9 - Parliaments and public policy: an assessment

Summary

The several chapters in this volume have provided us with a wealth of data not just on legislatures but on the nations themselves and on the manner in which their political institutions struggle to deal with some of the major policy questions of the day. These chapters demonstrate once again that each political system is to some extent unique and to that same extent its legislature and the policy-making role that it assumes also will be unique.

None the less, it is still important to know how far or how little the data of these chapters have advanced us toward a better understanding of the variables that can offer a cross-national explanation for the salience of legislative institutions in the policy-making process generally and, more specifically, in economic policy-making. With these data, gathered from such a diverse set of national contexts, we can return to the hypotheses with which we began this volume to see if they are supported or weakened by what our several authors have taught us about their respective legislative institutions. We will then conclude with some suggestions about what the next step in our inquiries should be.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES ON THE LEGISLATURES' POLICY-MAKING ROLE

Hypothesis 1. The policy activity of the legislature will be greater in presidential than in prime ministerial systems. The distinctly American bias of this hypothesis is suggested by the fact that its strongest support comes from the three studies that involve the American Congress.