What is parliamentarism? Parliamentary government, archetypes and experiences (a European history)

Abstract

Parliamentarianism describes both the theory and practice of the parliamentary form of government, one of the multiple options of representative democracy. Because of a cumulative process, parliamentarianism has known various political and institutional expressions. Although traditionally the ideal type of parliamentarism has been linked to the English and British way, it is indisputable that this form of government has gone beyond the scope of the territories that find their democratic origins under the influence of British culture. Thus, continental Europe is home to a wide range of parliamentary systems with diverse specificities, as well as the geopolitical reference space of supranational European integration. In this sense, among the cases in which this institutional scheme has materialised and consolidated, the European Parliament stands out as the only supra-state parliament in the world. This article not only reviews the pillars of representative democracy and parliamentarianism, as well as various notions that are essential for understanding them, but also analyses and explains the peculiarities of the European Parliament, a particular body that has evolved and adapted to the unique nature of the process and experience of European integration.