Democracy: Minority Rule and Rejection of the Majority
Another important minority in the Parliament is the permanent commissions. In each of these commissions, there are several members of Parliament whose number is determined based on the number of seats held by the parties. The work area of each commission is clear; for example, there are dedicated commissions for finance, commerce, agriculture, and health. The term “permanent commissions” distinguishes these bodies from temporary commissions, which are established to address specific issues that arise and are subsequently dissolved. The members of the commissions are not permanent; rather, following new elections and the redistribution of seats in Parliament, changes may occur in the structure of the commissions. An example of such committees can be found in each of the two American houses, where the chairperson of each committee is a member of the party that holds the majority of seats.
The identity of the members of the commissions is also determined based on the percentage of votes and seats of each of the two parties of the parliament members. In other countries, these committees take other forms. In general, these committees have more power and freedom of action in all countries. The work of these committees is mostly research and review about the project of laws related to their field of expertise; For example: if a legal project related to agricultural issues is submitted to the parliament, the review of this project will be assigned to the agriculture commission. This commission also investigates it and calls the related and involved people in this issue. Then he decides to accept or reject or change the nature of the project. In case of acceptance or the need to make amendments in it, it will present the project to the parliament for discussion. According to these materials, we come to the conclusion that to what extent the committees or commissions have a free hand in determining the limits of the content of the laws and can be effective; For this reason, some have called the commissions of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate the third house.
Apart from the high power and open working space, these committees also do inappropriate things that can give them a negative score and put a black mark on their skirts. For example: Before making a decision on an issue, it is important for committee members to know which faction requested the approval of, for example, this law and which faction is against it. After that, they weigh the two sides; In the end, they will vote for the faction that is stronger or provides their interests.
Dozens of other examples can be provided to illustrate that Parliament often represents minority interests rather than majority viewpoints. Although the mechanisms of parliaments vary across different countries, they are all constructed from the same framework and originate from the same foundational principles.
