This is an assessment of progress of all the 'live' recommendations and criticisms of the Foreign Affairs Committee. It is produced following the recommendation of the Liaison Committee that all Select Committees publish such a report by the Christmas 2000 recess. A memorandum setting out progress on recommendations made by the Committee is appended to the report. The report draws attention to issues of concern which remain unresolved.
This book sheds new light on the often shadowy, but essential role of committees, which exist in modern parliaments around the globe, and it questions the conventional notion that the ‘real’ work of parliament happens in committees. Renowned country specialists take a close look at what goes on in committees and how it matters for policy making. While committees are seen as the central place where policy is made, they often hold their sessions closed to the public and calls for transparency are growing. To understand this "black box" it is necessary to look within but also beyond the walls of the committee rooms and parliament buildings. Bringing together formal and informal aspects, rules and practices shows that committees are not a paradise of policy making. They have great relevance nonetheless: as crystallization points in the policy networks, as drivers for division of labor and for socialization and the integration of MPs. The new insights presented in this book will be of interest to scholars, students and professionals in parliamentary affairs, legislative studies, government, and comparative politics. They are also relevant for political analysts, journalists, and policymakers.
Parliaments had been expected to decline in significance at the end of the 20th century, but instead they have developed new and vital political roles and have innovated their institutional structure in parliamentary committees, not only in a few parliaments, but as a global phenomenon.
