Since forming a parliamentary party in 1994, the Bloc Québécois has been interpreted exclusively as the formal federal manifestation of the Québec separatist movement. Although the partys raison dêtre is well known, less so are its actions in the House of Commons. This thesis begins with two main assumptions: first, traditional characterizations of the BQ are incomplete because they ignore crucial aspects of the partys actual behaviour; second, conventional approaches to the study of new parties in Canada perpetuate the emphasis on the BQs nationalist ideology. <p>Taking a new approach to the new party, this is a study of the Bloc Québécois as a party in Canadas Parliament. In order to learn more about the Blocs performance in the House of Commons and its committees, this thesis examines the Blocs contribution to debate on the formulation of national policy. Contrary to what might be expected of a separatist party, the following case studies show the BQ contributing willingly and substantively to parliamentary deliberation on a wide array of pan-Canadian issues. Moreover, during debate, Bloquistes are rarely found demanding an independent Québec state; instead, they address legislation brought before the House, promoting a liberal, social-democratic set of values. Far from being a maverick in Parliament, the BQ is a full participant. In fact, Bloquistes enhance the quality of parliamentary debate, and counterbalance the views of the right-wing Reform/Alliance party. <p>Throughout the thesis the Blocs surprising parliamentary performance is explained by an analysis of the influence of power and institutions on the actions of political agents. It concludes that by accepting membership in the House of Commons, the BQ has been forced to conform to parliamentary rules and customs. Subsequently, Parliament has limited the partys ability to advocate Québec secession, and has broadened its perspective to consider all matters of national concern.

Since forming a parliamentary party in 1994, the Bloc Québécois has been interpreted exclusively as the formal federal manifestation of the Québec separatist movement. Although the partys raison dêtre is well known, less so are its actions in the House of Commons. This thesis begins with two main assumptions: first, traditional characterizations of the BQ are incomplete because they ignore crucial aspects of the partys actual behaviour; second, conventional approaches to the study of new parties in Canada perpetuate the emphasis on the BQs nationalist ideology. <p>Taking a new approach to the new party, this is a study of the Bloc Québécois as a party in Canadas Parliament. In order to learn more about the Blocs performance in the House of Commons and its committees, this thesis examines the Blocs contribution to debate on the formulation of national policy. Contrary to what might be expected of a separatist party, the following case studies show the BQ contributing willingly and substantively to parliamentary deliberation on a wide array of pan-Canadian issues. Moreover, during debate, Bloquistes are rarely found demanding an independent Québec state; instead, they address legislation brought before the House, promoting a liberal, social-democratic set of values. Far from being a maverick in Parliament, the BQ is a full participant. In fact, Bloquistes enhance the quality of parliamentary debate, and counterbalance the views of the right-wing Reform/Alliance party. <p>Throughout the thesis the Blocs surprising parliamentary performance is explained by an analysis of the influence of power and institutions on the actions of political agents. It concludes that by accepting membership in the House of Commons, the BQ has been forced to conform to parliamentary rules and customs. Subsequently, Parliament has limited the partys ability to advocate Québec secession, and has broadened its perspective to consider all matters of national concern.

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Nowadays, the western societies are based on parliamentary democracy. Therefore, weak legislative power of the European Parliament is alleged for the democratic deficit in the EU. How it can be possible that the parliamentary democracy which is practiced on the national level can be achieved beyond the nation-states without diminishing the democracy at the nation-states? If not, how legitimacy can be obtained so that the continued existence and expansion of the EU should be justified? Since expectations for democratization of the EU are still unmet, finding answers to the actual questions is a great appeal. The thesis will explore the fundamental debates and arguments contributing to the democracy in the EU through the parliaments. I will try to reflect to the different ways of thinking and the prospects of establishing parliamentary democracy beyond the nation states.

The topic of this research are the linkages between the descriptive and the substantive representation of women. The research questions seek to explore 1. in how far and on what basis women in parliament represent women and women's issues and how women in civil society perceive this 2. what obstacles to the work of women in congress are identified 3. to what extent women in Chilean congress work amongst each other and over organizational barriers with women's organizations and SERNAM and lastly 4. how the findings on the questions above relate and contribute to the broader debate on mediating factors between DRW and SRW and what conclusions on the potential impact of a quota on these factors they allow. For this purpose, this field study involved interviews conducted in April and May 2015 in Santiago de Chile and Valparaiso as well as one via Skype. The interviewees were seven current and recent female members of the Chilean congress as well as five representatives from reputable women's organizations. Furthermore, the extensive literature on the topic as well as reports on the issue of gender equality were reviewed. The method applied was qualitative and abductive. No theory-testing was involved, instead the approach was exploratory and theories and analytical frameworks were used as inspiration for interview questions in an abductive way. The results of this study shed light on six variables drawn from the research debate, the role of women's diversity, the impact of their attitudes towards the representation of women, tokenism, 'women's issues', feminist triangles and here also the relation of legislators to feminism, and finally the impact of numbers on all variables. Specifically feminist triangles reveal a wealth of interactions and potential for the promotion of enhancing SRW in ways contingent and non-contingent on DRW.

Many of the institutions of Canada are modelled upon those of Great Britain. Since the origin of the Canadian question period are founded on those of Great Britain, a brief preliminary discussion of the British practices is necessary. Thus the first chapter of this thesis will be devoted to a study of the question period at Westminster, from its origins in 1731 until it evolved into its modern form in the closing years of the nineteenth century. [...]

Darbe nagrinėjama Vokietijos Federacinės Respublikos parlamento institucija, jos konstitucinė kompetencija bei pagrindinės ypatybės Vokietijos konstitucinės teisės raidoje. Naudojantis sisteminės analizės, lyginamuoju, loginiu analitiniu, lingvistiniu, istoriniu, sintezės bei apibendrinimo metodais nagrinėjama parlamento struktūra, jo funkcionavimas ir veiklos tendencijos. / The paper deals with the parliamentary institution of the Federal Republic of Germany, with its jurisdiction in the constitutional power framework, and the main features of the parliamentary institution in the context of development of the constitutional law. The analysis of the German Basic Law, the Rules of Procedure of the Bundestag and the Rules of Procedure of the Bundesrat, other laws, and views by researchers from Germany and other states are the tools used by the author to describe the roles of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, which are conditioned by the division of power in the Federal Republic of Germany. The paper analyses peculiarities of German parliamentary governance in relation to the development of Bundestag and Bundesrat institutions. The paper also investigates the growing competence of the German Bundesrat in conciliation of interests of the German Federation and federal entities in shaping the will of the state.

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Question Time is a distinctive daily parliamentary routine. Its aim is to hold Ministers of the State accountable for the actions and decisions of the Government. However, in many Parliaments, including the New Zealand and Australian Federal Houses of Representatives, it is more of a theatrical performance where parties try their best to score political points. As any performance, Question Time is governed by certain rules and regulations outlined in an official document Standing Orders. As there is not much action, Standing Orders mainly describe language norms and specify „unparliamentary language‟. This research looks at and analyses the use of formulaic vocabulary used by MPs in the year preceding general elections in New Zealand and Australia. The formulaic language includes phrasal lexical items and formulae for asking / answering questions, for raising points of order and the Speakers‟ idiolectal phrasal vocabulary for quelling disorder in the Chambers and regulating the work of the House. The framework developed for this research consisted of the following steps: an ethnographic study of Question Time as a communicative performance which included the development of a database containing all the empirical material; a xii linguistic study of Question Time including genrelect study, parliamentary formulae study and disorder analysis before the elections. As a result this research has shown that Question Time is a communicative performance event in New Zealand and Australia with significant cultural, historic and linguistic differences in spite of the common origins of the two Parliaments. It has identified 60 Question Time genre-specific phrasal lexical items that MPs use in the two Parliaments, studied their structure and meaning (where necessary). It has also looked at the strategies the MPs employ for creating disorder in the House, and the ways of quelling disorder by the Speakers of the two Parliaments.

Theme: The Regulation of the European Parliament‘s internal Procedure Main categories: The European Parliament, European Parliament Rules of Procedure, European Parliament‘s President, Parliamentary committees, Quaestors, Political groups, Bureau, Delegations. In this Master thesis we analyze the European Parliament‘s principles and peculiarities of The internal Procedure and work organization. We deal with the European Parliament‘s structural Units, which are compared with structural Units of Seimas in the Republic of Lithuania. This comparison shows the complicated European Parliament‘s structure. In this Master thesis the main attention is paid to the analysis of the European Parliament‘s internal procedure and work organization. Furthermore, we study separated structural Units in the European Parliament, such as: the European Parliament‘s President, Political groups, Parliamentary committees, Bureau, Questors, Delegations, Secretariat and other smaller Units (The Directorate – General for the Presidency, The Directorate – General for Internal Policies, The Directorate – General for External Policies, The Directorate – General for Personnel, The Directorate – General for Infrastructure and Interpretation, The Directorate – General for Finance, The Legal Service). In the third part the European Parliament‘s structural Units are compared with structural Units of Seimas in the Republic of Lithuania. The are some similarities and differences. This comparison shows the... [to full text]