Transparency and Accountability in the Parliaments of Greece and Southeast Europe (or the Gap between Institutional Rules and Democratic Practices)

Abstract

  In the past couple of years a wave of parliamentary reforms has swept through the countries of Southeast Europe affecting the nature and legitimacy of democracy. This article examines the degree of openness and transparency of national parliaments in Greece and in the other ex-communist countries of the region. By reviewing provisions that pertain to the public's access to information and participation in the legislative process, it analyzes how the legal frame functions in practice in promoting effectiveness, transparency and accountability. The authors argue that while the Parliament remains, in the eyes of the electorates, the central and sovereign institution in a representative democracy, parliaments across southeast Europe are suffering from serious gaps in the application of the law and from a serious loss of power in practice. High degrees of partisanship, dominance of the executive, low levels of transparency and lack of information are the main elements identified as the root-causes of the problem. In addition, the process of Europeanization also appears to diffuse the decision-making process and empower the executive and administrative actors at the expense of national legislatures.