Conclusion

Watch a live telecast of Parliament in session and one thing becomes obvious almost immediately: it is a genuine rainbow of colours, drawn from every region of the country, with members speaking in different languages, coming from different castes, religions, and social backgrounds. Members argue, and sometimes fight, bitterly — enough that it is common to hear the complaint that Parliament is wasting the nation's time and money.

But as this chapter has tried to show, these same parliamentarians, however chaotic they may look on screen, can and do exercise real, effective control over the executive. Precisely because of who sits in it, the legislature is the most representative of all the organs of government — and the sheer diversity of its members' social backgrounds is what gives legislatures the potential to be genuinely representative and responsive to what people expect of them. In a parliamentary democracy, the legislature, as th …