A Practical Guide to Constitution Building: The Design of the Legislature

This paper appears as chapter 5 of International IDEA’s publication A Practical Guide to Constitution Building. It focuses on the design of the executive branch of government. The paper starts by setting out the various models for legislative design, along with their strengths and weaknesses. The models include presidential, parliamentary, and mixed (or semi-presidential) systems of government. A discussion concerning the importance of design options for all political actors follows, along with a discussion of the importance of the political context within the state. The report then discusses various institutional design options, focusing on: forms of representation in the legislative branch, legislative oversight, and checks on legislative autonomy. Finally the report discusses the legislature''s substantive powers, including their law-making powers, their powers to amend the constitution, and some of their special powers, including the power to grant amnesty or pardons and their powers in states of emergency.