How to assess parliamentary standards: Evaluating capacity and practice against established democratic standards

Upholding parliamentary standards is imperative to protecting a democratic, transparent, accountable and effective representative system. But how do we measure them?

Last year was a historic year for democracies. Around 1.5 billion people went to the polls in over 50 countries to make it a significant year for elections. As with all elections, the change in representatives and parliamentarians was dramatic but how do we know the impact of this change on parliamentary standards? This article will outline a set of the indicators to measuring success in parliamentary standards.

In 2023, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), in partnership with leading organisations and experts from the parliamentary community, developed the Indicators for Democratic Parliaments, a list of 25 indicators grouped into seven categories to respond to targets 16.6 and 16.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The indicators act as a framework for measuring parliamentary capacity and performance, and sit under the following target headings: effective, accountable, transparent, responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative, with each of them being broken down into several markers and assessment criteria.

The full list of the indicators and markers can be found below this article.

Within each marker, a set of assessment criteria should be evaluated separately using evidence. One of six descriptive grades can be attributed to reflect the situation in your parliament (Non-existent, Rudimentary, Basic, Good, Very good and Excellent).

The assessment guidance sets out the main steps in an assessment exercise. It contains questions for parliament to consider, as well as checklists.

This guidance is only a starting point. Each exercise needs to be tailored to parliament’s objectives, which will naturally affect the time and effort required to carry out the assessment.

Parliament can freely select which indicators it wishes to include in an assessment exercise. It may decide to focus on one or more indicators or to assess itself against all 25 indicators.

The assessment exercise is intended to generate recommendations for change. By examining the current state of capacity and practice, participants in the assessment exercise will identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement.

We analyse these indicators in more detail throughout our Mastering Parliamentary Standards: Representation, Processes and Duties. The course has been curated to benchmark standards in parliament, as well as how to be the complete parliamentarian. The programme sets out the fundamentals of parliamentary processes, committees, and budgeting, while also evaluating integral factors such as parliamentary standards, capacity and performance. Join us, in London to learn more about raising standards in parliament, as well as strengthening your role as a representative.

Full List of Indicators for Parliamentary Standards:

1. Effective Parliament
   • Parliamentary Autonomy
   • Members of Parliament
   • Parliamentary procedures
   • Parliamentary organisation
   • Administrative capacity and independence
   • Law making
   • Oversight
   • Budget
   • Representative role of members of parliament
   • Relations with other branches of government
   • Key parliamentary powers
2. Accountable Parliament
   • Parliamentary ethics
   • Institutional integrity
3. Transparent Parliament
   • Transparency of parliamentary processes
   • Parliamentary communication and outreach
   • Access to parliament
4. Responsive Parliament
   • Valuing public concerns
5. Inclusive Parliament
   • Inclusive law-making, oversight and budgeting
   • Inclusive institutional practice
6. Participatory Parliament
   • Parliamentary environment for public participation
   • Public participation in parliamentary processes
   • Participation of diverse groups in the work of parliament
7. Representative Parliament
   • Electoral integrity
   • Composition of parliament
   • Composition of parliamentary bodies

For more information on the indicators and their assessment criteria, visit the Indicators for Democratic Parliaments site here.