Advantages and Disadvantages of Small Parliamentary Information and Research Services: The Estonian Experience

Aare Kasemets
Head of Economic and Social Information Department
Riigikogu Chancellery

Contents

Part I: Small Parliamentary Services in the Society in Transition

Introduction:
• The Supporting Role of the Parliamentary Information and Research (I&R) Services
  
• Allocation of Tasks between Parliamentary Library and Research Services.
  
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Small Systems

Part II: Some Elements of the Development Strategy

• Involving the Users in the Development of I&R Services
  
• Supplying Information for the Parliament
  • Academic research in universities
    
  • Socio-legal studies & sociological research surveys
    
  • Analytical and administrative capacity of the government agencies
    
  • Information technology & electronic databases
    
  • NGO-s and other interest groups together with the independent media
  
  
• Information Dissemination: Intranet Documents in the Internet
  
• The Aim of Continual Education and Training: Qualification and Readiness
  
• Guiding Principles of the Parliamentary I&R Services
  
• International Co-operation.

Conclusion

Bibliography

Appendix 1: Information Sources for the Parliament: A General Framework of Interaction
Appendix 2: The Reasons for Not Using Social Information in Law-making
Appendix 3: How to Compensate the Small Size and Limited Resources of the Parliamentary I&R Services? The Estonian Case
Appendix 4: Some Examples of Public Opinion Surveys Ordered by the Riigikogu Chancellery
Appendix 5: Customer' Opinion Survey '98: The Hierarchy of MP Information Needs

It is an art to bring the right information in the right place and at the right time to the attention of an MP so that it would be profitable to both its users as well as the whole society.

The existential question of small parliamentary information and research services like in Estonia has been and will be: How to provide to the parliament all important parliamentary services with limited human and financial resources?

Introduction

Parliaments hold a special position in a modern democracy. The development of each parliament is a part of the overall development of the respective country. Countries of very different political, socio-economic and cultural formations have created parliamentary information and research services (I&R Services) of various functions and sizes. In projecting the developmental trends of the parliamentary I&R Services, it is important to include both international and national factors and experience related to opportunities offered by new technology, information exchange, additional training and involvement of universities and interest groups. The following is an overview of the main factors directing the work of the Estonian Riigikogu (i.e. Parliament) I&R Services, and a description of their working principles and development perspectives.

1. The Supporting Role of the Parliamentary I&R Services

In times of societal changes, when the need for complex legal regulation is great, MPs need specialists of a particular field who are familiar with the parliament-specific information needs. As we know, the parliamentary information environment can't be homogeneous - in the political decision-making we can see a lot of different actors such as political parties, government, universities, international organisations, mass media, lobby groups, NGO-s etc. On the other hand we know that there is an information overload in the parliaments, the political programs are in contradiction, legislation is a very complex process, MPs usually have no time,… and so on (see Appendix 1+2 and References). In view of the above-mentioned list of actors and factors, the main role of I&R Services is to assist MPs in improving of quality of parliamentary work related to

• legislation and prognosis of regulatory impact,
• control of executive power,
• informing the general public, and
• representing the parliamentary units (see References).

Also, the parliamentary I&R Services contribute to the promotion of the constitutional principle of the separation of powers, minimising the MPs' dependence on the information sources outside the Parliament. My colleagues and I believe that the separation of powers is one keyword for parliamentary democracy and the I&R Services of parliament are an irreplaceable element in this system.

In Estonia, the I&R Services of the Riigikogu Chancellery have developed together with the parliament. Considering the fact that the foundational structure of the current Riigikogu support system was laid in 1992, this development has been rather rapid. Working through materials on several different parliamentary I&R Services (see References), our goal has been to find and incorporate appropriate elements into our relatively miniature system.

The general functions of the democratic state and the parliament in the serving of civil society are similar in different countries, and, as you understand, the positive existential question of small I&R Services like in Estonia have been and will be - How to provide to the parliament all important parliamentary services with limited human and financial resources? Or in other words - How to compensate for the limited resources?

Although our clients, the legislators in Estonia have alternative information sources at their disposal, the comparatively young Riigikogu I&R Services have already found their place in meeting the information needs of MPs and their advisers. Of course, our parliamentary I&R Services are not completed, we are at the development stage.

2. Allocation of Tasks between Parliamentary Library and Research Services.

Legislation requires interdisciplinary knowledge, but since the number of advisers actively engaged in research is comparatively small, co-operation between parliamentary library and different research departments is essential. The tasks of the main Riigikogu I&R Services are allocated as follows:

The National Library and its Centre of Information Services for MPs (est 1993) provides all traditional library services (to both the Riigikogu and the Government). The Centre compiles analytical databases on politics, economy and law, it also registers the official publications of Estonia, compiles the bibliography of legal literature and annual reports on Riigikogu' activity;

The Legal Department (est 1992) focuses on juridical analysis of legal acts - from revising draft legislation with respect to their conformity with other legal acts (the Constitution, international conventions/directives, other laws) to the analysis and supervision of the rules, agreements, etc. relating to the Riigikogu and its Chancellery;

The Department of Economic and Social Information (est 1995) has as it's main task, the collecting, processing and analysis of legislation-related economic, financial, and social information. In addition, the Department co-operates with universities in the field of socio-legal research, compiles information requests to the government agencies, organises seminars and, in co-operation with MPs and officials, prepares the ordering of sociological surveys.

Considering the size of the Estonian state, limited resources, and the developmental trends of the information systems, this organisational model of Riigikogu I&R Services is quite optimal.

3. Advantages and disadvantages of Small Systems

The Centre of Information Services for MPs (National Library) employs approximately 40 people, the Legal Department employs 10 and the Department of Economic and Social Information has 8 employees. This comparatively small system has its advantages and disadvantages. If I think about the Estonian experience in general then in my point of view there are 7 main advantages and 6 disadvantages that I would mention. Certainly some of them are specific to the society in transition.

The main advantages are:

• instant and direct contact with MP-s and committee and faction advisers;
  
• economic efficiency, the relatively miniature expenditures for the state budget;
  
• effective use of electronic and other information sources outside the parliament;
  
• the ability to adjust working priorities to the demands of legislation;
  
• indispensable co-operation with other I&R units from the central government, universities, local governments, NGO-s, colleagues of other parliaments etc;
  
• all advisers have the professional right and responsibility to make proposals to parliamentary committees, if their analytical decision-making is transparent and correct;
  
• small organisations are able to adapt to new concepts, organisational reforms etc more quickly.

The main disadvantages are:

• the limited extent and volume of the services offered;
  
• if the electronic databases are at the development stage in some government agencies, universities etc and the needed information is not accessible, the advisers in the I&R Services spend their limited time on information seeking;
  
• if some research topics related to the parliamentary work and legislation are not covered by universities' academic studies, then advisers must spend the time educating themselves on the topic and writing the report corresponding to the requests of the committee or political faction;
  
• if the law drafting standards and traditions are not sufficiently developed on the level of executive power or political parties (see the best practices of the OECD countries), the parliamentary I&R Services spend a lot of time on organisational aspects of work or for additional information seeking and analysis;
  
• the responsibility of all advisers is great, but sometimes we have a lack of time for an in-depth analysis;
  
• the advisers cannot specialise too narrowly, because they have to orient themselves efficiently to different topics.

This is also the reason for the emphasis on satisfying the requests of MPs and committees rather than on the adviser's own initiative of compiling proposals and publications although the Statutes of the Riigikogu I&R Services grant the researchers this right.

If we observe the primary functions of the I&R Services we can see what kind of advantages or disadvantages became apparent and important in different situations, and, what kind of additional activities or pre-conditions we must develop. I would like to explain some of them giving the examples from my Department of Economic and Social Information. In fulfilling its principal tasks we have identified 9-10 functions for the further development (see Appendix 3).

Due to the Post-Soviet need for new regulation, the Estonian parliamentary work-pace has been rapid: from 21 March 1995 to 26 June 1998, the Riigikogu passed 583 legal acts, 364 authored by the Government of Estonia, 216 by the parliament. There are ten standing committees and eight factions in the Riigikogu and its year runs from September to July.Today it can be said that the most important laws governing the functioning of the State and the economy in the Estonian legal system have been adopted. As the quantity of legislative acts in preparation has decreased, we have been able to focus more on quality and specific regulations. This obviously increases the role of social sciences in the legislation process. If today's tasks are still overwhelming for a Riigikogu I&R Service of our size, it is my hope that in a couple of years we shall be able to meet all demands adequately. This also presumes increased analytical potential of the committee and faction advisers. As the responsibility of the political parties grows together with their membership, the I&R Services of Riigikogu cannot and should not be held responsible for the content of the factions' ideology-related work. I&R Services non-partisan work will be increasingly oriented towards the committee proceedings and to questions of special interest to the MPs.A small system depends on teamwork and, the professional responsibility of every adviser is very important because advisers must be able to work independently without constant supervision. The principles of civil services, academic methods of research and professional ethics (see point 8) are essential in this context.

4. Involving the Users in the Development of I&R Services

Surveys on the users' and clients' needs, expectations and opinions are a routine procedure of modern information-intensive organisations. In 1995 and 1998, the Riigikogu Chancellery polled the members and the officials of the Riigikogu with the help of an independent research company, asking for their opinion of the information, documentation and research services. The results have been analysed and some of them are expanded on below (see Appendix 5).

Of course, above all, the political support for I&R Services is very important because the parliament is a political round table of different parties, ideologies and programmes. The civil servants of the Riigikogu try to promote understanding and co-operation between legislators and their I&R Services in everyday work. The developmental priorities of the Riigikogu I&R Services have been set by the Riigikogu Chancellery in co-operation with the Board of the Riigikogu and the Elders Council.

5. Supplying Information for the Parliament

The Riigikogu I&R Services locate possible sources of information needed in the parliamentary work in order to quickly access it on demand. Estonia is a transitional society, and in my opinion, it is important to concentrate on the following five processes:

• increasing the involvement of universities and academic associations;
  
• increasing the ordering and use of socio-economic research in the political decision-making;
  
• the development of analytical and administrative capacity of the government agencies;
  
• the use of new technology and establishment of electronic databases available for all institutions;
  
• the development of interrelations between the structures of civil society, including NGO-s.

Now in detail:

(1) Academic studies are an important information source for legislators. The Riigikogu Chancellery research services co-operate with the research policy-makers from the Ministry of Education and with the researchers from the universities and academic associations. Our aim is to promote academic research related to the development of the parliamentary democracy, civil society, methodology of legislation, regulatory impact studies, improvement of political decision-making, sociology of law etc. For example, a list of research topics, related to the above-mentioned keywords, was proposed to the Estonian universities in 1996 and 1997 (see www.riigikogu.ee). The revised and updated list of proposed topics now includes 86 themes in 14 research areas and it is quite popular in the universities.

(2) Due to the small number of population (circa 1.4 Million inhabitants) the social scientists have sometimes viewed Estonia as an integrated model of social, economic and political processes where all relevant features can be observed relatively holistically. In order to build a bridge between the institutions of power and the civil society, the Riigikogu Chancellery orders sociological research surveys (in 1996-98 ten studies have been conducted). The topics researched include: the awareness of human and/or citizen rights of the inhabitants of Estonia; people's preferences for the state budget priorities; integration into the EU; the use of legal information sources; the image of legal institutions; social problems; involvement in social and political activities; priorities in legislative drafting process; various public sector reforms etc (see Appendix 4). The results of surveys promote both political and civic dialogue in society.

(3) The Riigikogu research services are interested in further development of analytical and administrative capacity of the government agencies. Up to now, about 70% of legislation is authored by the Government. The analytical process should be a systematic part of regulatory process, not just an ad hoc exercise, because every law changes the situation in the field of state budget, social interaction, central and local government management etc. This point is also closely related to the implementation of national and international legal acts. Provided that the government agencies will make correct assessments of the possible impact of the draft laws, the Riigikogu I&R Services can focus on additional research, the control of data and conclusions provided by government agencies, lobby groups, NGO-s etc, or on the analysis of socio-economic processes related to EU integration. I think that the comparative studies on regulatory impact analysis conducted by OECD, are a good basis for development activities in this field.

(4) Information technology & electronic databases. Most of the information that MPs and other public officials need comes from electronically accessible sources outside the parliament. As information mediators of parliaments, I&R Services should meet the highest contemporary technical standards. The Riigikogu I&R Services are equipped with networked personal computers and the majority of MPs and advisers have developed the habit of computerised information-searching.

Besides developing special electronic databases of parliamentary documents, sociological studies etc for the Riigikogu (in the Intranet), its Chancellery has proposed to several organisations that they might consider the specific information needs of the parliament standing committees in collecting and processing their information. Our proposals have been taken into consideration by the National Statistical Office (see http://www.stat.ee), Court Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Justice; Social Science Data Archive (see http://www.psych.ut.ee/esta); Sustainable Development Database "Eesti21" (see http://www.agenda21.ee); and many others.The purpose of the above-mentioned measures is to avoid the creation of similar or repetitive databases and services in the Riigikogu, and to delegate tasks to other competent organisations.Another area of concentration is the promotion and increased usage of international legislation-related databases available via Internet. The newest database of this kind was launched by EU Commissioner Padraig Flynn in the context of European Social Policy Forum, held in Brussels in June '98 (see http://www.eurofound.ie).

(5) NGO-s and other interest groups (together with the independent media) play an important role in the civil society. They are its legislative assistants, innovators, cost-cutters and watchdogs. If access to official parliamentary information is guaranteed, NGO-s and interest-groups will also be able to discover possible risks posed by the implementation of different draft laws, and propose their alternatives for regulatory improvement. In a way, NGO-s' legislation-related contribution is inexpensive research for the parliament, government and civil society. The contribution of NGO-s is also important in developing social responsibility and social control mechanisms. Riigikogu I&R Services see their role as mediators between the NGO-s and MP-s.

Finally, since I&R Services are rather expensive, they should be well co-ordinated. Also, I hope that the co-operation with universities, academic associations, government agencies and interest groups will support the pre-conditions for responsible legislation.

6. Information Dissemination: Intranet Documents in the Internet.

An opinion poll of the Estonian MPs showed that they considered informing the public about the activities of the Riigikogu and issues relating to legislation very important. In order to develop this area in the context of furthering the development of a civil society, a connection between the Riigikogu intranet and the Internet (see http://www.riigikogu.ee) will be established in September 1998. This will enable all Internet-connected computers the access to draft legislation currently in the legislative procedure of the Riigikogu, as well as to related research materials and fact sheets prepared by the civil servants of I&R Services.

(The research shows that 33% of 15-74 year-old population uses computers in Estonia, and there are close to 130 Internet connections per 10,000 inhabitants, which places Estonia 13th among European countries).

7. The Aim of Continual Education & Training: Qualification and Readiness

It is an art to bring the right information in the right place an at the right time to the attention of an MP so that it would be profitable to both its users as well as the whole society. Just as the ancient hunters and gatherers, the contemporary parliamentary information hunter/gatherer and analyst needs knowledge, attitudes, intuition and skills that are fixed in practical experience in the parliamentary environment.

Riigikogu Chancellery has decided to develop the I&R Services not by continually increasing the number of employees but rather by improving their qualifications. Personnel management policy of organising the staff's additional training holds the central role here. For example, the current additional training in the Department of Economic and Social Information is related to methods for analysing draft laws, communication planning, economic & social policies of the EU etc.

Depending on the initiator of the legislative draft, the draft will pass anywhere from 6 to 12 screenings designed to pinpoint possible flaws and improve its quality. Although the primary responsibility for regulatory impact analysis (incl. EU integration) belongs to the government agencies, the parliamentary officers have to be sufficiently qualified to meet the demands of any highly specific analysis when the need arises. For continual education and training in this area, Riigikogu Chancellery co-operates with various ministries and universities. International co-operation is also very important here.

In addition to their regular work, several employees of the Riigikogu Chancellery are post-graduate students in different universities. This is reminiscent of the early days of the first Estonian Republic in the 1920-s. The other focal point is instructing and training MPs and their political advisers to independently make better use of the computer network in order to find and use databases at their disposal. The electronic databases are accessible world-wide and 24 hours a day.

8. Guiding Principles of the Parliamentary I&R Services

Being one of the many possible information sources on the information market, it is important to win the clients' trust by providing them with operative, precise and competent information. The experience of I&R Services shows that once an MP or his or her adviser have used a service, they will continue using it.

The I&R Services are guided by the basic principles of public service and professional ethics. I will mention 8 interdependent guiding principles:

• all members of the parliament are to have adequate access to the services;
  
• research services are prioritised according to their importance to the parliament;
  
• political neutrality, equal treatment of political forces is emphasised;
  
• methods of work have to be academic and the discussion transparent;
  
• focus is on points at issue, on staying up to date in research approach;
  
• reliability of the service is prioritised, the MP is guaranteed confidentiality;
  
• access to the information, research, an article, etc will later be granted to all interested parties (without any mention of the original requestor);
  
• most of the information should be made accessible to the public (mainly via the Internet).

9. International Co-operation

The exchange of professional information with colleagues from the parliaments, governments, academic associations and NGO-s of other countries is mediated by several international organisations, of which European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (see http://www.europarl.eu.int/dg4/cerdp/en/public/default.htm), Inter-Parliamentary Union and International Federation of Library Associations are undoubtedly the most important. Although discussions can nowadays be held over electronic channels, it is still important to organise regular meetings for the specialists of different legislation-related organisations in order to share new ideas, and to get to know one's colleagues.

The officials of the Riigikogu Chancellery have also recently joined the international co-operation network. This was almost inevitable as about 1/3 of the information requests submitted to the I&R Services require comparative data on European and other countries. The information provided by colleagues from other countries has enabled in-depth and more exhaustive answers to the members of the Riigikogu, and has most likely had a positive impact on the quality of Estonian laws.

As noted, we emphasise national co-ordination of efforts and the delegation of responsibilities in order to effectively use limited resources. This is expressed in co-operation with government agencies, universities, information centres of NGO-s etc.

We have tried to stay up-to-date on the newest developmental concepts, technical advances and experiences in the parliamentary I&R Services world-wide.

I think, we all try to make a synthesis suitable for our countries and parliaments. Our societies are in rapid transition and we are face to face with the need for a life-long learning. Or in the words of Ancient-Greek proverb: You can never put your foot in the same river twice, it is always changing. Our information environment is changing and we are changing as well.

The globalisation of political, economic and socio-cultural issues leads us towards co-operation with other I&R Services, with whom we share similar challenges. It is my hope that this co-operation will develop further, because together we can ensure better outcomes for all.

Thank you for attention

I'm happy if you find some ideas useful for your parliamentary services.

Aare Kasemets

14 August 1998
Tel: (+372) 631 65 09
Fax: (+372) 631 65 04
E-mail: aare.kasemets@riigikogu.ee

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Information Sources for the Parliament: a General Framework of Interaction.

Main institutions, organisations and interest groups:
• Universities, research institutes, academic associations
  
• Central Government agencies
  
• Other constitutional institutions: President, Central Bank, State Audit Office, National Court, Legal Councellor
  
• Party organisations, faction advisers
  
• Local government agencies
  
• Social Partners: employer's and employee's associations
  
• Lobby groups, financial supporters, ideological partners
  
• Public opinion (via public opinion polls and mass media)
  
• Mass Media: newspapers, TV, Radio
  
• NGO-s, different interest groups
  
• International political & economic organisations (United Nations, EU Commission, European Parliament, OECD, IMF etc)
  
• International associations of political parties (socialist, liberal, moderate etc)
  
• Parliamentary information and research services
  
• Advisers of the standing committees

The reasons for not using social information in law-making

The reasons for not using social information in law-making assumed in the questionnaire and reported as having bigger or smaller importance by respondents from various countries are that:

• there is an information overload in parliament,
  
• the law-makers lack knowledge about the existing social information and how to get it,
  
• the ideologies and programs of political parties are in contradiction with social and economic information worked out by scientists,
  
• the law-makers usually have no time for this,
  
• the legal aspects are considered of prime importance and law-makers basically concentrate on them,
  
• the available social information is not considered sufficiently operative, comprehensive or reliable by law-makers.

But, on the other hand, regardless all of possible difficulties connected with obtaining and analysing the social information, it is pointed out that:

"The complexity and diversity of information sources is not considered as problematic; on the contrary, it is a necessity in a plural democracy." (Belgium)

All post-socialist countries indicated that to a certain extent the use of social information is hindered because the law-makers usually work on law-making too episodically for examining social information in detail.

The source:
Kenkmann, P., Ginter, J., and Kasemets, A. Use of Social Information in the Law-Making Process of Parliaments: a Comparative Study. Riigikogu Chancellery. Tallinn 1998, p. 13

How to compensate the small size and limited resources of the parliamentary information and research services?

The Estonian case:

© Drafted by Aare Kasemets. Department of Economic and Social Information, Riigikogu Chancellery 1998

If you could participate in state budget discussions,
which sector would you support ?
(% of respondents by age groups)
	Age of respondents
	15-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60+
Increase of retirement income	13	23	28	39	52	77
Helth care	62	62	65	67	68	64
Creation of new work-places	52	49	54	48	45	42
Education	73	63	59	60	48	41
Subsidy to young families	38	43	33	34	37	41
Rural economy	18	25	28	30	38	37
Dwelling construction programs	12	25	22	18	18	27
Handicapped people	22	15	13	13	15	25
Subsidy to unemployed people	24	20	24	26	28	21
Social programs for rural areas	16	24	21	25	24	18
Police	18	16	16	14	16	18
Environmental programs	26	19	19	13	16	17
Culture	13	14	20	12	15	10
Reseach and development	13	9	9	11	13	9
Public transport	11	6	5	7	5	9
Infrastructure improvements (roads)	18	15	16	10	9	8
Borderguard	5	3	4	3	3	7
Programs of small enterprise	7	13	12	13	10	6
Devel. of state-controlled companies	10	5	7	10	6	6
Training for a new profession	10	16	13	16	12	5
Army	6	5	4	3	7	5
International communication	5	6	6	2	1	3
Funds for soft loans	18	11	12	13	3	2
Increase of civil servants salary	6	9	13	11	11	2
Court system	4	2	1	2	1	2
Prison	5	2	1	1	0	0