The Parliament and the Executive in the Digital Era (towards a Technological Autonomy of the Chambers)

Abstract

Technology is transforming most aspects of the lives of people and institutions, including parliaments. To deal with this unstoppable digital transformation on a reliable basis, we propose to adjust the classical principle of parliamentary self-organization to the digital age, by advocating a technological self-organization of Parliament. Several ways are suggested to enhance technological collaboration with the Executive in areas such as electronic government or cybersecurity, as long as limits are respected, that allow for preservation of said self-organization. To this end, a fundamental requirement is defined for the use of shared technological services: that no potential deprivation of these services shall affect the "core" of technological self-organization of Parliament, such core in turn consisting of the constitutional functions thereof. Other actions are also suggested with a view to strengthening self-organization, such as the increase and optimization of the technological resources of parliamentary Chambers, or fostering interparliamentary cooperation at different levels, particularly in Spain between the Congress of Deputies and the Senate.