PARLIAMENTARY FUNCTIONS PORTRAYED ON EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTS' WEBSITES

Abstract

This article uses data from a pilot study on the websites of 15 parliaments in Europe to identify whichparliamentary functions are portrayed on these websites. The pilot study undertook a contents analysisfocused on four parliamentary functions: legislation, legitimation, representation and scrutiny, to ascertainthe extent to which each of these functions is present on the websites analysed. As parliaments face difficultiesof public perception, their websites become an important tool for dissemination of parliamentary work. Andyet we know little about what these websites portray, when it comes to parliamentary activity. Are thesewebsites a reflection of parliamentary work? To what extent do these websites express political debate? Towhat extent are these websites comprehensive to all of the roles performed by parliaments? This articleshows that legislation is the main focus of parliamentary websites in Europe and representation the one thathas less devoted space. This may go some way to explain why some parliamentary websites are consideredas too dense and not user friendly. We also show that parliamentary websites tend to focus on parliamentaryoutputs to the detriment of parliamentary actors. Because of their institutional collective representation,parliaments are cautious in focusing on politicians or parties; instead they focus on what parliamentsproduce (laws, questions, debates, etc.). Again, this goes some way to explain why parliaments’ websitesmay not be as engaging as one may expect, simply because they are not meant to reflect political debate, butsimply to facilitate it.