Stronger legislatures, stronger democracies?

[lpetrich]

Stronger Legislatures, Stronger Democracies | Journal of Democracy - January 2006 - by M. Steven Fish

In order to assess the real impact of different governmental arrangements on democratization, we must penetrate beyond general categories for classifying constitutional systems and measure the power of specific institutions. This essay presents a new instrument for measuring the powers of national legislatures across different constitutional frameworks that examines the postcommunist countries’ Freedom House scores and ratings on a Parliamentary Powers Index at the constitutional moment and beyond. The evidence shows that the strength of the national legislature may be an institutional key to democratization.

A reprint: 1. Fish pp 5-20.pmd - StrongerLegislaturesStrongerDemocracy.pdf

"The evidence shows that the presence of a powerful legislature is an unmixed blessing for democratization."

Notes that there has been a lot of argument on the pluses and minuses of the three main kinds of representative democracy: parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential (a hybrid of the first two)

Classical examples of each one: the UK, the US, France.

However useful they may be, such categories do not necessarily tell us where power really resides, which may be what matters most for politics. For example, the United States, Mexico, and Uzbekistan all have presidential systems. Yet the U.S. Congress has formidable sway; the Mexican Congress has much less power; and the Uzbekistani Majlis (parliament) is powerless. In formal terms, Russia, Kazakhstan, Poland, and Mongolia all have semi-presidential systems. Yet in Russia and Kazakhstan presidents rule and the legislatures sit on the sidelines. In Poland and Mongolia presidents are hemmed in by legislatures that dominate national politics.

So Steven Fish developed a Parliamentary Powers Index of 32 possible powers that a legislature may have. The more of these powers a legislature has, the more powerful it is.

He had some experts score the ex-Communist countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and he compared these scores with Freedom House's scores. There was a strong correlation between the the countries' PPI values and FH scores for 2003 - 2005, the most recent years before the publication of that paper.

There was much more scatter and only a very weak correlation for the time that each nation's post-Communist constitution was adopted. That was over years 1989 - 1996, with an average of year 1993. The nations' amount of movement to their more recent positions was more in the direction of democracy for the ones with the stronger legislatures.

 

[lpetrich]

Belarus is the most autocratic European country. It started out with a FH score of 4.4 and ended up with one of 6.0 (higher = less democratic and more autocratic). Its PPI is 0.28.

By comparison, Czechia started out with a FH score of 2.0 end ended up with one of 7.8. Its PPI is 0.78.

Of these nations, Russia is the biggest player in international politics. Its FH score went from 3.5 to 5.1, becoming more autocratic. Its PPI is 0.44.

Why does this correlation exist? I will quote from the paper.

How does weakness on the part of the legislature inhibit democratization? First, it undermines “horizontal accountability,” which Guillermo O’Donnell defines as “the controls that state agencies are supposed to exercise over other state agencies.” In polities where authoritarian regimes have broken down and new regimes are taking their place, the temptation to concentrate power in the executive is great. People often confuse concentrated power with effective power, and the president is usually the beneficiary. While one might expect the judiciary to provide some protection against abuse of power, habits of judicial quiescence inherited from the authoritarian period often ensure that the courts will not counterbalance executive power in the early years of transition. Under such circumstances, the legislature is the only agency at the national level that is potentially capable of controlling the chief executive. Where the legislature lacks muscle, presidential abuses of power -- including interference in the media, societal organizations, and elections -- frequently ensue, even under presidents who take office with reputations as democrats.

Legislative weakness also inhibits democratization by undermining the development of political parties. In polities with weak legislatures, political parties drift and stagnate rather than develop and mature. Parties are the main vehicles for structuring political competition and for linking the people and their elected officials. The underdevelopment of parties therefore saps political competition of its substance and vigor and checks the growth of “vertical accountability,” meaning the ability of the people to control their representatives.

Also,

Stronger legislatures served as a weightier check on presidents and thus a more reliable guarantor of horizontal accountability than did weaker legislatures. They also provided a stronger stimulus to party-building. Where legislatures were more powerful, people invested more in parties and parties grew stronger. The strength of parties varied positively with the strength of the legislature. Furthermore, stronger parties were better at linking the people and elected officials—that is, at promoting vertical accountability—than were weaker parties.

 

[lpetrich]

Here is a list of PPI scores by nation: Microsoft Word - Parliamentary Powers Index, Scores by Country.doc - PPIScores.pdf
From M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig, The Handbook of National Legislatures: A Global Survey (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009)

From 2016, Measuring Legislative Power: An Expert Reweighting of the Fish‐Kroenig Parliamentary Powers Index - Chernykh - 2017 - Legislative Studies Quarterly - Wiley Online Library by Svitlana Chernykh, David Doyle, & Timothy J. Power

They find a Weighted Legislative Powers Score (WLPS) for a large number of nations.

Here is a table of legislative powers, ordered by the weightings in that paper:
[table="class:grid"]
[tr][td]1.[/td][td]Investigation[/td][td]8.45270[/td][td]The legislature can conduct independent investigation of the chief executive and the agencies of the executive.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2.[/td][td]All Elected[/td][td]8.30068[/td][td]All members of the legislature are elected; the executive lacks the power to appoint any members of the legislature.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]3.[/td][td]No Veto[/td][td]8.13176[/td][td]Laws passed by the legislature are veto-proof or essentially veto-proof; that is, the executive lacks veto power, or has veto power but the veto can be overridden by a majority in the legislature.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]4.[/td][td]No Dissolution[/td][td]8.01014[/td][td]The legislature is immune from dissolution by the executive.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]5.[/td][td]Controls Own Resources[/td][td]7.96959[/td][td]The legislature controls the resources that finance its own internal operation and provide for the perquisites of its own members.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]6.[/td][td]Unrestricted Initiative[/td][td]7.95270[/td][td]The legislature has the right to initiate bills in all policy jurisdictions; the executive lacks gatekeeping authority.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]7.[/td][td]Replace Executive[/td][td]7.90541[/td][td]The legislature alone, without the involvement of any other agencies, can impeach the president or replace the prime minister.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]8.[/td][td]Regular Sessions[/td][td]7.88176[/td][td]The legislature is regularly in session.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]9.[/td][td]Interpellate[/td][td]7.86824[/td][td]The legislature has powers of summons over executive branch officials and hearings with executive branch officials testifying before the legislature or its committees are regularly held.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]10.[/td][td]Oversee Coercion[/td][td]7.82770[/td][td]The legislature has effective powers of oversight over the agencies of coercion (the military, organs of law enforcement, intelligence services, and the secret police).[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]11.[/td][td]Confidence Vote[/td][td]7.64865[/td][td]The legislature can vote no confidence in the government.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]12.[/td][td]Declare War[/td][td]7.60135[/td][td]The legislature's approval is necessary for the declaration of war.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]13.[/td][td]Ratify Treaties[/td][td]7.46622[/td][td]The legislature's approval is necessary to ratify treaties with foreign countries.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]14.[/td][td]No Decree[/td][td]7.44257[/td][td]Any executive initiative on legislation requires ratification or approval by the legislature before it takes effect; that is, the executive lacks decree power.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]15.[/td][td]Seek Re-Election[/td][td]7.42568[/td][td]A seat in the legislature is an attractive enough position that legislators are generally interested in and seek re-election.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]16.[/td][td]Mandatory Expenditures[/td][td]7.38514[/td][td]Expenditure of funds appropriated by the legislature is mandatory; the executive lacks the power to impound funds appropriated by the legislature.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]17.[/td][td]Experienced Incumbents[/td][td]7.30068[/td][td]The re-election of incumbent legislators is common enough that at any given time the legislature contains a significant number of highly experienced members.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]18.[/td][td]Appoint PM[/td][td]7.17905[/td][td]The legislature appoints the prime minister.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]19.[/td][td]Amend Const[/td][td]7.17568[/td][td]The legislature alone, without the involvement of any other agencies, can change the Constitution.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]20.[/td][td]No Term Limits[/td][td]7.06757[/td][td]Legislators are eligible for re-election without any restriction.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]21.[/td][td]Policy Staff[/td][td]6.77027[/td][td]Each legislator has at least one nonsecretarial staff member with policy expertise.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]22.[/td][td]Appoint Ministers[/td][td]6.74324[/td][td]The legislature's approval is required to confirm the appointment of ministers; or the legislature itself appoints ministers.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]23.[/td][td]Appoint Judges[/td][td]6.58446[/td][td]The legislature reviews and has the right to reject appointments to the judiciary; or the legislature itself appoints members of the judiciary.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]24.[/td][td]No Jud Review[/td][td]5.78378[/td][td]The legislature's laws are supreme and not subject to judicial review.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]25.[/td][td]Personal Secretary[/td][td]5.66216[/td][td]Each legislator has a personal secretary.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]26.[/td][td]Lacks Presidency[/td][td]5.42230[/td][td]The country lacks a presidency entirely or there is a presidency, but the president is elected by the legislature.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]27.[/td][td]Immunity[/td][td]5.30405[/td][td]Members of the legislature are immune from arrest and/or criminal prosecution.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]28.[/td][td]State Media[/td][td]5.17230[/td][td]The legislature has a substantial voice in the operation of the state-owned media.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]29.[/td][td]Central Bank[/td][td]5.10811[/td][td]The chairman of the central bank is appointed by the legislature.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]30.[/td][td]Ministers Serve[/td][td]4.54730[/td][td]Ministers may serve simultaneously as members of the legislature.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]31.[/td][td]Grant Amnesty[/td][td]4.40878[/td][td]The legislature has the power to grant amnesty.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]32.[/td][td]Grant Pardon[/td][td]4.08446[/td][td]The legislature has the power of pardon.[/td][/tr]
[/table]