Parliamentary Oversight of the Executives - Tools and Procedures in Europe

Oversight of executives has always been a key function of parliaments and one that is central to developing the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government. However, in reality governments are taking a more pronounced role in controlling legislation, diluting the influence of parliament. This book plots this trend in parliaments across Europe, to illustrate points of convergence and divergence. In so doing, it suggest tools and methods that parliaments can develop to bolster their crucial oversight role.

PART I
CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES OF PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT IN EUROPE
1. Introduction: Oversight of the Executives. A European Approach
I. What Parliamentary Oversight Serves: In Search of a Definition
II. Placing the Oversight Function in the European Constitutional Legal Order
III. A Selective Approach to Parliamentary Oversight
IV. The Fortune of the Oversight Function in Scholarship
2. Oversight as a Relational Function Linking Parliaments to Executives
I. At the Origins of Parliamentarism in Europe
II. Oversight or Scrutiny? A Comparison with Presidential Experiences
III. Oversight in Contemporary European Forms of Government
IV. The Influence of the Executive-Parties Dimension
V. Oversight Serving the Requirements of Executive Accountability
VI. The Problem of Enforcement: Comparing Hard and Soft Oversight
3. Instances of Parliamentary Oversight: In Dialogue with Other Parliamentary Functions
I. Parliamentary Appraisal of Executive Appointments in Government Formation: Oversight or Elective Function?
II. Ex Ante Parliamentary Oversight: Setting the Political Direction
III. The Ex Post Dimension of Parliamentary Oversight: Post-Legislative Scrutiny and the Evaluation of Public Policies
IV. Oversight Th rough Parliamentary Information: Publicity and Communication
4. Classifying Oversight Tools According to Parliamentary Practice
I. Pairing Oversight Tools and Procedures According to Parliamentary Practice
II. Oversight: A Realm for the Plenary or for Parliamentary Committees?
III. Informative Tools Instrumental to Oversight
IV. Oversight Tools Preceding Government Action
V. Questioning the Government: A Hybrid Oversight Tool
VI. Oversight Tools Following Government Action
5. Parliamentary Oversight in Bicameral Systems: What Role for Upper Houses
I. Oversight in Symmetric Bicameralism: The Informal Search for Influence by the Italian Senate
II. When Asymmetric Bicameralism Does Not Hinder the Influence Capacity of the Upper House: Oversight by the House of Lords
III. Oversight as a Means of (Administrative) Territorial Influence in the German Bundesrat
IV. Explaining National Variations in Upper Houses' Parliamentary Oversight

PART II
INSTANCES OF PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT IN SECTORIAL POLICY FIELDS
6. Parliaments in International Affairs: Fostering Democracy Through the Oversight of Government Action
I. Introduction. The Role of Parliaments in International Affairs: Overcoming the Idea of 'Executive Dominance'
II. How Parliaments Oversee Government Foreign Policy at the Domestic Level: A Comparative Overview
III. Political Versus Judicial Interpretation of the Executive–Legislative Balance of Powers in International Affairs
IV. The Non-Binding Potential of Parliamentary Oversight in International Affairs
7. Parliamentary Oversight in the EU Constitutional Dimension: The Polycentric Paradigm
I. Parliamentary Oversight of the EU 'Fragmented' Executive
II. The Oversight Module Centred on the European Parliament
III. Indirect Oversight by National Parliaments and National Forms of Government
IV. Filling the Gaps of Parliamentary Oversight Through Interparliamentary Cooperation
V. The Hybridisation of Parliamentary Oversight in the EU
8. Parliamentary Oversight of Budget: A Trade-Off with Budgetary Decision-Making?
I. How Parliaments Relate to Budgeting
II. Parliamentary Oversight of Budget: Alternative Models
III. The Impact of European Economic Governance
IV. The Trade-Off between Budgetary Decision-Making and Oversight: Unchallenged by the European Parliament
9. Conclusions: From Law-Making to Oversight? A Concrete Perspective for European Parliamentarism