ABSTRACT
Parliaments and parliamentarians traditionally have been a feature of domestic politics, as a distinctive branch of government or as representatives of the people respectively. However, lately they have come to develop a different role linked to international rather than domestic politics, especially regarding regional organizations. Parliamentary institutions engage in international affairs in three major ways: 1) by influencing foreign policy through national parliaments; 2) by conducting parallel diplomatic relations, known as parliamentary diplomacy; and 3) by establishing and empowering parliaments as representative bodies of international, often regional, organizations. These roles differ in form and substance. The first is a classical function of parliaments and implies no policymaking innovation, although the degree to which parliaments do so varies from one democracy to another. The second function is more recent and has focused mainly on peace-building and conflict-prevention activities. The third is the most atypical function, and is ideally oriented towards supranational institution building.
