Introduction

The nature of government-backbencher interaction, however, varies from country to country. But in general, the collaboration between the two is governed by mutuality of interests. Referring to Britain, King observes, 'Ministers have needs of government backbenchers, they need their moral support; they need, above all, their votes. The hegemony of the party leadership over the backbenchers in parliament is also established and maintained in several other ways. For example, none of the major parliamentary parties in the 'new' parliaments made any distinction between the parliamentary chapter and the organisational wing. The usual response of the government to the quest of its backbenchers for a 'more' activist role is negative. It generally does not look upon with favour to their various demands; in particular, its response to the legislative proposals made by government backbenchers appears to be 'hyper'-critical.