ABSTRACT

Recent writings on the Parliament in India not only give due consideration to the rules, procedures, conventions and constitutional principles but also endeavour to establish links between internal characteristics and external environment of the Parliament to account for what ails the Indian Parliament. These analyses explore the nature, character and functioning of the Parliament as an institution of accountability and attempt to unfold the present relationship between the legislature and executive in India. However one may argue that it fall quite short on analysing government-Parliament relationship in a systemic and general manner, in part because it remains woven around specific themes like representation, accountability, separation of power and legitimacy and are self-limiting in presenting a perspective on the change as well as continuity marking the government-Parliament relationship during distinct moments in the history of parliamentary democracy. A serious attempt to explore the notion of ‘responsibility’ and ‘responsible government,’ linking it with an overall character and nature of government-Parliament relationship is yet to emerge. There is an inseparability that marks the concept of ‘responsibility’ and ‘accountability’ in these writings. Rather, the idea of Parliament as an institution of accountability subsumes the question of responsibility, and detailed statistical evidence is presented to assess the functioning of Parliament as an institution of accountability. This chapter draws upon the conceptual distinction that exists between the idea of ‘responsibility’ and ‘accountability’ to establish the centrality of Confidence and No Confidence Motions as an instrument to ensure a responsible government. It intends to understand the efficacy and effectiveness of the Motions of ‘Confidence’ (CMs) and the ‘No Confidence Motions’ (NCMs) listed, discussed and voted from the First to the Fifteenth Lok Sabha to present an assessment of the Parliament-government relationship during different moments in the parliamentary democracy of India.