The parliamentarization of the UN by the Inter-Parliamentary Union

• Published in: Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 698 - 712
• Main Author: Habegger, Beat
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: German
• Published: 01.12.2006
• Subjects: Decision making; Expectations; Institutional change; International Cooperation; International Organizations; Legislative Bodies; Legitimacy; Organizational structure; Parliament; Political Power; Power relations; Unions; United Nations
• ISSN: 0340-1758

The trend towards parliamentarization in international politics is too strong to be missed: Inter-parliamentary institutions that were previously far removed from the public spotlight have become attractive political forums. This is due to the increasing shift of political decision-making processes to an international level. Many factual issues today have international dimensions and can only be resolved in cooperation with other states and international organizations. The expectations associated with the interparliamentary movement are twofold: It serves to compensate lawmakers for their diminishing political influence and helps to balance the democratic deficits of international organizations. The still-nascent parliamentarization of the UN has no parliamentary component yet, although it has recently begun to assign higher priority to the integration of national parliaments. The closer ties between the UN and national parliaments are primarily the achievement of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Despite successes such as those of the IPU there are also reasons why parliamentarization is still lagging behind. Therefore, recommendations concerning future steps are needed. Reprinted by permission of the VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Germany