Impact of the civil society on the legislative process in the republic of Armenia: available tools and problems of their utilization

Abstract

Civil Society, as a manifestation of non-formal and self-organized associational life, has been an essential element of the Armenian nation throughout the centuries. Its formation as such, is however, considered to be at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of 1990s, and is connected with such developments as the earthquake, Karabakh conflict and of course, the independence of the Republic of Armenia. It was during those years that many unions, funds and organizations were formed. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how successful Armenian Civil Society (defined as only non-governmental organizations) is in using tools to influence national legislative decision-making and promoting its transparency. The main concentration will be on analyzing transparency of parliamentary institutions from constituency outreach perspective. The paper first discusses Important Factors or Necessary Conditions for the Transparent and Accountable Parliamentary Institution. Then it suggests and discusses available tools to the Civil Society for influencing legislative decision- making. Finally the paper discusses what tools Armenian Civil Society generally uses to participate in legislative decision-making and which of those tools are more effective. Based on the analysis of the conducted interviews and secondary data, conclusions are made and recommendations are given to the Civil Society for strengthening their influence in the decision-making process of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.