The Future of Parliamentary Mandate. For Deputies and Senators of a 21st Century Democracy

Abstract

The representative mandate of the Members of Parliament, enshrined in article 67(2) of the Constitution, must find a balance between the right of deputies and senators to perform their tasks with independence and their duty of loyalty to the political party on whose ballot they have been elected. This difficult balance has been breached, in most cases, in favor of the party that exercises a strict discipline thus conditioning parliamentary work. The Chambers of the 21st century demand the strengthening of the role of individual Parliamentarians, seeking a balance between the legitimate interests of the political parties to enforce their programmatic criteria and the individual work of parliamentarians. The objective of this article is to describe and highlight some measures aimed at strengthening the role of deputies and senators and contributing to the prestige of their work and their relation with voters.