About 90 percent of the world'snearly 200 sovereign states have national legislatures orparliaments. With the spread of democracy and the rise ofmultiparty political systems, these bodies are playinglarger roles in government. Increasingly, legislatures andtheir members perform four important functions ofgovernance: o Making policies and laws. Legislatures arerepresentative bodies for collective decisionmaking, workingwith the executive branch to deliberate policies and makelaws. Representing citizens. Legislators give voice toindividual citizens, civil society organizations, andbusiness groups, representing the needs of localconstituents in policymaking. Overseeing the executive.Legislatures oversee policy implementation by the executivebranch, scrutinizing its work and holding it accountable.Recruiting future leaders. Legislatures are stepping stonesand training grounds for senior positions in the executivebranch. Transcending these formal functions, legislaturesalso provide an arena where competing political forces candebate and reach consensus on national policies and laws.This note addresses the oversight function because of itssignificance for government transparency and accountability,and because the Bank has initiated pilot projects to supportthis function.
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