How can parliaments perform more effectively? Whilst governance programmes focus primarily on the executive and civil society, the potential of parliaments to foster capable, accountable and responsive governance is increasingly recognised. This report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) aims to help the Department for International Development (DFID) make informed decisions about contributing to parliamentary strengthening in developing countries. Parliamentary strengthening work should be more long-term and demand-driven. It should address the causes of poor performance, be context-aware, involve recipients and include systematic evaluation.
The key functions of parliament are legislation, oversight and representation. In practice, parliaments in many developing countries are ineffective. This results from various individual, structural and contextual constraints, including: lack of knowledge and skills; insufficient funding and resources; political systems that do not facilitate strong parliaments and favour executive domination; and social and cultural constraints. Furthermore, donors’ relationships with developing countries can marginalise parliaments and undermine oversight and accountability by focussing too heavily on the executive and by lacking transparency.
A wide range of organisations undertake parliamentary strengthening, focussing on parliamentarians, the parliament as an institution, or the wider political system. Although comprehensive impact assessments have been limited, some guidelines for effective parliamentary strengthening can be identified:
- Provide long-term, sustainable support that is responsive to local needs and avoid externally-driven programmes.
- Address the causes of poor parliamentary performance, rather than just the symptoms.
- Take full account of the political and social context, involving recipients from local organisations and interest groups, and including opposition parties and government members.
- Focus on particular issues such as budget oversight, anti-corruption, HIV/AIDS and poverty reduction as vehicles to improve parliamentary performance, rather than focussing solely on parliamentary procedures.
- Co-ordinate and harmonise with other implementing agencies and ensure that activities are appropriate to the objectives of parliamentary strengthening.
- Apply the Paris principles of ownership, alignment, harmonisation, accountability and managing for results in parliamentary strengthening work to ensure parliaments are brought fully into the policy process.
The strengths of DFID and UK organisations in parliamentary development include: historical ties with many countries; DFID’s acknowledged leadership on governance; extensive in-country knowledge and experience; and the expertise and enthusiasm of British members of parliament (MPs) and Westminster-based organisations. Therefore, DFID should:
- build on existing DFID and UK strengths in parliamentary development
- partner with non-UK based organisations to ensure their approaches recognise parliaments as an important part of political society and national governance
- discuss mutual support for parliamentary strengthening in developing countries with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Westminster-based organisations
- organise an experts’ workshop on parliamentary strengthening and conduct country case studies in order to accurately map existing work and identify lessons learnt and DFID’s comparative advantage
- engage with organisations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Canadian Parliamentary Centre to develop frameworks for assessing parliamentary performance and the effectiveness of parliamentary strengthening
- develop a ‘how to’ note on parliamentary strengthening and ensure that parliaments and parliamentary performance are part of DFID’s country governance analysis.
