Parliament
A legislature representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing government.
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The English term derives from Anglo-Norman and 11th-century Old French "parlement," originally meaning any discussion or negotiation.[1]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Legislature
- Known for
- Representing the electorate
- making laws
- overseeing executive government
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
The Roman Republic had legislative assemblies that decided on magistrates, statutes, capital punishment, war, peace, and alliances.[2] The first recorded act of a witenagemot was the law code of King Æthelberht of Kent around 600.[3] In 1188, the Cortes of León summoned representatives of common people, and an English parliament in 1265 developed into an enduring House of Commons.[4] The revolutions of 1848 largely failed to strengthen parliaments but made a return to pre-1848 conditions impossible, leading to gradual parliamentary development.[4]
In tribal societies of antiquity, councils or a single headman made decisions that village elders then evaluated.[5] Every free male citizen in ancient Athens could join discussions in the ekklesia, which was the city's most significant institution.[6] The Witenagemot served as an advisory council to Anglo-Saxon monarchs.[3] Parliamentary sovereignty was established as primary in Britain following the 1688 Glorious Revolution.[4]
What the cited sources add
Europe's oldest national assembly is the Alþing, which first convened in 930 according to the Hurstwic account.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Parliament" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Parliament Online Etymology Dictionary. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Parliament" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Abbott, Frank Frost (1901). A History and Description of Roman Political Institutions. Elibron Classics. .; Byrd, Robert (1995). The Senate of the Roman Republic. US Government Printing Office Senate Document 103–23. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Parliament" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Liebermann, Felix, The National Assembly in the Anglo-Saxon Period (Halle, 1913; repr. New York, 1961).; "Anglo-Saxon origins", UK Parliament (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Parliament" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Trencsényi, "A History of Modern Political Thought in East Central Europe: Volume I: Negotiating Modernity in the 'Long Nineteenth Century'", Oxford University Press, 2016-02-01 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Parliament" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Political System Encyclopædia Britannica Online; Jacobsen, T. (July 1943). "Primitive Democracy in Ancient Mesopotamia". Journal of Near Eastern Studies 2 (3): 159–172. . .; Robinson, E. W. (1997). The First Democracies: Early Popular Government Outside Athens. Franz Steiner Verlag. .; Bailkey, N. (July 1967). "Early Mesopotamian Constitutional Development". American History Review 72 (4): 1211–1236. . .; Larsen, J.A.O. (Jan. 1973). "Demokratia". Classical Philology 68 (1): 45–46. . .; de Sainte, C.G.E.M. (2006). The Class Struggle in the An en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Parliament" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dunn, "John Dunn:Democracy: A History, p.24", Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Viking-age Laws and Legal Procedures", Hurstwic. facts only, no text reused. hurstwic.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Parliament (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Parliament (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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