PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

4. An accessible parliament
The previous chapter concerned itself with the different ways in which citizens
can become informed about their parliament. Having accurate and up-todate
information about what parliament is doing is a precondition for exercising
any influence on the work of parliament either as an individual or through
organisations of like-minded citizens. This chapter looks at the different ways
in which parliaments are making themselves more accessible to citizens and
social groups, and in which they can hope to exercise influence in turn. It looks
first at modes of direct contact between citizens and their representatives; then
at ways in which parliaments can empower individuals to gain redress in the
event of grievance; finally at opportunities for citizen involvement in legislation
and other committee work of a parliament.
Direct contact between citizens
and their representatives
An accessible parliament I 69
The means through which citizens have traditionally had access to their parliament
has been through their elected representative(s). In most countries,
where the electorate is divided into geographically-based constituencies, and
members represent a specific locality, such access has typically been through
face to face contact in the area where the electors live. Defenders of constituency-based
electoral systems have always regarded it as their signal merit
that members should experience their constituents’ concerns and problems at
first hand, and not just rely on second-hand reports when assessing the impact
of legislation. Naturally, there is a danger, pointed out by a number of our
respondents, that members can become almost full-time social workers as a
consequence. ‘Electors expect that, once elected, the deputy should be available
to them at any time and in all circumstances - baptisms, marriages, funerals,
social assistance of all kinds’ (Mali). How parliamentarians balance the
reasonable expectation that they should understand and address the views and
interests of their constituents with the requirements of their legislative and
other parliamentary work, is one of the most difficult balancing acts they have
to undertake.
In the contemporary world the use of email has enormously enhanced the
ease and speed with which electors can contact their representatives. Yet, as
we have already seen, the ‘digital divide’ excludes large numbers from such
access. In most countries, therefore, the opportunity of meeting the represen-