Issues in appraising the impact of legislative assemblies in emerging democracies
Abstract:Abstract
This article examines the basic issues in appraising the effectiveness of
legislative assemblies of emerging democracies using Nigeria as a case
study with the aim of therewith enhancing a better understanding of
legislative work and engendering grounds for further research into
legislative processes and work in these countries. Four issues identified and
examined revolve around the concept of legislative process; the problem of
defining the goals of the appraisal, the factors which affect the effectiveness
of legislative processes, and a rudimentary assessment of the performance
level of the Nigerian National Assembly. It was discovered that using these
issues as units of analysis will normally reveal the strengths and
weaknesses of the legislative processes in focus, enabling the repositioning
of legislative business for the ‘peace, order and good government’ of the
nation. The article concludes by suggesting the institutionalization of
routine generation of legislative data to enable more empirical studies of
legislative processes in emerging democracies
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