An increasing number of parliaments are asking for tools to help them to identify the areas where they are performing well and those where there is a need to build parliamentary capacity. A new IPU publication entitled Evaluating parliament: A self-assessment toolkit for parliaments is intended to respond to this need.
The self-assessment toolkit asks parliament to consider a series of questions based on criteria outlined in the IPU’s Parliament and democracy in the twenty-first century: A guide to good practice. This guide describes a framework of democratic values and objectives for parliaments, and contains examples of good practice from 75 parliaments. Without attempting to provide a single, universal model or roadmap, it offers a complete vision of a democratic parliament.
Examples of questions from the self-assessment toolkit include:
- How effective are specialist committees in carrying out their oversight function?
- How satisfactory are the procedures for subjecting draft legislation to full and open debate in parliament?
- How conducive is the infrastructure of parliament, and its unwritten mores, to the participation of women and men?
The toolkit invites parliament to debate these questions. It is important that the dialogue be inclusive – of different political groups; of men and women; of parliamentarians and senior parliamentary staff. It should lead to the identification of priorities for parliamentary development or reform, and subsequently the implementation of programmes to address these priorities, with external assistance if necessary.
Self-assessment is a voluntary exercise. The toolkit can be used for different purposes depending on the needs of the parliament, and a number of scenarios for use are described. It is not intended to rank or compare parliaments.
The toolkit will now be pilot-tested with parliaments that wish to carry out a self-assessment, so that the lessons learned can be shared with the wider parliamentary community.
The toolkit can be downloaded or ordered from the IPU website in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.
