The Sausage Machine

Otto von Bismarck is credited with the comment - ""Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made."

Perhaps that comment is understandable - making laws can be messy. As different views are expressed, it can look like endless argument. That is one of the reasons that many voters are put off politics. But it is necessary. In a democracy laws should not be handed down from on high. Members of legislatures are there to express the (very often) quite differing views of citizens. As a consumer I want my rights protected; "sharp" practices outlawed; dangerous products prohibited; and redress if my person or my property is injured by someone else's actions. A business wants "red tape" to be minimised or abolished. A right for me may limit your rights.

These things need to be discussed. Experience and "common sense" may need to be applied to an idea that a policy maker has come up with. Different perspectives need to be applied so that the danger of the "law of unintended consequences" is lessened.

The legislative process may be messy - it may be long - but it is vital. Citizens need to know how law is made - so that they can - when they need to - become involved in the process. They can ask their representative to support or oppose a particular measure - or advise of the consequences which the legislator may not realise. Often citizens only find out about a measure when it is too late to do anything. They might not know how or when to make their views.

Our democracy is enhanced when citizens know how it works.

(There are some excellent online materials available -

Parliament has a webpage dedicated to explaining the UK's legislative process - http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/passage-bill/.

The classic, "How Our Laws Are Made" for the US Congress is available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CDOC-110hdoc49/pdf/CDOC-110hdoc49.pdf.

There is an informative video about the EU legislative process at http://youtu.be/2OQuvbOAb0o.

The French legislative process is explained on the Assemblee nationale (English) website.)

Assemblee nationale

 

When I was in Paris during our holiday, my first destination was the 'la boutique de l'Assemblee nationale'. Details of the shop - which sells books; posters; postcards and a variety of gifts - can be found here.

I bought a small book published by Dalloz entitled "Les grandes dates de la Cinquieme Republique" (to complete Arnaud Teyssier's "Histoire politique de la Cinquieme Republique (1958-2011) which I had bought earlier, and which became my main reading during the holiday.)



But my main purchase was "Notices & Portraits 2013". Pictures and brief descriptions of the current members of the Assemblee.These are set out by Departements. At the back an outline map of each departement shows where each circonscription (Constituency [UK]; District [US]) is.

There is an excellent website for the French parliamentary channel at http://www.lcp.fr/

 

(An English Guide) to the French Assemblee nationale

An excellent guide has been produced about the French Assemble nationale - it's buildings and its work. It is a 33 page PDF which can be downloaded from http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/english/ba.pdf

A shorter guide can be found at http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/connaissance/bienvenue/welcome.pdf

French Legislative Elections

Now that the Presidential Election has concluded, the next national elections in France are for the Assemblee nationale, one of the two house of the French parlement. (The Senat is the other - which has indirect elections).

Details of the circonscriptions (UK- constituencies; US - Districts) can be found on the Assemble nationale website. For the first time there are specific circonscriptions for French nationals living abroad (Scottish Parliament and Weslsh National Assembly please note!). There are eleven of these circonscriptions - the USA is in 1st & the UK in the 3rd.

I subscribe to "Le petit journal" - a daily email (and webpage) for French ex-pats. There are a number of local editions. There is also a page dedicated to the elections, with an emphasis on the candidates for the "Francais etablis hors de France". It can be accessed here.

The Week Ahead

It's going to be quite a week politically.

The "Super Committee" tasked with coming up with an agreement to reduce the US budget deficit must act this week- the deadline is on Wednesday (the day before the Thanksgiving Holiday). In order for congressional action - the real deadline is today.

The Guardian was reporting last night -

"The bipartisan committee tasked with reducing America's $15tn (£9.5tn) budget deficit looks close to admitting defeat as its deadline looms.
The committee, created in August, has until Wednesday to report a plan to cut $1.2tn from the nation's deficit. Failure to do so will trigger automatic cuts to defence and social welfare programmes starting in 2013."

In the UK the controversial Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill will come up for Second Reading in the House of Lords today. As I will be down in Westminster all day - it is unlikely that I will be able to update Washminster during the day. When I can - I will tweet on WM_Alert. US news can be followed on Politico and RollCall .

The agendas for the following week are available for

Westminster Parliament
Assemblee nationale, France (from p2)
House of Representatives, USA

Assemblee nationale

The Assemblee nationale continues to meet (despite the distractions of the Socialiste primary and its aftermath). The business papers can be accessed Here (French). There's a very good English language site giving much background about the procedures and work of the assemblee here.

There is a "parliamentary channel" - LCP - http://www.lcp.fr/ (which is available also as an iPad App; iPhone App; and an Android App).

The next elections - once again run over two rounds - will take place on the 10th and 17th June. The country is divided into 577 districts ('circonscriptions'),

The law relating to the elections can be found in the Code electoral. The version which is due to be in force for the legislative elections in June can be accessed here.

If you are like me - obsessed by electoral statistics - then you can delight in the results of recent previous elections which can be accessed here.

A look at Francois Hollande

The current favourite to be the Parti Socialiste candidate in next year's French Presidential Election is Francois Hollande, a former leader of the party, who is a member of the Assemblee nationale. You may have read about him - but if you haven't seen him in action (sadly British and US TV don't give much coverage to French politics) - here is your chance.

He spoke during a debate in the assemblee nationale's session last week (in effect, the Parlement was recalled to discuss the economic situation and the government's "emergency" budget)


PLFR 2011 : François Hollande by francoishollande

M. Hollande's website is
http://francoishollande.fr/

His main rival is Martine Aubry -
http://www.martineaubry.fr/

Where Britain Leads - everyone else follows...

My little joke.... I refer to the fact that Parliament returned yesterday. The US Congress returns today, and a special session of the French parlement is being held today and tomorrow.

The websites for these institutions are

US House of Representatives
US Senate
French Assemblee nationale
French Senat

(the French Parlement sites are available in English - from the home pages above)

Of course, the European Parliament beat everyone - returning for a committee week last Monday. The next plenary session will be held in Strasbourg on 12th - 15th September. A weekly summary of events in the European Parliament is available here, while the Draft Agenda for the September plenary is accessible here.