chapter 22
...................................................................................................................................................LEGISLATIVE
ORGANIZATION
...................................................................................................................................................john m. carey
1 Introduction
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Legislatures are, at least according to the formal rules set out by constitutions,
the principle policy-making institutions in modern democracies. The most fun-
damental policy decisions—budgets, treaties and trade agreements, economic,
environmental, and social regulation, elaboration of individual and collective
rights—all must be approved by legislatures. In light of this, what is expected
from legislatures in a democracy? To put it another way, how are legislatures to go
about meeting this formidable array of responsibilities? I suggest that the following
jobs top the list:
. representing diversity;
. deliberation;
. cultivating information and expertise;
. decisiveness;
. checking majority and executive power.
If these are the goals at which democratic legislatures aim, then it is worth asking
what research on comparative legislatures tells us about whether they are realized.
This chapter examines each of the normative goals in turn, beginning with a brief