role of parliament in democratic and non democratic government
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Answer:
Before we can identify the parliamentary contribution to democracy we need first to be clear what we understand ‘democracy’ to mean. In brief, democracy is both an ideal and a set of institutions and practices. As an ideal, it expresses two very simple principles: first, that the members of any group or association should have the determining influence and control over its rules and policies, through their participation in deliberations about the common interest; second, that in doing so they should treat each other, and be treated, as equals. These principles are applicable from the smallest group up to the largest state; how effectively they are realised in practice is the touchstone of how democratic any association can claim to be.
At the level of the modern state these democratic principles are only realised through a complex set of institutions and practices, which have evolved over time and continue to do so. These include: a guaranteed framework of citizen rights; institutions of representative and accountable government; an active citizen body or civil society; and a number of mediating institutions between government and citizens, among which political parties and the media are the most important. Although parliaments belong most obviously to the second, governmental, set of institutions, they also have a key role to play in relation to the others. This is what makes them the central institution of a democracy.