Parliament

Abstract

A distinction has been drawn by Nelson Polsby (1975) between ‘arena’ and ‘transformative’ legislatures. An arena legislature is one in which debate is conducted and issues are aired, but few decisions of any substance are taken. A transformative legislature plays a much more active role in policy-making. Given a straight choice between these two models, most commentators would almost certainly assign the UK Parliament to the former category. A ‘parliament’, as the word itself suggests, is for talking, rather than doing.