The first parliaments date back to the Middle Ages. While UNESCO considers the Cortes of León (1188) in current day Spain as the earliest documentary manifestation with the presence of the common people, the Parliament of Sicily is frequently cited by historiography as one of the earliest precursors of parliamentary institutions in Europe. Originating from the assemblies convened by Roger II of Sicily in 1130, it evolved into a formalized structure that anticipated many features of later European parliaments.
The concept of parliamentary government also evolved and developed in the Kingdom of England, with the first English parliament to include ordinary citizens from the towns taking place in 1265. During the early modern period, this culminated in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 which ensured that, unlike much of the rest of Europe at the time, royal absolutism would not prevail. The Parliament of Great Britain (1707-1800) established the primacy of parliamentary sovereignty, through which the rule of law could be enforced.
An early example of parliamentary government also occurred in today's Netherlands and Belgium during the Dutch revolt in 1581, when the sovereign, legislative and executive powers were taken over by the States General of the Netherlands from the then-monarch, King Philip II of Spain.
The United States chose to adopt a presidential system under the United States Constitution, rather than a parliamentary system.
The revolutions of 1848 in Europe largely failed to strengthen parliaments in most European countries, as conservative forces regained control and reversed changes, but they made a return to the pre-1848 status quo impossible, leading to gradual, long-term parliamentary development across much of Europe.
Proto-parliamentary institutions Since ancient times, when societies were tribal, there were councils or a headman whose decisions were assessed by village elders. This is often referred to as tribalism. Some scholars argue that in ancient Mesopotamia there was a primitive democratic government where the kings were assessed by council.Jacobsen, T. (July 1943). "Primitive Democracy in Ancient Mesopotamia". Journal of Near Eastern Studies 2 (3): 159–172. The same has been said about ancient India, where some form of assemblies existed, and therefore there was some form of democracy.Robinson, E. W. (1997). The First Democracies: Early Popular Government Outside Athens . Franz Steiner Verlag. . However, these claims are not accepted by most scholars, who see these forms of government as oligarchies.Larsen, J.A.O. (Jan. 1973). "Demokratia". Classical Philology 68 (1): 45–46.Bongard-Levin, G.M. (1986). A complex study of Ancient India. South Asia Books. .
Europe Ancient Athens was the cradle of democracy. The Athenian assembly (ἐκκλησία ekklesia) was the most important institution, and every male of Athenian citizenship above the age of thirty could take part in the discussions; however, no women, no men under the age of thirty, and none of the many thousands of slaves were allowed to participate. However, Athenian democracy was not representative, but rather direct, and therefore the ekklesia was not a parliamentary system.
The Roman Republic, established in the 6th century BC, had legislative assemblies, who had the final say regarding the election of magistrates, the enactment of new statutes, the carrying out of capital punishment, the declaration of war and peace, and the creation (or dissolution) of alliances.Abbott, Frank Frost (1901). A History and Description of Roman Political Institutions. Elibron Classics. . The Roman Senate was not the ancestor or predecessor of modern parliamentarism in any sense, because the Roman senate was not a legislative body. The Roman Senate controlled money, administration, and the details of foreign policy.Byrd, Robert (1995). The Senate of the Roman Republic. US Government Printing Office Senate Document 103–23.
In Anglo-Saxon England, the Witenagamot was an important political institution. The name derives from the Old English ƿitena ȝemōt, or witena gemōt, for "meeting of wise men". The first recorded act of a witenagemot was the law code issued by King Æthelberht of Kent ca. 600, the earliest document which survives in sustained Old English prose; however, the witan was certainly in existence long before this time.Liebermann, Felix, The National Assembly in the Anglo-Saxon Period (Halle, 1913; repr. New York, 1961). The Witan, along with the folkmoots (local assemblies), is an important ancestor of the early-modern English parliament.
Ancient Iran Some Muslim scholars argue that the Islamic shura (a method of taking decisions in Islamic societies) is analogous to a parliament. However, others (notably from Hizb ut-Tahrir) disagree, highlighting some fundamental differences between the shura system and the parliamentary system.The System of Islam, (Nidham ul Islam) by Taqiuddin an-Nabhani , Al-Khilafa Publications, 1423 AH - 2002 CE, p. 61The System of Islam, by Taqiuddin an-Nabhani , p. 39
The first recorded signs of a council to decide on different issues in ancient Iran dates back to 247 BC, the time of the Parthian Empire. Parthians established the first Iranian empire since the conquest of Persia by Alexander and by their early years of reigning, an assembly of the nobles called “Mehestan” was formed that made the final decision on very serious issues.
The word "Mehestan" consists of two parts: "Meh", a word of the old Persian origin, which literally means "The Great" and "-stan", a suffix in the Persian language, which means “place”. Altogether Mehestan means a place where the greats come together.
The Mehestan Assembly, which consisted of Zoroastrian religious leaders and clan elders exerted great influence over the administration of the kingdom.HAMAZOR Publication of the World Zoroastrian Organisation: Will the issue of Dokhmenashini ever be resolved in the sub-continent?: ISSUE 3 2006. Page: 27
One of the most important decisions of the council was made in 208 AD, when a civil war broke out and the Mehestan decided that the empire would be ruled by two brothers simultaneously, Ardavan V and Blash V. In 224 AD, following the dissolution of the Parthian empire after over 470 years, the Mahestan council came to an end.
Early parliaments in the Middle Ages
The term parliament is applied to several different kinds of medieval assembly, and claims that an institution was the "first parliament" depend on the criterion used, such as antiquity, representation, legislative authority or institutional continuity.
The Icelandic Alþingi, established at Þingvellir around 930, was the national assembly of the Icelandic Commonwealth and combined legislative and judicial functions. Its supreme institution, the Lögrétta, passed laws, settled disputes and granted exemptions from the law. It was composed of chieftains (goðar), later joined by bishops, and their non-voting advisers, rather than representatives elected by towns or territorial constituencies.
One tradition traces the origins of the Parliament of Sicily to 1130, when Roger II convened the Curiae generales in Palermo. These early royal assemblies consisted of nobles and ecclesiastics. Representatives of cities first participated under Frederick II, in assemblies convened between 1232 and 1240, when the Sicilian institution became one of the earliest such assemblies to acquire more regular institutional characteristics.
In 1188, Alfonso IX of León convened a Curia Regia attended by elected representatives of towns and cities alongside the monarch, the clergy and the nobility. UNESCO describes the resulting Decreta of León as containing the oldest known written information concerning the European parliamentary system and as the first documented institutional participation of the common people in higher-level decision-making through elected urban representatives.
The parliament of the Patria del Friuli is first documented in 1231. Convened and presided over by the Patriarch of Aquileia, it included clergy, nobles, cities and other communities represented by envoys, and exercised legislative, fiscal, military and judicial functions.
The Parliament of Scotland developed from the king's council and is identifiable as a national law-making institution from the early 13th century. Representatives of the royal burghs began to appear during the 14th century, although their attendance did not become regular until later.
In Portugal, the Cortes of Leiria of 1254 were the first Portuguese Cortes in which representatives of the municipalities sat alongside the clergy and nobility. Earlier Cortes, including those held at Coimbra in 1211, had been attended by members of the clergy and nobility but not by municipal representatives.
In England, the Provisions of Oxford of 1258 placed the government of Henry III under the authority of a council and provided for regular meetings of parliament. In 1265, Simon de Montfort summoned representatives of both the towns and the shires to discuss matters of national concern alongside the nobility and clergy. This assembly is regarded as an important forerunner of the House of Commons.
In the Principality of Catalonia, the General Court of Catalonia of 1283 officially established that legislation required agreement between the monarch and the estates of the realm, ending the monarch's position as the sole legislative authority. The Courts consisted of the military estate representing the nobility, the ecclesiastical estate and the royal estate representing towns under the monarch's jurisdiction.
Britain and the Commonwealth
In the 17th century, during the early modern period, the Parliament of England pioneered some of the ideas and systems of liberal democracy culminating in the Glorious Revolution and passage of the Bill of Rights 1689 and Claim of Right Act 1689 in Scotland. The Glorious Revolution marked the beginning of the English constitutional monarchy and its role as one of the three elements of government.
In the Kingdom of Great Britain, the monarch, in theory, chaired cabinet and chose ministers. In practice, King George I's inability to speak English led the responsibility for chairing cabinet to go to the leading minister, literally the prime or first minister, Robert Walpole. The gradual democratisation of Parliament with the broadening of the voting franchise increased Parliament's role in controlling government, and in deciding who the king could ask to form a government. By the 19th century, the Great Reform Act 1832 led to parliamentary dominance, with its choice invariably deciding who was prime minister and the complexion of the government.
Other countries gradually adopted what came to be called the Westminster model of government, with an executive answerable to parliament (fusion of powers), but exercising powers nominally vested in the head of state, in the name of the head of state. Hence the use of phrases like Her Majesty's government or His Excellency's government. Such a system became particularly prevalent in older British dominions, many of whom had their constitutions enacted by the British parliament; examples include Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Irish Free State and the Union of South Africa. Some of these parliaments evolved, were reformed from, or were initially developed as distinct from their original British model: the Australian Senate, for instance, has since its inception more closely reflected the US Senate than the British House of Lords; whereas since 1950 there is no upper house in New Zealand.
France