Parliamentary Dimensions of Regionalization and Globalization : The Role of Inter-Parliamentary Institutions

The end of the Cold War has seen an international proliferation of parliamentary bodies of all types and at all levels. How can this process of parliamentarization be assessed and under what conditions do these institutions operate? This book explores how regional integration and globalization are developing from a parliamentary perspective. Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Introduction....Pages 1-19 International Parliamentary Institutions: A Research Agenda....Pages 20-41 Front Matter....Pages 43-43 The Role of the European Parliament in Europe’s Integration and Parliamentarization Process....Pages 45-69 The MERCOSUR Parliament: A Challenging Position between Late Institutionalization and Early Stalemate....Pages 70-88 The Brazilian Parliamentary Delegation to MERCOSUR: Its Functions in the Brazilian National Congress....Pages 89-105 Front Matter....Pages 107-107 Integration Parliaments in Latin America: The Cases of Parlandino and Parlacen....Pages 109-125 The Baltic Sea Region as a Laboratory for Inter-parliamentary “Dialogue”....Pages 126-148 African Regional Parliaments: Legislatures without Legislative Powers....Pages 149-165 Participation without Democratization: The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) and ASEAN’s Regional Corporatism....Pages 166-186 Front Matter....Pages 187-187 Talking Shop or Relevant Actor: The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly....Pages 189-210 The Origins, Structures and Functions of the Euro-Mediterranean and Euro-Latin American Inter-parliamentary Assemblies....Pages 211-231 Conclusions....Pages 231-245 Back Matter....Pages 246-270 "This volume intends to make sense of the current 'puzzle' that international parliamentary institutions represent. Their rapid growth in numbers and under a diversity of forms in the post-Cold War emerging new order is a worldwide phenomenon, even if its first expression dates back to the end of the 19th century. Their objectives vary from creating a permanent institutional structure for the peaceful settlement of disputes to promoting transparency in international politics, including the reinforcement of civil society participation in regional integration schemes. Are these goals kept nowadays? Are they being achieved? Which means and interests define the work within these assemblies? The three parts of the book include analyses of supranational and non-supranational regional parliaments and the specific case of the inter-regional relations established by the European Parliament."-- Provided by publisher