IPU Logo Books

What is the IPU?

Latest News

History

Members

Areas of activity

Functioning and documents

Finance and administration

Statutory Assemblies

Governing Council

Executive Committee

Committees and Working Groups

Geopolitical groups

Specialized meetings

Future meetings

IPU President

Secretary General

point Publications

Press Releases

PARLINE database

Women in politics - bibliographic database

ASGP

Home page

Order form Most of the publications listed below can be ORDERED ON-LINE until the stock lasts. Whenever applicable, you can access the order form by clicking on the cover of the book.

Tools for parliamentary oversight (2008)
Free and Fair Elections. New expanded edition.,
G.S. Goodwin-Gill (2006)
The House of Parliaments,
seen by Jean Mohr (2004)
The Parliamentary Mandate (2000)
Democracy: its Principles and Achievement (1998)
Codes of Conduct for Elections,
by G.S. Goodwin-Gill (1998)
Presiding Officers of National Parliamentary Assemblies,
by G. Bergougnous (1997)
Free and Fair Elections: International Law and Practice,
by G.S. Goodwin-Gill (1994)
The Conferences of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on European Co-operation and Security (1973-1991),
by V.-Y. Ghebali (1993)
Functioning and "Jurisprudence" of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians,
by L. Despouy (1993)
The People have the Floor - A History of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
by Y. Zarjevski (1989)
Parliaments in the Modern World,
by P. Laundy (1989)
Parliaments of the World - A Comparative Reference Compendium (1986)


TOOLS FOR PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT

Order form Parliamentary oversight is a multi-faceted activity. Tools for parliamentary oversight examines the mechanisms and processes used in oversight activities. It identifies and analyzes the tools that are commonly found in plenary and in committee work, where detailed scrutiny of governmental policies can often be carried out most effectively. By developing a catalogue of tools for parliamentary oversight, the study invites parliaments to examine their own practices, and offers a range of examples from national parliaments that may be of wider interest.

This book can be ordered from the IPU Secretariat.
Order form

Year of publication: 2008
Languages: Spanish (English and French version are out of print)

PDF Versions
English (1'230 Kb), French (1'259 Kb), Spanish (1'268 Kb)


FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS. NEW EXPANDED EDITION
by G.S. Goodwin-Gill

Order form In 1994 the first edition of Free and Fair Elections sought to establish the content of the rules and standard of international law pertaining to free and fair elections, with special attention to State practice. The new, expanded edition demonstrates how the concept of free and fair elections has become firmly entrenched in the law of international and regional organizations in the past decade. It reviews progress in the adoption and consolidation of relevant international standards since 1994; it assesses developments in law and practice (including such emerging issues as electronic voting and gender balance); identifies outstanding problematic areas; and sets out some of the bases for a present and future research agenda. The second part contains the full text of the 1994 study in its original form.

This book can be ordered from the IPU Secretariat.
Order form

Year of publication: 2006
Languages: Spanish (French and English versions are out of print)

PDF Versions
English (1'096 Kb), French (1'145 Kb), Spanish (1'123 Kb)


THE HOUSE OF PARLIAMENTS, SEEN BY JEAN MOHR

Order form A year after the inauguration of its new Headquarters, the IPU is publishing a commemorative book entitled The House of Parliaments/La Maison des Parlements. This volume provides an illustrated look at how a residence built by architect Marc Camoletti was transformed into the House of Parliaments, as seen through the lens of photographer Jean Mohr. Born in 1925 in Geneva, Jean Mohr has travelled all over the world. His photo essays have appeared in the Swiss and international press, and he has numerous books to his credit, including some published in collaboration with the writers John Berger and Edward Saïd. For two years, his amera focused on the tradesmen that worked on transforming the old Villa Gardiol into The House of Parliaments. Jean Mohr's photos, adeptly laid out by Swiss graphic designer Sandra Binder, pay tribute to their artistry.

This book can be ordered from the IPU Secretariat.
Order form Year of publication: 2004
Languages: bilingual French/English


THE PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE

Order form A global comparative study based on the analysis of information supplied by over 130 parliamentary chambers and supplemented with information contained in the IPU's Parline database and collection of basic documentation on parliaments. Focuses on the nature, duration and exercise of the parliamentary mandate, offering a comparative analysis of world-wide practice in this field. Also addresses the issue of the legal and material resources available or that should be made available to the parliamentarians in the performance of their mandate. The author concludes that the special rights to which parliamentarians are entitled are not meant to place them above the law but rather to ensure that they perform this mandate, entrusted to them by the people, in an independent an unhindered fashion.

Written by Mr. Marc Van der Hulst, Chief of the Legal Service of the Belgian Chamber of Deputies.

This book can be ordered from the IPU Secretariat.
Order form

Year of publication: 2000
Languages: French and Spanish (English is out of print)

PDF Version
English (702 Kb), French (762 Kb), Spanish (742 Kb)


Order form DEMOCRACY: ITS PRINCIPLES AND ACHIEVEMENT

The word democracy is one of the most used terms of the political vocabulary and, while it has given rise to much comment and reflection over the years, no text was ever adopted at the world level by politicians to define its parameters or establish its scope.

This was changed when the IPU Council adopted the Universal Declaration on Democracy at its session in Cairo (September 1997). The Declaration was the end result of a process in which leading personalities, representative of the different geopolitical currents, participated with their views and suggestions on the principles and achievement of democracy.

The text of the Declaration and the written contributions of the eleven experts are contained in this publication.

This book can be ordered from the IPU Secretariat.
Order form

Year of publication: 1998
Languages: Spanish (English and French versions are out of print)

PDF version
English (551 Kb), French (585 Kb), Spanish (550 Kb)


Order form CODES OF CONDUCT FOR ELECTIONS

This IPU-commissioned work, by Professor Guy S. Goodwin-Gill, of Oxford University (United Kingdom), provides a comprehensive review of practical problems and solutions relating to the financing of elections, media coverage, election observation, campaign practices and the institutionalisation of the electoral process.

Skilfully combining elements of law and practice, the study also offers a model code of conduct and contains a number of annexed texts which have served as codes in various countries.

This book can be ordered from the IPU Secretariat.
Order form

Year of publication: 1998
Languages: French and Spanish (English is out of print)

PDF version
English (683 Kb), French (730 Kb), Spanish (740 Kb)


Order form PRESIDING OFFICERS OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLIES

The Speakers of representative Assemblies occupy a privileged place in Parliaments which could not work without them. In most countries, they rank very high in the State hierarchy and are invested with important authority under national Constitutions.

Written by Mr Georges Bergougnous, Head of the Legal Department of the French Constitutional Council, this book aims to define the status of presiding officers and their functions before attempting to determine their place and role in the institutions.

This comparative study - prepared on the basis of material contained in the database established by the Inter-Parliamentary Union called PARLINE, Parliaments on line - includes invaluable information on 150 Chambers which replied to a detailed questionnaire on this specific topic.

 

Year of publication: 1997
Languages: this publication is no longer available. But you can still download it in PDF format

PDF version
English (540 Kb), French (558 Kb), Spanish (558 Kb)


Order form FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS: INTERNATIONAL LAW AND PRACTICE

Free and Fair Elections: International Law and Practice seeks to establish the content of the rules and standard of international law pertaining to free and fair elections, with special attention to State practice. It therefore makes selective and illustrative comparisons of electoral laws and practices and includes the experience of a number of observer and technical assistance missions to States in transition to representative democracy.

Written by Professor Guy S. Goodwin-Gill of Carleton University (Canada), the book also contains the text of the Declaration on criteria for free and fair elections adopted by the world inter-parliamentary community in Paris in March 1994.
A new and expanded edition of the book appeared in 2006.
  The stock having been exhausted, this publication is no longer available.


THE CONFERENCES OF THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION ON EUROPEAN CO-OPERATION AND SECURUTY 1973-1991 - THE CONTRIBUTION OF PARLIAMENTARY DIPLOMACY TO EAST-WEST DETENTE

Written by Victor-Yves Ghebali, Professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, this book traces the work carried out by the IPU in the field of European co-operation and security over a 20-year period commencing before the openingof the intergovernmental negotiations that led up to the CSCE. It reviews the seven Conferences held between 1973 and 1991 and makes a systematic comparison between the progress made on the various issues at the inter-parliamentary and intergovernmental levels.

The five sections of the book are devoted to the birth of the inter-parliamentary process, its chronological development, working methods, recommendations and its follow-up mechanism. The final documents adopted by each of the seven Conferences feature in extenso as Annexes.
  Year of publication: 1993
Languages: this publication is no longer available.


Order form MANUAL OF THE FUNCTIONING AND "JURISPRUDENCE" OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PARLIAMENTARIANS

Prepared by Leandro Despouy, an expert in human rights matters and a member of the United Nations Sub-commission on Human Rights, this work covers the activity of the Committee from its first session in January 1977 to its 60th session in February 1993.

The book sets out the characteristics of the procedure for dealing with communications received by the Union, the bodies which contribute to its working and the dynamics of its operation. It also highlights the wealth of the Committee's "jurisprudence" as regards the situations dealt with and the rights protected: right to life, right to a fair trial, political rights, other rights particular to MPs, etc.

The stock having been exhausted, this publication is no longer available.


THE PEOPLE HAVE THE FLOOR

A History of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, by Yéfime Zarjevski. Published to mark the Centenary of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, this book retraces the most important steps taken by the founders of the Union and their successors to promote the ideals of peace and of the settlement of international disputes through arbitration and negotiation.

This book can be ordered from the IPU Secretariat.
Order form Year of publication: 1989
Languages: English and French


PARLIAMENTS IN THE MODERN WORLD

By Philip Laundy, Clerk Assistant of the Canadian House of Commons.

The author explores the diversity of parliaments and electoral systems. He analyses the role of parliaments in relation to the structure of governments as well as their functions and activities. The book provides information on the work of parliaments, on committee systems, on parliamentary immunities, parliamentary staff and services. 1989, 166 pages. Published to mark the Centenary of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The English edition is only available directly from Bookpoint Ltd.,
130 Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4SB, United Kingdom,
Telephone: +44 1235 400400, Fax: +44 1235 400454,
E-mail: ashgate@bookpoint.co.uk.
Year of publication: 1989
Price: £55.00. Postage costs are £3.95 in the UK, £7.50 Overseas.
cliquez ici pour la version française


PARLIAMENTS OF THE WORLD: A COMPARATIVE REFERENCE COMPENDIUM

Based on data gathered in 1984/85 and published in 1986, this comparative study in two volumes (1422 p.) includes a series of 47 tables and accompanying texts which examine the composition, organization and operation of 83 parliaments representing all institutional systems existing at that time.

This book can be ordered from the IPU Secretariat.
Order form Year of publication: 1986
Languages: English and French
Price: 121€ Postage costs included


Reports and Surveys Handbooks Periodicals