Improving Democracy and Accountability in Ghana: The Importance of Parliamentary Oversight Tools

Stapenhurst, Rick; Pelizzo, Riccardo

doi:10.1111/j.1468-0491.2012.01573.x

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…This approach has been recognised in relation to the UK HoC (Jogerst, 1993). Similar assumptions about committee bi-partisanship have been identified elsewhere, for example concerning Ghana (Stapenhurst and Pelizzo, 2012) and New South Wales (Clune and Griffith, 2006). In contrast, more partisan committee atmospheres have been observed, for example, in Singapore (Meng, 1999).…”

Section: Committee Scrutinysupporting

confidence: 64%

Devolution and the enhancement of scrutiny: A case study of the committees of the National Assembly for Wales

Cole

2013

Public Policy and Administration

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This article addresses committee scrutiny undertaken at the National Assembly for Wales during the third assembly (2007–2011). The analysis is addressed through a scrutiny framework that considers the substantive issues in terms of three overarching elements – selection, access to information and assistance, and evaluation. The framework is developed through scholarship about the UK House of Commons as well as a wide range of other parliaments and assemblies. This analysis is also used to identify features facilitating effectiveness and specify seven hypotheses concerning explanations for scrutiny characteristics. The analysis is then applied to the Welsh case study, which results from a substantive series of interviews with Assembly Members, witnesses and officials, as well as significant documentary analysis.

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Section: Committee Scrutinysupporting

confidence: 64%

Devolution and the enhancement of scrutiny: A case study of the committees of the National Assembly for Wales

Cole

2013

Public Policy and Administration

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“…Accountability and its importance for contemporary democracies has been widely discussed in the literature, especially in the relationship between parliaments and governments (Olsen, ; Strøm, Müller, & Bergman, ). In doing so, the question of how parliaments execute their oversight function has attracted growing interest lately (Blom‐Hansen, ; Karlas, ; Stapenhurst & Pelizzo, ; Winzen, ). However, these studies often ignore that parliamentary oversight might vary across policy fields, since policy fields differ in their institutional settings, involved actors, and available resources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Varieties of accountability: How attributes of policy fields shape parliamentary oversight

Bundi

2017

Governance

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This article demonstrates how attributes of policy fields shape parliamentary oversight across policy fields. Building on the accountability literature, the study develops the argument that parliamentarians will more likely oversee policy fields where cooperative forms of governance are more present, since these policies are more difficult to assess and have a higher need of legitimation. Using the example of policy evaluation demand by members of parliament in Switzerland, the study suggests that parliamentarians seek more control in a policy field, where public activities are more often delegated to nopublic actors or the need for legitimation is particularly high. Both effects increase with the policy field's closeness to science. These findings could be very relevant in order to understand how attributes of policy fields shape political institutions.

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“…There are significant outliers. Both Lindberg and Zhou (2009) and Stapenhurst and Pelizzo (2012) highlighted Ghana's democratization as one of the political success stories in Africa. At the same time, however, its legislative power is weak and possibly becoming weaker (Draman 2018).…”

Section: John Ishiyama University Of North Texas Usamentioning

confidence: 99%

Democracy, Legislatures, and Business Conditions in Post-Authoritarian African Regimes

Stapenhurst

Côté

2018

APSC

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Bangladeshi citizens enjoyed a competitive, multiparty political system with regularly contested elections. Despite serious weaknesses of other democratic institutions-including the Election Commission; a trust deficit among major political parties particularly among two major parties: the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Awami League (BAL); and repeated episodes of political violence-free and fair elections in regular Bangladesh embraced parliamentary democracy in 1991, after a short-lived one-party authoritarian system in 1975 and 15 years of military and pseudo-civilian rule. However, by 2018, it is an example of how an enfeebled legislative body can become a tool of the executive in its authoritarian agenda. the parliament to impeach Supreme Court judges. When the High Court and the Supreme Court annulled the amendment (2017), the ruling party engaged in the vilification of the Chief Justice, who later "resigned" and left the country. Bangladesh's experience since 2009, particularly two constitutional amendments, shows how a hybrid regime utilized the legislature as a tool for strengthening its authoritarian tendencies. n

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Improving Democracy and Accountability in Ghana: The Importance of Parliamentary Oversight Tools

Cited by 13 publications

References 6 publications

Devolution and the enhancement of scrutiny: A case study of the committees of the National Assembly for Wales

Devolution and the enhancement of scrutiny: A case study of the committees of the National Assembly for Wales

Varieties of accountability: How attributes of policy fields shape parliamentary oversight

Democracy, Legislatures, and Business Conditions in Post-Authoritarian African Regimes

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