Policy Participation and Accountability: The Role of the Parliament in Africa

Abstract

In representative democracies, parliaments acts not only as channels through which people participate in policy process but also accountability. However, parliaments can only perform their roles effectively if and when they are able to develop into independent institutions of countervailing powers. This paper analyses the role of the parliament in Africa in the policy process and accountability. It specifically answers the question why, despite the major constitutional and political transformations that has prevailed in Africa since the 1990s, parliaments in Africa continue to display limited roles in policy process and accountability. Relying on a secondary data, the paper also questions the logic and efficacy of the social contract theory which is mostly employed to evaluate the government, primarily in terms of its adherence to consent of the governed as continually represented and kept alive in the legislature. This is because the social contract theory does not take into account the unique historical and cultural contexts of each country/region in its perspectives. Instead, this paper the adopts an historical approach, under which the parliament in Africa is viewed as a product of specific historical events that have not only constrained its growth and development, but also left legacies that continued to limit its capacity. This is manifested by three factors: (a) executive dominance; (b) party politics; and (c) weak institutional capacity indicated by the failure to use oversight tools and limited resources. The paper conclusion that the parliament in Africa can exploit the current information explosion to strengthen its capacity.