Research Article

Measuring the Decline of Parliaments: New indicators and Turkey as an Illustrative Case

Volume: 73 Number: 1 March 26, 2018
TR EN

Measuring the Decline of Parliaments: New indicators and Turkey as an Illustrative Case

Abstract

Parliamentary systems historically represent the power of people and are based on parliamentary supremacy. The executive emerging from the parliament blurs the lines between the legislation and executive powers and results in more of a fusion of powers rather than separation. Thus, the relative power of parliament compared with the executive branch has been a subject of study. However, some empirical studies show that the executive branch has been increasing its power vis-à-vis the legislature in many parliamentary systems. As declining parliaments become a popular research topic, the development of indicators for declining parliament gains urgency. This paper revisits the indicators employed in studies on deparliamentarization. In addition to discussing the two commonly used indicators, government stability and responsiveness of governments, it introduces two new ones: the parliament’s role in government change, and the legislative initiative by the parliament. Then, these four indicators are applied to a country case and analyze the changes in the power of parliament in Turkey. The data on these major indicators show that although not exactly linear, there has been a power shift from the parliament to a very strong executive, and “deparliamentarization” has been particularly rapid and profound since the 1980s.

Keywords

References

  1. Referans 1
  2. Arter, David (2006), “Introduction: Comparing the Legislative Performance of Legislatures”, The Journal of Legislative Studies, 12 (3-4): 245-257.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

-

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

March 26, 2018

Submission Date

September 28, 2017

Acceptance Date

January 8, 2018

Published in Issue

Year 2018 Volume: 73 Number: 1

APA
Kabasakal, M. (2018). Measuring the Decline of Parliaments: New indicators and Turkey as an Illustrative Case. Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Dergisi, 73(1), 269-289. https://doi.org/10.1501/SBFder_0000002497
AMA
1.Kabasakal M. Measuring the Decline of Parliaments: New indicators and Turkey as an Illustrative Case. SBF Dergisi. 2018;73(1):269-289. doi:10.1501/SBFder_0000002497
Chicago
Kabasakal, Mehmet. 2018. “Measuring the Decline of Parliaments: New Indicators and Turkey As an Illustrative Case”. Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Dergisi 73 (1): 269-89. https://doi.org/10.1501/SBFder_0000002497.
EndNote
Kabasakal M (March 1, 2018) Measuring the Decline of Parliaments: New indicators and Turkey as an Illustrative Case. Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Dergisi 73 1 269–289.
IEEE
[1]M. Kabasakal, “Measuring the Decline of Parliaments: New indicators and Turkey as an Illustrative Case”, SBF Dergisi, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 269–289, Mar. 2018, doi: 10.1501/SBFder_0000002497.
ISNAD
Kabasakal, Mehmet. “Measuring the Decline of Parliaments: New Indicators and Turkey As an Illustrative Case”. Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Dergisi 73/1 (March 1, 2018): 269-289. https://doi.org/10.1501/SBFder_0000002497.
JAMA
1.Kabasakal M. Measuring the Decline of Parliaments: New indicators and Turkey as an Illustrative Case. SBF Dergisi. 2018;73:269–289.
MLA
Kabasakal, Mehmet. “Measuring the Decline of Parliaments: New Indicators and Turkey As an Illustrative Case”. Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Dergisi, vol. 73, no. 1, Mar. 2018, pp. 269-8, doi:10.1501/SBFder_0000002497.
Vancouver
1.Mehmet Kabasakal. Measuring the Decline of Parliaments: New indicators and Turkey as an Illustrative Case. SBF Dergisi. 2018 Mar. 1;73(1):269-8. doi:10.1501/SBFder_0000002497