ABSTRACT
The literature on national legislatures has long been telling a story of the ‘decline of parliaments’ and ‘deparliamentarization’, suggesting that the parliamentary influence in the democratic process has waned (Goetz and Meyer-Sahling 2008; Norton 1992; Wheare 1967: ch. 9). In contrast, executive institutions have been strengthened and chief executives empowered. Some scholars refer to this as an ongoing ‘presidentialization’ of parliamentary democracies (Poguntke and Webb 2005), while others simply refer to it as the ‘empowerment of executives’ (Johansson and Tallberg 2010). The students of legislative politics have nevertheless claimed that ‘there is no basis for asserting a decline of parliaments in Scandinavia’ (Damgaard 1994: 100; see also Damgaard 1992; Sjölin 1993). The legislatures of this region are no mere ‘rubber stamps’ or ‘transport companies’. On the contrary, Scandinavian parliaments have ‘obtained increased importance and influence’ and it is more appropriate to speak of the ‘decline of governments and resurgence of parliaments in Scandinavia’ (Damgaard 1994: 100).
