PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

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A parliament that is open and transparent I 63 research. Other parliaments hold specific Open Days, whether at set times throughout the year, or to mark some special anniversary. The Parliament of Kiribati opens itself to the whole public once a year to coincide with the date when the Parliament first opened in October 2000. The Estonian Riigikogu holds an Open House every 23 rd April to celebrate the day of its founding in 1919. The opportunity is open to any citizen to visit the parliament building and go on a conducted tour. A special question time is arranged for the guests in the parliamentary chamber with members of the Government participating and answering questions. The parliament also holds information days in rural areas and counties, where local people are able to question members on their work. This practice of taking parliament out to the people is a typical feature in some countries. Botswana has instituted a ‘Parliament on Wheels’ in which members of the Speaker’s and Information offices tour villages to explain the role of parliament in society. South Africa has organised ‘democracy roadshows’ whose aim has been ‘to take Parliament to communities that do not have ready access to Parliament so as to educate and inform people of how laws are made and how citizens can participate in law-making processes.’ Its second chamber, the National Council of the Provinces, locates itself in a different province for a week each year, to hold meetings with various stakeholders, especially from rural areas. The Great State Hural of Mongolia has established permanent ‘parliamentary advocacy centres’ in five districts of the capital and nine provinces, with the following objectives: ■ to develop relations between members of parliament and their voters, and between local administrators and civil society, in a systematic way; ■ to organise local training sessions, public discussions, hearings and seminars; ■ to involve local media and elected officials in advocacy work relating to parliamentary activity. These outreach programmes are not just a feature of developing societies, as the example of Sweden shows: In 2003 Riksdag ‘branches’ were opened in three towns: Gothenburg, Malmo and Sundsvall. Together with the municipal libraries of each town, the Riksdag has equipped a section of the library with screens, printed educational and information material, an IT workstation for connecting to the Riksdag website, and the opportunity of following web broadcasts from it. Members of the Riksdag from each region also use the Riksdag ‘branches’ to meet voters and hold debates.
64 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Informing and involving young people Most parliaments acknowledge that they have a special problem in interesting the young in representative politics. This is not because young people lack any interest in politics as such. Many are actively involved in advocacy causes and single-issue campaigns. Yet of all age groups they are the least likely to vote, and their alienation from parliamentary politics is particularly marked. In view of this situation, parliaments are now making strenuous efforts to engage the interests of school pupils in their work. These initiatives take many forms. Some are school-based, some are located in parliament itself, and some involve a combination of the two. School-based initiatives The most basic of these is teaching about parliament as part of the school curriculum. The South African Parliament is developing a civic education training programme for young adults to show ‘how Parliament functions, how laws are made and how the public can engage with the law-making process. It is envisaged that this programme will eventually constitute part of the school curriculum.’ Another of its initiatives has been the production of an awardwinning comic book, A Day in Parliament, which has been distributed to every school in the country. Figure 3.3: A Day in Parliament Comic Book Source: Parliament of South Africa (1999). A Day in Parliament
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consideration of a bill more effect
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strengthening of both legislative a
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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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Commonwealth Parliamentary Associat
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Non-governmental organisations Cent
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types of, 8, 15-17, 69 voter partic
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Sweden, 63, 75, 110, 112, 165 gende
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PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

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