Parliamentary Questions, the Behaviour of Legislators, and the Function of Legislatures: An Introduction

The ability of parliamentarians to ask questions of members of the executive either in written form or on the floor of the chamber is a feature of many legislatures. Parliamentary questions often generate significant media attention and public interest. Despite the interest and importance, the natur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of legislative studies 2011-09, Vol.17 (3), p.259-270
Main Author: Martin, Shane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountability
Collectives
constituency orientation
Institutions
Legislative behaviour
Legislative Bodies
legislative function
Legislative process
Legislators
Mass Media
measuring legislator behaviour
Parliament
Parliamentarians
parliamentary questions
Political actors
Public Interest
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Summary:The ability of parliamentarians to ask questions of members of the executive either in written form or on the floor of the chamber is a feature of many legislatures. Parliamentary questions often generate significant media attention and public interest. Despite the interest and importance, the nature and consequences of questioning in parliament remains obscure. As a working tool of parliamentarians, questions provide recorded data on individual members and the parliament as a collective institution. This paper suggests an analysis of parliamentary questions as a method for gaining better understanding of the preferences and behaviour of individual legislators and the role and function of modern-day parliaments.
ISSN:1357-2334
1743-9337
DOI:10.1080/13572334.2011.595120