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Introductory remarks | Results6 of the Survey | Conclusions | Future planning | Appendix: Questionnaire | Endnotes
Chancellery of the Estonian Riigikogu
Economic and Social Information Department
University of Tartu
Tartu Society of Legal Psychologists and Sociologists
The Research Group: Dr. Jaan Ginter,
Dr. Paul Kenkmann, Mr. Aare Kasemets
The underlying idea of the comparative study proceeds from the need for using social information in law-making. Of various branches of social science, socio-legal research has been traditionally connected with legislation and other parliamentary activities and exclusively developed to fulfil that task (an outstanding example of this is the activities of the Oxford Socio-Legal Centre1). At least in European post-socialist countries socio-legal studies are, as a rule, a comparatively underdeveloped area of social research.
In general, it is quite common to see the informational support needed at legislative and other activities of the parliament as consisting of services like:
· parliamentary libraries,
· issuing and disseminating materials concerning the activities of the parliament;
· Internet connections, WWW home pages, E-mail, etc.,
· education of MPs and people employed at the support services, etc.,
· social information banks.
At the same time, information about ongoing social processes, social statistics, results of empirical sociological research, etc. - social information in the broad sense of the term - is a not less important source of optimising the legislative activities. But until now it has not been a subject of special analysis from the viewpoint of using it in the law-making activities of the Parliaments.
The comparative study focuses on the procedural and also essential problems of the relationship between the social sciences, different kinds of social information and working out the laws and corresponding political decisions. We believe that the subject of the given study will be increasingly important for old as well as new democracies. Social sciences are acting as a bridge between civil society and political decision-making, and also, the efficiency of the parliamentary work to a large extent depends on analyses and preparations of social (incl. economic) information.
The study presumes that the connections between social information and law-making differ from country to country. The cultural and legal traditions related to co-operation between the social scientists and politicians are specific in different countries, as are the practices of ordering and accomplishing studies on social issues.
The term social information has different meanings in different countries and in different contexts. In this comparative study social information is treated in its widest meaning and includes such information as:
· social statistics: information about the demographic situation, the health of the population, living standards, educational level, cultural interests, etc. ;
· information about economic life: data concerning production, consumption, prices, labour markets, taxes, inflation, social welfare programs, changes in economic levels and effects on it caused by legal or social changes, state budget, etc. ;
· the results of sociological research: results of public opinion polls and various kinds of social surveys, expert group polls and surveys, the analysis of documentary material, media contents , etc.
The main goals of this comparative inquiry are:
1. to find out how social information has been used in the law-making process in different countries; to be more specific, in which areas, with which functions and during what stages of the preparation of laws;
2. to find out through typical examples what kind of social information has been used in the law-making process and how it has been applied, and also, what have been the effects of using social information;
3. to find out how and to what extent the usage of social information in law-making is legally regulated;
4. to learn about the procedures used in making new laws and how social information has helped in this process.
It must be underlined that the problems of using of social information in law- making are especially topical for the operation of Parliaments in the conditions of transition from a state socialist, totalitarian regime to the parliamentary democracy. While creating and developing the parliamentary information system under these conditions - and the Estonian Parliament, Riigikogu, is acting in this way - the following specific traits of the situation should be taken into account:
· lack of traditions of democratic decision-making and exchange of information which creates the situation where social information is not utilised in decision-making processes as widely as it is normal under the established democracies and while corresponding traditions are long and much clearly established. For example we have the situation where not very clear differentiation exists between ordinary knowledge and policy research 2;
· social sciences that create a significant part of the information that can be applied at the activities of the Parliament have been (and partially are) in a marginal position in those countries. At the same time - as it is in the case of Estonia - there are certain traditions of empirical social research3, which are near to Western standards, our social scientists belong to international networks of public opinion surveys (e.g. Eurobarometer), the national social science data bank has been initiated, etc.;
· on the current stage of development of statehood joining the European Union has been set as a national goal of the highest priority. It means that our country can not spend as much time developing parliamentary information services as a prerequisite of effective legislation and state governing as the old democratic countries have done4.
During the last years certain important steps have been taken to create the information system that would meet the growing needs of the Estonian Riigikogu. These steps include:
1. Creation of the Department of Economic and Social Information of the Riigikogu.
2. Developing the Parliamentary Library as an integral part of the Estonian National Library.
3. Establishing close and regular contacts with Saar Poll - a leading institution of public opinion research that results in regular surveys of public opinion commissioned by the Riigikogu.
4. Establishing contacts with universities and professional unions of social scientists (including the Estonian Academic Union of Sociologists, Estonian Inter-university Population Research Centre - a sub-unit of Tallinn Pedagogical University - and the Estonian Social Science Data Archives - a sub-unit of the University of Tartu) that have resulted in conducting analytical research ordered by the Riigikogu Chancellery.
5. Improving the technical basis of the Riigikogu and of its supporting services so that it can enable the use of local information network as well as Internet and other contemporary information services.
At the same time, Estonian legislators lack systematic knowledge about the social domain that is the main area of legal regulation as well as about the social outcomes of formerly approved legislative acts and the possible social results of the introduction of laws currently under development. Knowledge of this kind may be obtained from empirical social research conducted by economists, demographers, sociologists, political scientists, etc.
During the last decades Estonian social scientists have obtained knowledge that can be used for the above mentioned purposes. In the independent Estonia, the system of social statistics is improving rather quickly in line with the corresponding Western patterns. The problem is that the connections between the empirical social research and the systematic usage of the results of these studies are weak and quite episodic. The principal way of improving the situation is to apply the experience of various European countries in using social information in the legislative and other activities of the Parliaments. Emphasising this, we are aware of the need to improve the existing European infrastructures of social science research in order "to increase the capacity of policy-makers in other societal bodies by providing empirically sound and conceptually clear information guiding decision- making and action in complex, multicultural societal situations."5
The research project on promoting the use of social information in the legislative practices of the Parliament was undertaken by the Department of Economic and Social Information of the Estonian Riigikogu and a research team of legal scientists and sociologists of the University of Tartu. It has three independent parts. The first is a theoretical and methodological analysis of concepts of socio-legal research, social information, the sociology of law, etc. Second part of the project is aimed at analysing the practices of using social information by members of the Parliament and other persons and institutions involved in legislative activities and their information needs and the corresponding attitudes. The collection of information about the role of social sciences in the activities of the parliaments of various European countries is the third part of the project.
The questionnaire was sent to all correspondents of the European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD). The years we asked the respondents to concentrate on while answering our questionnaire were 1994 to 1997.
We received7 replies, often accompanied with additional information concerning the legislative procedures, research activities of the parliament services, etc. from:
1. AUSTRIA, Parliament.
2. BELGIUM, Assemblées Législatives Nationales.
3. CYPRUS, House of Representatives.
4. ESTONIA, Riigikogu.
5. FINLAND, Eduskunta.
6. FRANCE, Assemblée Nationale.
7. GERMANY, Bundestag.
8. GREECE, Chamber of Deputies.
9. HUNGARY, National Assembly.
10. ITALY, Senato della Repubblica.
11. LATVIA, Saeima.
12. NETHERLANDS, Second Chamber of the States-General.
13. NORWAY, Stortinget.
14. POLAND, Sejm.
15. SLOVAKIA, National Council.
16. SPAIN, Congreso de los Diputados.
17. SWITZERLAND, Federal Assembly.
The summary and analysis of the findings is given here following the main items of the study as they were presented in the questionnaire.
1. As it was expected, the practice of using social information in law-making is different and its scope varies significantly.
1.1. In the majority of countries which participated in the survey social information is used almost always while preparing a law that deals with a field in which the using of social information is possible. Austria, Estonia and Hungary represent the situation where social information is used only for some draft laws. There were no replies indicating that social information is not used at all; but the role of various social information in the legislative activities may be different:
"...scientific research, including social research, is a permanent part of our political decision- making process... Information as such is a crucial element of each debate. The debate does not only take place in Parliament but also in society and in many instances the scientific society simultaneously." (Netherlands)
"At the stage where the concept for a new law is conceived and the preliminary process is taking place, the Government usually takes seriously in mind all the social information that is related to the subject. Many times the social and other information itself can be the motive for new legislation." (Cyprus)
1.2. The information used in law-making is typically collected or obtained for some other reasons than for preparing a law. Austria, Cyprus, Poland, Spain and Switzerland indicated that they often use social information collected or obtained for some other reasons, other countries use it sometimes. The information specially collected for law-making is used rather seldom. Latvia and Slovakia indicated that they often use specially collected social information in law-making.
1.3. Most often the social information has been used in preparing laws which have great economic or socio- political significance (e.g. budget - Slovakia; pensions - Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Spain; taxation - Latvia; education - Latvia, Poland; environment - Spain).
1.4. The suggestions about the stages of legislative procedures where certain social information is applied show that social information has been used often in framing the first concept of the new law (Austria, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Slovakia, Spain), and even more often in making the draft law. The latter is most often the function of the Government as mentioned in responses from Austria, Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain:
"Thus, this pre- parliamentary stage is the phase in the law- making process when social information primarily influences the contents of bills. It does so especially in policy fields where strong organised interests exist, especially in the fields of social and economic policy, but, of course, also in other policy fields such as environmental policy, educational policy, etc." (Austria)
Social information has also been often used while draft laws are subjects of discussing in parliamentary committees and factions (Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia). Social information is less often used when co-ordinating the draft law with the relevant ministerial department(s) and other offices (often in Austria, Finland and Cyprus) or when discussing the draft law in the government (often in Cyprus, Finland, Latvia and Slovakia). Social information is not commonly used when discussing it at the parliament session (Latvia and Slovakia indicate using social information often at the parliament session).
1.5. The main function of social information in law-making is most often to describe the situation in the field the law is meant for (Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Spain). For other purposes it has been used only to a certain extent; most often to predict the social consequences of putting the planned law into practice (Austria, Cyprus, Latvia, Slovakia) or to learn about the social effect of the laws which had regulated the certain field before (Austria, Latvia, Poland). The majority of respondents indicated that social information is used to a certain extent to learn about people's opinions concerning the problems in the area regulated by the law (Cyprus indicating it among the major functions of social information).
It is also pointed out that the possible effects of the proposed law must be seen from the viewpoint of various interest groups:
"During the preparatory stage, the various direct and indirect effects of the planned legislation and any possible alternatives to it must be evaluated for each individual target group. This evaluation must take into account of impact not only on public authorities but also on different civic groupings and business & industry, and also of environmental impact." (Finland - from The Programme of the Government to Improve Law Drafting).
2. We aimed at learning whether use of social information in law- making is formally and legally regulated. Hungary mentioned that it is regulated this way; other countries indicated the lack of formal legal rules about the use of social information in law-making.
2.1. In the majority of countries there are certain sums available from the budget for using social information at certain stages of the law-making process. Answers to further questions indicate that as a rule the sums are not allocated strictly for using social information and are at the disposal of different entities in law-making process who eventually decide for what purposes the allocated sums are utilised. Sometimes public and other institutions are obliged to provide members of parliaments with the necessary social information covering also the expenses connected with the data collection and analysis:
"According to the Polish law, Member of Parliament is allowed to require any information from every institution (excluding secret information); the institution that is asked for is obliged to give it, even if it has to allocate some financial means for gathering data or preparing analysis." (Poland)
2.2. The practices of submitting an explanation, an appendix or other material about the potential social consequences of the planned law, when draft law is about to be submitted to parliament, is also varying from country to country. In Hungary and Poland it is obligatory:
"According to the Standing Orders of the Seem of the Republic of Poland this kind of information is required for every draft law.
Art. 31 par 2 of the Standing Orders says:
"A bill shall be accompanied by an explanatory statement which shall...
...
4) present an estimate of the social, economic, financial and legal effects thereof;..." " (Poland)
In Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Slovakia and Switzerland it is not required but is used in certain cases. On the opposite, Latvia and Spain indicated that this kind of social expertise has not been used.
2.3. As a rule, draft laws are prepared by the governments. Therefore, it is governments where the social information used for elaboration the new laws is collected and analysed:
"The Government collects all the social information needed for a new law from the services provided by the departments and offices of the various ministries... The Government, as a matter of practice, usually also seeks the opinion of different pressure or interested groups before finalising a new law or presenting it to the Council of Ministers for approval... In some cases, the government is even obliged by law to discuss certain proposals within relevant consultative bodies before preparing the legislation. (Workers' Counselling Body)." (Cyprus)
The governments' leading role in collecting and analysing social information in the process of law- making stems also from the fact that they have the necessary organisational and technical facilities:
"...the members of the Federal Government, of course, dispose of a much larger supportive machinery than the MPs which ensures them an advance in information and is used for preparing legislation." (Austria)
Mostly there are no major differences in the additional materials which are required when draft laws are taken into parliament's practice depending on whether the draft law is proposed by the government or - what happens much less frequently - by somebody else having the right for legislative initiative. Hungary indicated having certain differences and Estonia reported proposals to having some differences in the future.
2.4. The social expertise of the draft laws takes primarily place based on the data and materials available to the persons involved in preparing the laws with the assistance of experts. Finland, Hungary and Slovakia indicated that it is done based on special studies arranged for the draft law. Obviously there are differences on the basis of fields of legal regulation as well as competency of the legislators. Thus, gathering and processing of social information
"...may also depend on the type of bills under examination, i.e. on whether the act provides general guidelines or contains specific rules on a given subject. Furthermore, some members of parliament may be experts in a certain field, and therefore already have sufficient information, while others may need further information and may require the assistance of specialists or the acquisition of special documents." (Italy)
2.5. Collection of pre-information about the subject of certain draft laws (including research work, analysis of public opinion, expert-group analysis, establishment of attitudes of social groups affected by the law, etc.) occurs in majority of countries. This procedure is decided according to the situation (Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Switzerland) or in certain cases as a good custom (Cyprus, Latvia, Poland). Only Hungary indicated that it is prescribed and Slovakia that it is prescribed in case of pensions and budget.
2.6. Among the criteria which practically determine the use of social information - if there are no formal requirements - the importance of a law and the expected social consequences (Belgium, Cyprus, Italy), lobbying, media activity, information from the institutions dealing with social matters (Poland), as well as the nature of social information (Slovakia) were mentioned.
3. The social information reaches the law-makers most often through a connection with a state institution which collects and analyses such information (Austria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia) and structural units of the parliament which mediate results of studies and other data (Austria, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland) . The third more widely used source are advisors employed by parliamentary factions or parties (Austria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland). Sometimes special publications are used to transmit the information about the social situation to the law- makers:
"The government regularly prepares twice a year the document "Social situation in the Slovak Republic" which is submitted to its meeting and to the meeting of the committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on Health- care and Social Affairs. The core of it is concentrated on the areas of demography, employment, unemployment, the development of wages, social security - pensions, sickness pay, social bonuses for handicapped people, for persons living under the subsistence minimum, etc.
The material contains also public opinion polls connected with the life standard. Information is very often used in law drafting and in evaluation process of law- drafts in parliamentary committees." (Slovakia)
From the sources listed in the questionnaire the least often used source was the structural unit of the parliament which carries out social studies needed for the law-making (Estonia, Hungary and Slovakia). Austria added a source not listed in the questionnaire - research departments of interest groups. The list of sources of social information may be even longer. Thus, social information can be obtained
"...by means of hearings ... of high Government officials, trade- union leaders, representatives of employers' associations, executive of large public or private companies, NGOs, University professors, etc. ..." (Spain)
4. Special units or groups dealing with social information in the parliamentary structure are most commonly information and research units, documentation centres, and libraries. Information and research units have sometimes more and sometimes less limited responsibilities in the field of social information. For example, in Spain the Directorate for Research and Documentation is responsible for preparing economic reports when a new bill may have important economic or financial consequences. These units have also different approaches to collecting and analysing the information which, on the other hand, are depending on their role in the systems of parliament support services:
"The clients of the Reference and Research Services are the policy- makers. The Reference and Research Services bridge the gap between the world of specialist academic research and the world of politics ("bridging function"). The special methodology required to provide information for political decision- making derives from the world of research , on the one hand, and the world of politics, on the other, and the approach used to examine specific issues is based on the requirements of both these areas." (Germany - from The Reference and Research Services of the German Bundestag)
5. Public opinion polls are conducted on the national level in all countries. As the public opinion polls are conducted mostly by private ventures and also ordered by private entities, the parliamentary structures usually tend not to have a full overview of them. In some countries there are also governmental research centres conducting public opinion polls (Spain - Centre for Social Research).
5.1. The public opinion polls take place mostly irregularly, individual polling agencies conduct from four to ten of polls per year.
5.2. Public opinion polls are most commonly ordered by the media, political parties and less commonly by parliamentary or governmental structures.
5.3. Studies which show the influence of the acts passed in parliament on society and which could be treated as feedback from society to parliament have been undertaken in several countries (for example, in Estonia on land-reform, in Hungary on family allowances, in Poland on abortion; in Finland such studies are conducted by Research Institute for Legal Policy; Switzerland also indicated such feedback).
5.4. As a rule, the data archives of social information or public opinion are located at the organisations conducting social research, but the data are available for parliamentary structures. In some countries (e.g. Estonia, Latvia) the data archives have come into being only recently, but they see contacts with the legislative bodies as one of their important functions.
6. Publication of draft laws before submitting to parliament is a common practice in the countries which responded to our questionnaire. Most commonly it is done in parliamentary publications which do not have very large circulation. Publication in newspapers is less common and takes place mainly if there will be a referendum on the issue (Switzerland) or if the act is of great public interest (Poland - abortion, social insurance; Hungary - pensions). Finland indicated the use of Internet to publish draft laws; Internet is also used for many drafts in Estonia. There seems to be a clear tendency in the countries with long- term democratic traditions to include parliamentary databases and Internet to the facilities of disseminating the information about draft laws:
"There is no rule requiring Parliament to publish bills in the press. Bills are publicly available anyway, and they may be purchased at Parliamentary book-shops. For some years now, bills have been available in parliamentary databases and now they are also being made available on the Internet. Some papers publish the full texts of major bills." (Italy)
7. Parliamentary factions can order analyses of existing social information (Austria, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Slovakia, Spain). Several countries indicated that the costs of studies are covered from the general budget of a faction (Poland, Spain).
8. Parliamentary committees use social information in their work in all the participating countries. It has been used most impressively in cases involving social security matters - pensions, family benefits, etc. (Hungary, Latvia, Poland), but also when discussing working hours of shops (Cyprus) or advertising (Estonia).
9. In certain countries (Estonia, Poland) resources provided by international programs - PHARE, TACIS, and others - have been applied to further the use of social information in the law-making process.
10. The training programs for the members of the parliament and/or for the parliamentary staff include themes connected with collecting and handling various kinds of social information in Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia and Poland. It concerns not only members of parliaments and the parliamentary supporting staff, but also other persons participation in the legislative process:
"More attention than before will be paid to the quality of law- drafting training, its main focus areas and how it is targeted. One key focus in improving training and law drafting will be the forecasting and assessment of impact." (Finland - from The Programme of the Government to Improve Law Drafting).
11. Parliaments have more or less stable connections with the institutions which collect and analyse social information. The most typical connection of this kind is with government offices (all countries replying to our questionnaire). An overwhelming majority of countries indicated also co-operation with research centres or institutes and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including information centres of NGOs.
12. The reasons for not using social information in law-making assumed in the questionnaire and reported as having bigger or smaller importance by respondents from various countries are that:
· there is an information overload in parliament,
· the law-makers lack knowledge about the existing social information and how to get it,
· the ideologies and programs of political parties are in contradiction with social and economic information worked out by scientists,
· the law-makers usually have no time for this,
· the legal aspects are considered of prime importance and law-makers basically concentrate on them,
· the available social information is not considered sufficiently operative, comprehensive or reliable by law-makers.
But, on the other hand, regardless all of possible difficulties connected with obtaining and analysing the social information, it is pointed out that:
"The complexity and diversity of information sources is not considered as problematic; on the contrary, it is a necessity in a plural democracy." (Belgium)
All post-socialist countries indicated that to a certain extent the use of social information is hindered because the law-makers usually work on law-making too episodically for examining social information in detail.
13. There have been very few studies of the use of social studies information in the work of the parliament and/or government, or about its effectiveness (Estonia, Latvia).
14. In Finland, Estonia and Poland there are members of the parliamentary support staff working on development issues related to the question "How to improve the use of social information in the parliament". In responses from some countries (Estonia, Finland, France) it was mentioned that special measures directed toward optimising the use of social information, making it more systematic, etc. are under elaboration.
15. Respondents mentioned a need for further studies on the use of social information by parliamentary committees (Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Estonia) particularly focusing on how the parliamentary committees examine, ascertain or analyse the effects or consequences of the adopted laws or get some kind of feedback from society (Slovakia, Spain). Spain proposed to quiz further also: 1) the use of social information by parliamentary factions, 2) the connections with institutions who collect and analyse social information, 3) the reasons for not using social information. Austria and Poland suggested to examine further the question about the stages of the law-making process where social information would be used.
The given overview of the replies to the questionnaire shows that the practices of using of social information in law-making processes are quite diversified. It stems from legislative traditions, the specifics of corresponding procedures established in various countries, the situation in the field of social research, etc. Sometimes the differences between old stable democracies and post-socialist countries are revealed.
It became clear that the use of social information in law-making is most commonly neither specially required nor formally or legally regulated. The decisions about the use of social information are usually made on the level where the information is utilised. Most typically the costs of social research are covered from the general budget of the entity using the information. Parliamentary support entities mostly provide social information collected for other purposes.
The mechanisms and practices how certain social information reaches the legislators are quite varied. Among them the following features were mentioned:
· Governments use social information while compiling the draft laws, substantiating the necessity of initiating new laws, etc.
· The research and documentation units of parliaments are responsible for providing the legislation process with social information.
· Parliamentary factions in various countries have their own research units.
· Various interest and pressure groups support their legislative initiatives with social information.
· Parliamentary commissions attract experts from the field of social research and information.
The common opinion seems to be that, as it is put in one of the documents submitted to the research group, "...the individual Member of Parliament must have access to the latest information available. He must be able to familiarise himself with the issues at stake, the relevant data, facts, arguments and parameters and be aware of the consequences of his action and alternatives to it. Only in this way he can make full use of the independence granted to him..." 8
Taking these ideas as a starting-point and also as a goal for new European democracies, we think that the results of our survey give certain additional support to the assumption about the necessity to expand the use of social information in the legislation process.
As expressed in Article 117 of the Treaty of Foundation of the European Community, the member states are aiming at the improvement of working conditions and living standards of the people in order to ensure their levelling as well as further improving. From this ankle the goal of elaborating of the legislation of democratic states can be put as the improvement of the life of maximally large segments of the overall population. That goal presumes the methodical observation of the ongoing social processes and their mutual relations with the effects of the legislative activities - observation that has to become an universal integral part of these activities.
As was pointed out in the responses to our questionnaire, that need is universally perceived in old as well as new European democracies. The continuation and deepening of contacts between legislative bodies as well as research institutions and centres of social information of various states is especially desirable from the viewpoint of the countries where the corresponding practices and attitudes are only taking shape.
The research results we just presented show that - as it was expected - the basic institutions which prepare the draft laws and fulfil other tasks connected with the preparation of new legislation belong to the executive power. At the same time it is obvious that the members of parliaments need to be better informed about the situation in the areas where law-making is going on as well as about the possible outcomes of putting the new laws into operation. Therefore, the parliamentary systems of social information services, the ways of presenting the results of the analyses of the ongoing processes and forecasting of the future developments in the social sphere to members of parliaments, etc. should be the subject- matter of first-rate consideration.
The involvement of new countries in the process of enlargment of the European Community has evidently brought about a new stage of European integration. Its main traits have been summed up in "Agenda 2000" and in other relevant documents. This new situation puts special emphasise on the need of mutual revealing of the economic as well as social processes in the countries that are preparing for the joining of the European Community and in its member states. Usually the situation in the candidate states - some of them being the former socialist countries characterised by the backward level of social analysis - is under detailed consideration. But from the viewpoint of our comparative study it is necessary to emphasise the importance of the treatment of the economic and social processes in the old democracies in close connection with the analysis of the situation in the states that are striving for the integration in the democratic Europe.
The analysis of economic and social conditions, basic features of social differentiation as well as dominating values and public consciousness in general is a necessary precondition of effective policies directed toward the diminishing of possible tensions that may stem from discrepancies between various features of the social situation of different participants of the integration. From that viewpoint more effective and systematic application of social information in the law-making activities is of primary importance.
Basing on these considerations, we see it suitable and desirable to continue the analysis of the ways of applying social information in law-making activities in European countries in the form of a workshop or seminar. The themes for further exchange of views which importance has been pointed out in the responses to our questionnaire could be:
1. At what stages of the legislative process and in what functions is it expedient to apply social information in law- making?
2. How to develop contacts between the parliaments, universities and other academic institutions as well as NGO-s aiming at expanding and optimising the use of social information in the legislative process?
3. What would be the role of data banks of social information (social science data banks) in providing the parliaments and other institutions involved in law- making with social information?
4. How to work out effective ways of forecasting the possible social effects of new laws and, more largely, to ensure the parliaments with the firm feedback about the social consequences of their legislative activities?
We hope that the material presented here will serve as a stimulus for further discussions and exchange of information concerning the given important aspect of improving the activities of the parliaments.
Several Estonian as well as East-Central European politicians have expressed their position that at present all the basic laws needed for the normal functioning of the state and (transition) society have been adopted9. At the threshold of a new century the stage of the so-called "precision adjustment" of legislation has started whereby besides classical legal science the role of various branches of social research is constantly growing. On the other hand, European developed democracies are also in a transition because of the internal reforms of EU, and therefore socio-legal, and especially communicational issues in EU societies are very important for further democratisation and discourse10. Of course, this trend is also related to the changing global processes and to the forming of the new post-industrial (or post-modern) global order. In other words, we are experiencing many political, economic, ideological etc. changes and trying to achieve the goals of the pluralistic information society11.
Because the economic, social, and to some extent also cultural setting of the people is most of all structured by political decisions and laws, the legislators in the parliaments play important role to build up the modern pluralistic society.
The goal of placing more stress on the analysis of economic and social consequences of proposed laws and laws already passed calls for stronger links between social science and legislative and/or executive decision-making bodies.
Department of Economic and Social Information (DESI) of the Chancellery of the Estonian Parliament, in co-operation with Estonian Academic Association of Sociologists, will organise a national panel discussion on the use of sociological research in the political and administrative decision-making on May 8, 1998. Also, DESI plans to organise an international seminar or a working group on The use of social information in legislation in November, 1998. We shall specify the topics during the month of May.
This seminar will probably take place in the context of the 5th conference "Estonia and European Union" where politicians, civil servants and academic people from the European Union member states, the Baltic States and other countries can actively exchange ideas and hold a dialogue. In addition to the general political discussion, the focus will be on the integration process' legal, economic, social, and cultural aspects (including the functions of the social scientific studies in the decision-making process of the parliament and the government).
The seminar is mainly addressed to the parliamentary information and analysis services and their co-operation partners in universities, research centres, social information data bases etc. to communicate and discuss on selected aspects of using social information in legislation.
The research group also hopes that the topics raised in this research will become increasingly more important for the university researchers (both students and professors). Universities can play an important role in researching the possible effects of political decisions.
All returned questionnaires with any additional information (sent by the 17 parliaments/houses that responded) shall be kept at the Estonian Social Scientific Archive (http://www.psych.ut.ee/esta/esta.html).
USE OF SOCIAL INFORMATION IN THE LAW-MAKING PROCESS OF PARLIAMENTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Practice of using social information in law-making
How often is social information used when preparing draft laws?
· almost always when a law deals with a field in which the usage of social information is possible;
· for some draft laws;
· seldom;
· not used.
1.2 What about the background of social information used in law-making?
3 - often
2 - sometimes
1 - never
information specially collected for the law-making: |
3 |
2 |
1 |
information collected or obtained for some other reason: |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1.3. If social information has been used in law-making, which type of laws (dealing with which fields) have needed it?
1.4. At which stages of law-making process has social information been used?
3 - often
2 - sometimes;
1 - never
when the first concept of the law is being framed: |
3 |
2 |
1 |
when making the draft law: |
3 |
2 |
1 |
when co-ordinating the draft law with relevant ministerial department(s) and other offices: |
3 |
2 |
1 |
when discussing the draft law in the government |
3 |
2 |
1 |
when discussing it in parliamentary committees and factions: |
3 |
2 |
1 |
when discussing it at the parliament session: |
3 |
2 |
1 |
other stages of law-making (please specify): |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1.5. For what purpose and in what function has social information been used?
3 - it is so
2 - to a certain extent
1 - it is not so
to learn about the social effect of the laws which have regulated the certain field until now: |
3 |
2 |
1 |
to describe the situation in the field the law is meant for: |
3 |
2 |
1 |
to learn about people's opinions concerning the problems in the area regulated by the law's opinions concerning the problems in the field regulated by the law: |
3 |
2 |
1 |
to predict the social consequences of the planned law: |
3 |
2 |
1 |
other purposes (please specify) |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1.6. Please provide a vivid example in which social information was used in the parliament's work (during the years 1994-1997):
2. Is the use of social information in law-making formally and legally regulated (determined)?
2.1. Are there any sums allocated from the budget for using social information at certain stages of law-making process, including ordering relevant studies and financing them?
If the sums are allocated, for which stage of law-making process? And how are the sums prescribed?
2.2. When the draft law is about to be discussed in the parliament, is it mandatory to submit an explanation, appendix or other material about the potential social consequences created by the planned law (social expertise of the draft law)?
· this kind of social expertise is required for every draft law (required by which statute?) ;
· it is required for those draft laws which deal with "social" fields and themes (please specify the fields) ;
· it is required only for certain draft laws (please specify) ;
· it is not required but is practised in certain cases (who and how makes the decision whether a prognosis about the possible social consequences should be made or not)?
· that kind of social expertise has not been practised.
2.3. Are there any differences in the additional materials which are required when draft laws are taken into parliament's practice depending on whether the draft law is proposed by the government or by somebody else having the right for legislative initiative?
2.4. Does the social expertise of the draft laws takes place primarily...
· on the basis of the knowledge of the persons involved in preparing the laws?
· basing on the data and materials available to the persons involved in preparing the laws?
· with the assistance of experts or specialists, scholars?
· basing on special studies arranged for the draft law?
· other variants (how?)
2.5. Is it required or advisable to collect pre-information about the subject of certain draft laws (including research work, analysis of public opinion, expert-group analysis, establishing of attitudes of the social groups affected by the law, etc.)?
· yes, it is prescribed (how? by what act?);
· it occurs in certain cases as a good custom (how?) ;
· it is decided according to the situation (what are usually the reasons for collecting such pre-information?) ;
· no, it is not done.
2.6. If there are no formal requirements, what are the criteria which practically determine the usage of social information (including ordering social studies or not doing so)?
3. How does the social information reach the law-makers?
· there is a structural unit of the parliament which mediates results of studies and other data ;
· there is a structural unit of the parliament which carries out social studies needed for the law-making ;
· there is a connection with a data archive of social information ;
· there is a connection with a state institution which collects and analyses social information;
· there is a connection with universities and research institutions which collect and analyse social information;
· there are committee advisors included in the law-making process who collect, mediate and analyse social information ;
· parliamentary factions or parties employ advisors who collect, mediate and analyse social information for the purpose of using it in law-making ;
· other (please specify)
4. If there is a special unit or group dealing with social information in the parliamentary structure, please describe it (the basis of its creation, personnel, functions, work connections with the parliament and beyond, etc.). If the functions of that unit or group are about to change (or have been changed recently), please describe these coming changes!
5. The situation of the public opinion polls which are conducted on the national level
5.1. How often do the public opinion polls take place?
5.2. Who place orders for that kind of studies? Do they include the press, parties, the parliament, the government?
5.3. Are there any studies which show the influence of the acts passed in the parliament on the society and which could be treated as feedback from the society to the parliament? Please give examples!
5.4. Is there a data archive of social information or public opinion studies? If so, does the parliament use these materials and how?
6. Are draft laws published in the press in order to inform the public about the new legislation and call for discussions about it?
· yes, it is done as a rule (please describe the procedure) ;
· sometimes, in certain cases (which cases? please describe how the decision is made)
· no, there is no practice of that sort.
7. Can a parliamentary faction order studies or analyses of existing information arranged according to the needs of law-making? If yes, how it is arranged and who finances it?
8. Using social information in the work of parliamentary committees.
8.1. May a parliamentary committee order studies or analyses of existing information arranged according to the needs of law-making? If yes, how it is arranged and who finances it?
8.2. Do the parliamentary committees examine, ascertain or analyse the effects or consequences of the adopted laws or get some other kind of feedback from the society?
8.3. Please give a vivid example about using social information by parliamentary committees that significantly changed the contents of a draft law.
9. Have the resources provided by PHARE, TACIS etc. programs been used to further the use of social information in the law-making process (please specify)?
10. Do the training programs: 10.1. for the members of the parliament and, 10.2. for the parliamentary staff, include themes connected with collecting and handling various kinds of social information?
11. Parliament's co-operation with other institutions in using social information for law-making:
11.1. Are there any more or less stable connections with the institutions who collect and analyse social information? (if yes, how are these connections formed?)
· research centres or institutes
· universities
· government offices (i.e. statistics office)
· social science data archives
· commercial firms which collect social information
· non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and its information centres
· other (please specify)
12. The reasons for not using social information in law-making.
If you can claim, according to your experience in the parliament, that social information is not regularly used in law-making, which of the following reasons could explain that? Please use the scale hereby to reply:
3 - it is so
2 - to a certain extent
1 - it is not so
the law-makers usually work on law-making too episodically for examining social information in detail |
3 |
2 |
1 |
the law-makers lack knowledge about the existing social information and how to get it |
3 |
2 |
1 |
the law-makers lack the relevant experience and preliminary knowledge for working with social information |
3 |
2 |
1 |
the law-makers usually have no time for that |
3 |
2 |
1 |
usually it is not possible to order studies on the subject |
3 |
2 |
1 |
legal aspects are considered of cardinal importance and law-makers basically deal with them |
3 |
2 |
1 |
the available social information is not considered sufficiently operative, comprehensive or reliable by the law-makers |
3 |
2 |
1 |
it is thought that during the periods of transition the primary function of law-making is to settle the most important things, and the time for elaborating the laws with the help of the social information later will come later on |
3 |
2 |
1 |
the access to the files of governmental databases is hindered |
3 |
2 |
1 |
global, transnational and national levels and aspects of social information are acting in a close relationship, and to find an adequate legal regulation proceeding from national interests or from a certain field of legal regulation is complicated |
3 |
2 |
1 |
the law-makers say that there are no specialists with sufficient qualification to collect and analyse social information |
3 |
2 |
1 |
the ideologies and programs of political parties are in contradiction with social and economic information worked out by scientists |
3 |
2 |
1 |
information overload in the parliament |
3 |
2 |
1 |
lack of electronic communications and IT software |
3 |
2 |
1 |
some other reasons (please specify) |
3 |
2 |
1 |
13. Have there been any studies about the use of social studies information in the work of the parliament and/or government, about its effectiveness etc. ? If yes, please give some information about studies of that sort (time, subject, organisers, researchers, publications etc.).
14. Are there any staff members or units who are working on the development issues related to the question "How to improve the use of social information in the parliament"? If yes, please specify, what kind of problems and tasks are in the focus of this work at present? Are these tasks connected with general development programs/activities of your parliament and its supportive system?
15. Please select out some questions or issues from the above presented points what in your opinion would have greater importance for the parliamentary research and information services' co-operation in the near future?
Thank you very much for your kind attention.
In the case you are interested in further contacts with us on the topic, please write your name(s) and provide us with information about your mail and e-mail addresses, phone and fax numbers.
1. Denis J. Galligan (ed.) - Socio-Legal Studies in Context: The Oxford Centre Past and Present - Journal of Law and Society, Vol. 22, 1995, No. 1.
2. William H. Robinson & Clay H. Wellborn (eds.) - Knowledge, Power, and the Congress - Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., ©1991. - Ch. 4.
3. See: E.Saar, M.Titma, P.Kenkmann. Estonian Sociology: The Emergence of an Empirical Tradition. - in: M.F.Keen, J.Mucha /eds/. Eastern Europe in Transformation: The Impact of Sociology. - Westport, CT, and London: Greenwood, 1994, pp. 157 - 162.
4. The developments in cross-national comparative studies - the area of social research which is fastly expanding - show that one of the basic aims of these studies is to learn what has been done in other countries that have been facing analogous situations in order to develop a firm basis of the politics of one's own country. See: Ariane Berthoin Antal, Meinolf Dierkes, Hans N. Weiler. Cross- National Policy Research: Traditions, Achievements, and Challenges. - in: A.Inkeles, M.Sasaki /eds./. Comparing Nations and Cultures: Readings in Cross- Disciplinary Perspective. - Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall, 1996, p. 9 ff.
5. Arnaud F.Marks. From Bipolarity to Polypolarity: The Strategic Interplay of Research and Information in Europe in Transition. - in: H.Best, U.Becker, A.Marks /eds./. Social Science in Transition: Social Science Information Needs and Provision in a Changing Europe. - Bonn: Informationszentrum Sozialwissenschaften, 1996. - p.61.
6. See the questionnaire in the Appendix.
7. The Economic and Social Information Department of the Riigikogu Chancellery and the research group express their warmest thanks to all colleagues who participated in that stage of the study replying to our questionnaire and submitting additional information.
8. The Reference and Research Services of the German Bundestag - Bonn, May 1994.
9. S.Splichal & I.Kovats (eds.). Media in Transition: An East-West Dialogue, 1993; M.Lauristin & P.Vihalemm with K.E.Rosengren & L.Weisbull /eds./. - Return to the Western World: Cultural and Political Perspectives on the Estonian Post-Communist Transition. - Tartu: Tartu University Press, 1997.
10. J.Habermas. Legitimation Crisis, 1975; The Theory of Communication Action , Vol. 1, 1984.
11. M.E.Katsh. The Electronic Media and Transformation of Law, 1989; W.H.Robinson. The Future of Parliamentary Information Services - U.S. Congressional Research Services . - Thesis for ECPRD Meeting, held in Brussels in Oct 16-17, 1997.