Download or read book Reforming Parliamentary Democracy written by Leslie Seidle and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2003-06-13 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors address issues of representation - the move to a proportional electoral system in New Zealand, the unsuccessful attempt to establish a domestic head of state in Australia, and the reform of the British House of Lords - and demonstrate that citizens increasingly want legislative institutions to more closely reflect the societies they serve. To discuss responsiveness, the governance of indigenous communities and their place within the broader society in Canada and New Zealand are examined, as is the role of institutions other than legislatures that are involved in protecting minority rights and responding to various forms of diversity. A separate chapter analyses the basis for and merits of proposals to reform the Canadian House of Commons. In addition, authors review the dynamics of federalism, intergovernmental relations, and other processes of multi-level governance in Canada, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. Public debate about adapting governance processes to changing conditions and citizen values is a necessary condition of successful democracies and there is much to learn from progress and false starts in other parliamentary democracies. Contributors include Jonathan Boston (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand), Paul Chartrand (consultant, Victoria, British Columbia), Stéphane Dion (minister of Intergovernmental Relations, Government of Canada), David Docherty, Mason Durie (Massey University), Robert Hazell (University College London), Christina Murray (University of Cape Town), Cheryl Saunders (University of Melbourne), Leslie Seidle, Jennifer Smith (Dalhousie University), and Lord Wakeham (former chairman of the Royal Commission on House of Lords Reform).

Download or read book Improving Democracy Through Constitutional Reform written by Roger D. Congleton and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do constitutions matter? Are constitutions simply symbols of the political times at which they were adopted, or do they systematically affect the course of public policy? Are the policy crises of failing democracies the result of bad luck or of fundamental problems associated with the major and minor constitutional reforms adopted during their recent histories? The purpose of the present study is to address these questions using a blend of theory, history, and statistical analysis. The Swedish experience provides a nearly perfect laboratory in which to study the effects of constitutional reform. During the past 200 years, Swedish governance has shifted from a king-dominated system with an unelected four-chamber parliament to a bicameral legislature elected with wealth-weighted voting in 1866, and then to a new electoral system based on proportional representation and universal suffrage in 1920, and finally to a unicameral parliamentary system in 1970. All these radical reorganizations of Swedish governance were accomplished peacefully using formal amendment procedures established by previous constitutions. By focusing on constitutional issues rather than Sweden's political history, this book extends our understanding of constitutional reform and parliamentary democracy in general.

Download or read book Thoughts on Parliamentary Reform written by John Stuart Mill and published by . This book was released on 1859 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An argument advocating universal suffrage with plurality of voting based on education; proposing representation in government of minorities; and condemning the secret ballot.

Download or read book Reforming Democracy written by Camille Bedock and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study provides a better empirical understanding of the world of democratic reforms in consolidated democracies, thanks to a new data-set covering six dimensions of reform in 18 European countries. Secondly, the book provides evidence about the link between the lack of political support and democratic reforms, and the role of electoral shifts in fostering reforms. Thirdly, this research shows that the final outcome of a given reform depends on the type of reform at stake and on the process used during the phase of discussion of the reform, through case studies in Ireland, France, and Italy.

Download or read book Reforming American Government written by Donald L Robinson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-09-16 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Government deficits, the spiraling imbalance of trade, inconsistencies in foreign policy, illegal immigration, unemployment, the decay of our cities, the abuse of the environment, the staggering cost of elections, and the piracy of special interest groups—these problems and a host of others have led thoughtful citizens to question whether our polit

Download or read book Plan of Parliamentary Reform in the Form of a Catechism with Reasons for Each Article written by Jeremy Bentham and published by . This book was released on 1818 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Emergence of British Parliamentary Democracy in the Nineteenth Century written by J. B. Conacher and published by New York : Wiley. This book was released on 1971 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Essays on Reform written by and published by . This book was released on 1867 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Democratizing the Constitution written by Peter Aucoin and published by . This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely book examines recent history and ongoing controversies as it makes the case for restoring power to where it belongs - with the people's elected representatives in Parliament.

Download or read book Perfecting Parliament written by Roger D. Congleton and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 669 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains why contemporary liberal democracies are based on historical templates rather than revolutionary reforms; why the transition in Europe occurred during a relatively short period in the nineteenth century; why politically and economically powerful men and women voluntarily supported such reforms; how interests, ideas, and pre-existing institutions affected the reforms adopted; and why the countries that liberalized their political systems also produced the Industrial Revolution. The analysis is organized in three parts. The first part develops new rational choice models of (1) governance, (2) the balance of authority between parliaments and kings, (3) constitutional exchange, and (4) suffrage reform. The second part provides historical overviews and detailed constitutional histories of six important countries. The third part provides additional evidence in support of the theory, summarizes the results, contrasts the approach taken in this book with that of other scholars, and discusses methodological issues.

Download or read book The Politics of Electoral Reform written by Alan Renwick and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-02-04 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elections lie at the heart of democracy, and this book seeks to understand how the rules governing those elections are chosen. Drawing on both broad comparisons and detailed case studies, it focuses upon the electoral rules that govern what sorts of preferences voters can express and how votes translate into seats in a legislature. Through detailed examination of electoral reform politics in four countries (France, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand), Alan Renwick shows how major electoral system changes in established democracies occur through two contrasting types of reform process. Renwick rejects the simple view that electoral systems always straightforwardly reflect the interests of the politicians in power. Politicians' motivations are complex; politicians are sometimes unable to pursue reforms they want; occasionally, they are forced to accept reforms they oppose. The Politics of Electoral Reform shows how voters and reform activists can have real power over electoral reform.

Download or read book Reforming Democracies written by Douglas A. Chalmers and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-22 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even well-established democracies need reform, and any successful effort to reform democracies must look beyond conventional institutions—elections, political parties, special interests, legislatures and their relations with chief executives—to do so. Expanding a traditional vision of the institutions of representative democracy, Douglas A. Chalmers examines six aspects of political practice relating to the people being represented, the structure of those who make law and policy, and the links between those structures and the people. Chalmers concludes with a discussion of where successful reform needs to take place: we must pay attention to a democratic ordering of the constant reconfiguration of decision making patterns; we must recognize the crucial role of information in deliberation; and we must incorporate noncitizens and foreigners into the political system, even when they are not the principal beneficiaries.

Download or read book Parliamentary Democracy written by Nicholas Hopkinson and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title was first published in 2001. With the collapse of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe, the legitimacy of one-party, and often one-person rule in other parts of the world has been fundamentally challenged. It appears that for the first time parliamentary democracy has become the universally accepted model to adopt or to be perfected. Newer democracies have started to build the institutions and capacity necessary to sustain democracy, while established democracies continue to refine their democracy, sometimes introducing full-scale reforms. This book examines whether elements of the perfect democracy can be identified and how democratic structures and practices can be improved.

Download or read book Parliament Must be Reformed written by Sir Ivor Jennings and published by London, Trench. This book was released on 1941 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Perfecting Parliament written by Roger D. Congleton and published by . This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 669 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains why contemporary liberal democracies are based on historical templates rather than revolutionary reforms; why the transition in Europe occurred during a relatively short period in the nineteenth century; why politically and economically powerful men and women voluntarily supported such reforms; how interests, ideas, and preexisting institutions affected the reforms adopted; and why the countries that liberalized their political systems also produced the Industrial Revolution. The analysis is organized in three parts. The first part develops new rational choice models of (1) governance, (2) the balance of authority between parliaments and kings, (3) constitutional exchange, and (4) suffrage reform. The second part provides historical overviews and detailed constitutional histories of six important countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan, and Germany. In all the countries discussed, liberal democracy emerged from a long series of constitutional reforms, rather than as a quantum leap from authoritarian to democratic governance. The third part provides additional quantitative evidence in support of the theory, summarizes the results, contrasts the approach taken in this book with that of other scholars, and discusses methodological issues.

Download or read book The Politics of Parliamentary Reform written by David Judge and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book breaks new ground with a critical examination of the mainstays of the British reformist agenda--electoral reform, committee organization, devolution, the upper chamber, and the assertion of backbench independence.

Download or read book The Struggle for Democracy written by Roger Mason and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2015-05-04 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prior to the 1832 Reform Act the electoral system was rife with corruption and in desperate need of reform. In England and Wales only about 12 per cent of adult men had the vote and the proportion was even less in Scotland and Ireland. Women did not vote at all. A single person controlled a rotten borough that returned two Members of Parliament, and for a number of years one of them was the prime minister. Furthermore, not only did voting take place in public, so landlords could and did evict tenants who voted against their wishes, but voting qualifications also differed from place to place. With the use of many fascinating anecdotes, Roger Mason tells how we got from then to now. All the major reforms are covered: Catholic Emancipation, further Reform Acts, the end of the House of Lords veto and, of course, votes for women. This fascinating history offers a complete insight into the way we have voted from the beginnings of Parliament through to the present day.