PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

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An accessible parliament I 89 The NGOs provided the necessary research and analysis which parliament itself was not adequately resourced for, while the parliamentarians for their part provided the key leverage with government to bring a more gender-aware approach to budgeting across the different ministries. Gender budgeting has also now been developed in a number of other countries of sub-Saharan Africa, notably the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda, and includes analysis of budgets of local government where responsibility for delivery of many government services rests. The experience overall suggests that the practice of gender budgeting can help men as well as women, for example in identifying wasteful uses of resources, or a general weakness in parliament’s powers and procedures for budget oversight. Currently there are ongoing programmes of gender budgeting in over twenty developing countries as well as many developed ones. The challenge is to keep an initial impetus going over time, especially when change to one or two key parliamentarians may erode the necessary parliamentary backing for the initiative. Further online reading about international collaboration and training programmes on gender budgeting: Gender Responsive Budget Initiatives International Budget Project (2006). Related websites - by topic area: gender, youth, and development. Inter-Parliamentary Union, United Nations Development Programme, World Bank Institute and United Nations Fund for Women (2004). Handbook: Parliament, the budget and gender. Reports of IPU sem inars on Parliam ent and the Budgetary Process, including from a Gender Perspective: Inter-Parliamentary Union (2000). Regional seminar for English-speaking African Parliaments, 22-24 May 2000, Nairobi (Kenya). Inter-Parliamentary Union (2001).Seminaire regional pour les parlements francophones d’afrique, 1er-3 novembre 2001, Bamako (Mali). (document in French) Inter-Parliamentary Union (2002). Regional seminar for ASEAN+3 parliaments, 23 to 25 July 2002, Manila (Philippines). Inter-Parliamentary Union (2004). Regional seminar for parliaments of south-west Asia, 26 to 28 May 2003, Colombo (Sri Lanka).
90 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Citizen involvement through political parties The contemporary preoccupation with civil society and NGOs should not lead us to overlook a more traditional way in which citizens have involved themselves in the legislative process, and that is through membership of political parties. Here the influence of party members has typically been exercised through a number of channels: through candidate selection or voting for leadership positions; through ongoing links with an individual representative at constituency or district level; and through regional and national party conferences and policy forums. However, party membership figures in most western democracies are currently in a process of long-term decline, which can in many cases be linked to a decline in internal democracy within parties, and the marginalisation of those who do not support the leadership line. Political parties have always had to manage the potential divide in political views between their active members and the voters whose support they need to win an election, but current modes of doing so in many parties have not been conducive to attracting new members, especially among a younger generation. Examples of party renewal can be cited from one or two countries in most regions of the world, typically associated with particular election campaigns; but a more widespread and sustained renewal of the democratic base of political parties is overdue, given their importance to the representative process. Citizens’ initiatives and referendums As a different means to bridge the gap between parliament and citizens, a number of countries have introduced or considered introducing a right of citizens’ initiative, whereby citizens may submit proposals for legislation themselves directly, rather than merely proposals to amend or comment on legislation already before parliament. In some respects the distinction implicit here between a reactive and a proactive engagement of citizens may be overdrawn. As we have seen, wherever there are ongoing arrangements for linking a parliament with civil society groups, these will result in suggestions for new or amended legislation, and these must count as a form of civic ‘initiative’. The same is true wherever parliaments call for public debate on a subject or hold enquiries on specific issues with a view to future legislation, as many now do. However, the citizens’ initiative constitutes a distinctive right, and usually depends upon the collection of a minimum number of signatures from the electorate if it is to proceed. A citizens’ initiative may be advisory on parliament or mandatory; alternatively, it may lead to a popular referendum on the proposal. This latter is the
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3. Technology assessment. This has
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Australia Austria Belarus Belgium B
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Organization’s programmes aimed a
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MS. MARTA LAGOS CRUZ-COKE Executive
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MS. DULCE MARIA SAURI RIANCHO Membe
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types of, 8, 15-17, 69 voter partic
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PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

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