CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2016
| Author | Kazai, Viktor Zoltán |
|---|---|
| Title | Parliament in opposition: the analysis of the powers of the opposition and their impact on the legislative process in Hungary, Germany and France |
| Summary | The central argument of this thesis is that according to the proper interpretation of the separation of powers doctrine, the parliament has the constitutional obligation of making the most important political decisions and, for the fulfillment of this constitutional requirement, enabling the parliamentary opposition to effectively participate in the legislative process is indispensable. In the first part of this thesis, I focus on the analysis of certain specific aspects of the separation of powers doctrine with regard to the legislative power of legislatures in parliamentary systems. I argue that it follows from the constitutionally protected separation of powers doctrine that the most important political decisions have to be made by the parliament. I will continue with highlighting those phenomena which may easily deprive the parliament from its autonomy necessary for making decisions according to its own will. I will conclude that in parliamentary systems legislatures are particularly vulnerable to the overwhelming dominance of governing majorities in the legislative process which is particularly concerning in light of the requirements of the separation of powers doctrine. In the second half of the thesis I concentrate on the possible ways of enhancing the autonomy of the parliament, its ability to resist the will of the government. I put the parliamentary opposition into the focus of my examination and argue that granting the opposition certain powers to effectively participate in the legislative process and have an impact on the final decisions is a suitable means of strengthening the parliament vis-á-vis the government. I analyze those elements of the internal organization of the parliament which can give the parliamentary opposition a stronger position of bargaining with the governing majority: entities exercising opposition powers, second chambers, and legislative committees. |
| Supervisor | Mathias Möschel |
| Department | Legal Studies LLM |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2016/kazai_viktor.pdf |
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