Page 37 - Proceeding 2015

POPESCU Luminiţa Gabriela FAMP
PUBLIC POLICY AGENDA AND RESPONSIVENESS GOVERNANCE CCASP

Within their jurisdiction, the committees posse the monopoly authority to bring the alternatives to the
status quo up for a vote before the legislature; the committee proposal must command a majority of votes
against the status quo to become a public policy.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11 TH ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
The agenda power held by committee members implies that the success of the legislative initiative is
influenced / supported by the members of the relevant committees. Without these members, the bill will
not reach the floor for to be vote plenary. . Thus committee veto power means that from the set of policies

that command a majority against the status quo, only those that make the committee better off are
possible. The authority to veto the proposals of others is a powerful tool used by committees to influence

policy in their jurisdiction. Institutionalizing control over the congressional agenda – over the design and
selection of proposals that arise for a vote – provides durability and enforceability of bargains in a
legislative setting (Majone, 2008).

For the Romanian case we can briefly present a research conducted in 2010 concerning the activity of
the Romanian Parliament.3 First at all, the study captures the quantitative dimension of the Parliament
30 th – 31 st October 2015 ”Strategic Management for Local Communities” Bucharest projects and legislative initiatives at the Chamber of Deputies and another 422 at the Senate.
activities. In the first legislative session of 2010 (February 1 to June 30) were submitted 322 regulatory

The relation between the percentage values of the projects submitted by the members of Parliament and
the Government are presented below.

At the chamber of Deputies, 63% of the projects were submitted by MP’s and 37% of projects by The
Government; At the Senate, 82% of the legislative initiatives were submitted by the PM’s and only 18%
by the Government. The situation is reversed when we evaluate the relation between adopted and

rejected projects. The percentage values are presented below.

3 Romania's Constitution states that Parliament is the supreme representative of the Romanian people and the sole
legislative authority of the country. It consists of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. The current Romanian
Parliament consists of 137 senators and 334 deputies who are elected for a term of four years. For this term, the
mandate of parliament began on December 15, 2008, with valid elections and sworn, and will end on 14 December
2012. The mandate of such representative, in exercising its deputies and senators are serving the people. The
Constitution also states (Article 69, paragraph 2) that any imperative mandate is null. The two Houses of Parliament
shall meet in two ordinary sessions per year (February to June, September to December) but can also meet in
extraordinary session. During a legislative session, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate can pass laws,
resolutions and motions, the majority presence. The Chamber of Deputies and Senate operate the ParliamentPalace
in Bucharest and known as the People's House, lawmakers also operates in the territory (district / college) in the
parliamentary offices established for citizens

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