ABSTRACT
An exclusive focus on the macro-contextual ecology of legislatures may appear misleading as well as lopsided with the plausible conclusion that parliaments play a marginal role in holding the government accountable. External contextual determinants may affirm that most legislatures in parliamentary system belong to the reactive rather the active category, but within the same category there are considerable variations which prompt us to dig further into the internal organizational arrangements of legislatures. This chapter aims at delineating parliamentary committees, which are generally believed to be the most significant internal instrument of a legislature to oversee the activities of government and hold it to account. By focusing on the contextual political-institutional aspects, which do have direct bearings on the functioning of committees as well as intra-institutional arrangements of committees, this chapter strives to explore the factors that help determine the strength of committees which in turn maximize their capacity to call the government to account.
