its frequent changes of government. Furthermore, this article questions whether or not internal government stability can exist within a situation where the government changes frequently. What does stability of government mean and what are the varying multi-faceted depths of the term? Before analysing the term, it has to be clarified and defined. It is presumed that government stability is composed of multiple variables influencing one another. Data about the average tenure of a government is not very conclusive. Rather, the deeper political causes for governmental change need to be examined. Therefore, this article discusses the conceptual and theoretical basics of governmental stability first. Secondly, it discusses the Estonian situation in detail up to the elections of 2003, including a short review of the 9th government since independence. In the conclusion, the author explains whether or not the governments of Estonia are stable. In the appendix, the reader finds all election results and also a list of all previous ministers of Estonian governments (all data are as of July 2002).

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