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A parliament is a legislature whose power and function are similar to those dictated by the

Westminster system of the United Kingdom. More generally, "parliament" may simply refer to a

democratic government's legislature. The term is derived from the French parlement, the action of

parler (to speak): a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which such a

discussion took place.[when?] It acquired its modern meaning as it came to be used for the body of

people (in an institutional sense) who would meet to discuss matters of state.[1]

Generally, a parliament has three functions: representation, legislation and parliamentary control

(i.e., hearings, inquiries).

Contents [hide]

1 Origins

2 Parliament government

3 Proto-parliamentarian institutions

3.1 England

3.1.1 Parliament under Henry VIII and Edward VI

3.2 France

3.3 Scotland

3.4 Nordic and Germanic development

3.5 Poland

3.6 Ukraine

3.7 Russia

3.7.1 Novgorod and Pskov

3.8 Spain

3.9 The Roman Catholic Church

4 Parliaments of the United Kingdom

5 List of national parliaments

5.1 Parliaments of the European Union

5.2 Others

6 List of Subnational parliamentary governments

6.1 Canada

6.2 Australia

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6.3 Belgium

6.4 Denmark

6.5 Finland

6.6 Germany

6.7 The Netherlands

6.8 Norway

6.9 Spain

6.10 United Kingdom

7 Other parliaments

7.1 Contemporary supranational parliaments

7.2 Equivalent national legislatures

7.3 Defunct

8 See also

9 References

10 External links

Origins[edit]

Various bodies appeared under different names in many medieval European kingdoms to act as

advisory councils for the monarchs and to represent barons, commoners and the church. The use of

the term 'parliament' to designate such a body first occurred in England in 1236. Previously, this

group of the kings closest advisorshad been called the council. After agreeing to the principle of

common consent in the Magna Carta, King John had to increase the size of this group of advisors

and include more commoners. He then had to submit his requests for increased taxation to this

newly expanded group. Two distinct groups emerged among the commoners: the landed gentry, and

the rich merchants and lawyers.

The word parliament comes from the French parler, which means to talk or to discuss.

English parliamentary procedure, such as Jeffersons Manual of Parliamentary Procedure, developed

not to facilitate talk, but to facilitate decision-making. Although the British model of parliament,

known as the Westminster Model, is held up as the Mother of all Parliaments, it is unique in that it

developed over time from tradition, as opposed to being democratically enacted by way of a

constitution.[2]

Parliament government[edit]

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Nations with bicameral legislatures.

Nations with unicameral legislatures.

No legislature.

Legislatures called parliaments operate under a parliamentary system of government in which the

executive is constitutionally answerable to the parliament. Parliaments usually consist of chambers

or houses, and are usually either bicameral or unicameral although more complex models exist, or

have existed (see Tricameralism).

A nation's prime minister (PM) is almost always the leader of the majority party in the lower house of

parliament, but only holds his or her office as long as the "confidence of the house" is maintained. If

members of the lower house lose faith in the leader for whatever reason, they can call a vote of no

confidence and force the PM to resign.

This can be particularly dangerous to a government when the distribution of seats among different

parties is relatively even, in which case a new election is often called shortly thereafter. However, in

case of general discontent with the head of government, his replacement can be made very smoothly

without all the complications that it represents in the case of a presidential system.

The parliamentary system can be contrasted with a presidential system, on the model of the UnitedStates' congressional system, which operate under a stricter separation of powers whereby the

executive does not form part of, nor is appointed by, the parliamentary or legislative body. In such a

system, congresses do not select or dismiss heads of governments, and governments cannot request

an early dissolution as may be the case for parliaments. Some states have a semi-presidential system

which falls between parliamentary and congressional systems, and combines a powerful head of

state (president) with a head of government (PM) responsible to parliament.