Legislative Activity in the Canadian House of Commons: Does Majority or Minority Government Matter?
This study assesses the impact of majority and minority governments on legislative activity in the Canadian House of Commons. The quantitative analysis spans the 22nd to the 40th Parliaments (1953–2009) and examines legislative productivity and success by government type. The analysis of descriptive data confirms that minority governments are somewhat less productive and successful than their majority counterparts. However, the analysis emphasizes significant variation for majority governments. Neither governing context guarantees success or failure as contextual factors largely condition legislative activity.
Parliament's Capacity to Expand Political Controversy in France
This paper examines the policy role of the parliament in the French Fifth Republic. Under the constitutional strictures within which it operates, the parliament can affect the policy process principally by changing the venue of a debate from the realm of experts to that of politicians, forcing the issue onto the national agenda. In such a case, the parliament may force the government to scale down or abandon its plans, in spite of the government's greater constitutional strengths.
The Influence of Standing Committees of Parliament on Government Legislation
This paper raises the question of whether the standing committees of the Canadian House of Commons have become more influential in the legislative process as a result of the procedure adopted in December, 1968, which refers government bills automatically to the committees after second reading. The conclusion reached on the basis of a number of case studies is that, while the legislative process is variable, the influence of committees upon government legislation has remained limited to the details of policy rather than its substance, mainly because of the unwillingness of governments to slacken party discipline in relation to this aspect of committee work. The latter part of the paper discusses whether the extended use of committees has helped the House of Commons to cope with the expanding legislative agenda of the government.