Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T23:16:57.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The National Consultative Council of Jordan: A Study in Legislative Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Nabeel A. Khoury
Nabeel A. Khoury
Affiliation:
State University of New York at Albany
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Studies of legislatures in developing countries have to contend with a great deal of cynicism owing, in part, to a political controversy concerning the role of the legislative institution in the Third World. The executive branch, which is generally dominant in developing nations, often uses the legislature to legitimize executive actions. Legislators who agree to serve the executive in this fashion often exaggerate or misrepresent the importance of the legislature in their political system. Conversely, opposition groups, who are frequently excluded from the political process in Third World countries, denigrate the role of legislatures and often exaggerate their ineffectiveness. Scholars have mostly ingnored the role of legislatures in the process of development.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , November 1981 , pp. 427 - 439
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Notes

Author's Note: A Ford Foundation grant made it possible for the author to complete this article under the auspices of the Comparative Development Studies Center at the State University of New York at Albany. I am grateful for the advice and cooperation I received from CDSC director, Dr. Abdo I. Baaklini. For the research I did in Jordan I owe much to the generous assistance of Professor Kamel S. Abu Jaber, former Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Commerce at the University of Jordan and to Mr. Adnan Ba'youn, General Secretary of the National Consultative Council of Jordan.

1 Kornberg, A. and Musolf, L., Legislatures in Developmental Perspective (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1970), p. 3.Google Scholar

2 Baaklini, A., “The Future of Legislatures in the Middle East,” Parliamentary Affairs, 30, 7 (05 1978), pp. 396–407.Google Scholar

3 Baaklini, A., “Legislatures in Developing Countries: Myths vs. Realities,” in Parliamentary Life, 4 (Lebanon, 1974), p. 2Google Scholar and Lowenberg, Gerhard, ed., Modern Parliaments: Change or Decline? (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971), pp. 48–67.Google Scholar

4 Aruri, Naseer H., Jordan: A Study in Political Development (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1972), p. 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 Abu Jaber, K., “The Legislature of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” The Muslim World, Hartford Seminary Foundation, 3 4 (1969), 223.Google Scholar

6 ibid p. 229.

7 Hussein, King, Uneasy Lies the Head (London: Bernhard Geis Co., 1962), pp. 129–164.Google Scholar

8 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Al-Dustur (The Constitution), Article 51.

9 “Hussein To Revise Regime To Erase West Bank's Role,” New York Times, 11 5, 1974, p. 2.Google Scholar

10 ibid.

11 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Al-Dustur, Article 73, No. 4.

12 A message to this effect was delivered to a meeting of the Conference of Arab Parliamentarians on January 18, 1977.

13 A1-Dustour (daily newspaper) (Amman), 04 14, 1978, pp. 1, 13.Google Scholar

14 A1-Rai (daily newspaper) (Amman), 04 14, 1978.Google Scholar

15 ibid.

16 ibid.

17 Baaklini, A., Legislatures in Contemporary Societies: An Overview, Occasional Paper Series, Comparative Development Studies Center (Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York at Albany, 1975), p. 14.Google Scholar

18 1980 budget passed during 51st session of National Consultative Council on December 17, 1979.

19 Jewell, M. E., “Legislative Representation and National Integration,” in Eldridge, Albert, Legislatures in Plural Societies (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1977), pp. 13–53.Google Scholar

20 Crick, B., The Reform of Parliament (Garden City, N.J.: Doubleday and Co., 1965), pp. 181–182.Google Scholar

21 Jaber, Abu, Legislature of the Hashemire Kingdom, p. 249, Table VI.Google Scholar

22 Data on National Consultative Council members was compiled from Council archives by me with the help of Mr. Adnan Ba'youn, General Secretary of the Council.

23 ibid.

24 Personal interview.

25 ibid.

26 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Official Gazette Supplement: Mahdar Al Jalsah Al Ulah (Minutes of the First Session).

27 Personal interview.

28 Al-Dustour (newspaper), 06 29, 1979, p. 15.Google Scholar

29 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Temporary Law No. I7for 1978 (National Consultative Council publication).

30 Official Gazette Supplement, Council Minutes for Fifth Session.

31 Proposed Amendment to Temporary Law No. 17 (National Consultative Council publication).

32 ibid.

33 The incident occurred on March 15, 1979, and rumors circulated about the possible causes of the crash.

34 While discussing the proposed 1980 budget, National Consultative Council members voiced concern over bureaucratic misuse of funds and the lack of legislative means to audit government spending.

35 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Council Minutes No. 5, p. 7.

36 Dankwart, A. Rustow, “Transitions to Democracy,” Comparative Politics, Vol. 2, No. 3 (04 1970), 337, 350.Google Scholar

37 Pasha, Glubb, The Story of the Arab Legion (London: 1948), p. 166.Google Scholar

38 Hussein, , Uneasy Lies the Head, pp. 114–128, 209–217.Google Scholar

39 Aruri, , Jordan, p. 39,Google Scholar and Vatikiotis, J. P., Politics and the Military in Jordan (London: Cass, 1967), pp. 17, 20, 97.Google Scholar