The Handbook of National Legislatures A Global Survey [Hardcover]

This book provides comprehensive survey-based data regarding the powers of national legislatures worldwide.This book assesses the strength of the national legislature of every country in the world with a population of at least a half-million inhabitants, using data generated by means of a vast international survey of experts, extensive study of secondary sources, and painstaking analysis of constitutions and other relevant documents.This book assesses the strength of the national legislature of every country in the world with a population of at least a half-million inhabitants, using data generated by means of a vast international survey of experts, extensive study of secondary sources, and painstaking analysis of constitutions and other relevant documents.Where is the power? Students of politics have pondered this question and social scientists have scrutinized formal political institutions and the distribution of power among agencies of the government and the state. But we still lack a rich bank of data measuring the power of specific governmental agencies, particularly national legislatures. This book assesses the strength of the national legislature of every country in the world with a population of at least a half-million inhabitants. The Legislative Powers Survey (LPS), is a list of 32 items that gauges the legislatures sway over the executive, its institutional autonomy, its authority in specific areas, and its institutional capacity. Data were generated by means of a vast international survey of experts, extensive study of secondary sources, and painstaking analysis of constitutions and other relevant documents. Individual country chapters provide answers to each of the 32 survey items, supplemented by expert commentary and relevant excerpts from constitutions.1. Introduction; 2. Country studies; 3. Comprehensive lists of country scores; 4. List of expert consultants.This is an impressive undertaking, genuinely novel in its conception, and remarkably brlC*