THE CONCEPT OF PARLIAMENT AND PARLIAMENTARISM: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE UNITED STATES, UZBEKISTAN, ITALY, AND JAPAN
Keywords:
parliament, parliamentarism, bicameralism, comparative constitutional law, legislative institutions, United States Congress, Oliy Majlis, Italian Parliament, National Diet, separation of powers.Abstract
Parliament stands as the foundational institution of modern democratic governance, embodying the principle of popular sovereignty and serving as the primary vehicle for legislative authority across political systems. This article examines the concept of parliament and parliamentarism through a comparative lens, analyzing the legislative structures of four distinct nations: the United States of America, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Italian Republic, and Japan. Drawing on constitutional texts, political science literature, and institutional records, the study explores the etymological and conceptual origins of parliament, the theoretical underpinnings of parliamentarism as a system of governance, and the structural and functional variations across bicameral and unicameral models. Through systematic comparison of chamber composition, member qualifications, electoral systems, powers, and mechanisms of executive accountability, the article demonstrates that while all four systems share a commitment to representative democracy, they differ substantially in the relationship between the legislature and the executive, in the distribution of powers between chambers, and in the scope of parliamentary authority. The findings suggest that the design of parliamentary institutions reflects deep historical, cultural, and constitutional traditions, and that no single model can be deemed universally superior. The article contributes to the comparative constitutional law literature by integrating the case of Uzbekistan — a transitional democracy with a hybrid presidential-parliamentary system — alongside three established democracies.
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