• Parliamentary development

Parliamentary development

This briefing paper discusses the issues surrounding parliamentary performance in supporting good governance, democracy and poverty reduction. It particularly focuses on the relationships between parliaments and donors, and how improving these relationships can enhance performance.

The author argues that parliaments can play an important role in delivering governance which is good for poverty reduction and democracy. However, parliaments in developing countries tend to be weak and ineffective and have been marginalised by donors. Donors’ support for parliamentary strengthening must respond to local demand.

Parliamentary strengthening is possible. The paper presents a list of guidelines for donors to follow in order to aid this process. These guidelines include:

• Respond to what parliaments and other development stakeholders say they need in terms of parliamentary strengthening. Do not impose inappropriate models of how parliament should work
• Address the causes of poor parliamentary performance, rather than solely the symptoms
• Take full account of the local context including the political context within which parliaments function
• Involve a range of local organisations, and interest groups, including opposition MPs and parties as well as members of the government
• Use particular issues such as budget oversight, anti-corruption, HIV/AIDS and poverty reduction as entry-points for improving parliamentary performance, rather than focusing solely on parliamentary procedures.

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