A Model Parliament (also referred to as a Mock Parliament) is a simulation of the parliamentary proceedings of a legislature or other deliberative assembly, often based upon the Westminster Parliamentary system. Model Parliaments are usually held as an educational tool to promote understanding of the working of government.
Model Parliaments have also been established to promote the activities of community service programmes or to advocate social or political change. The Canadian youth parliament movement was founded for the purpose of advancing youth programmes in Canada. Oxfam sponsors an "International Youth Parliament" to promote youth-led social change. As an example of the latter purpose, in 1914 the women's suffrage movement in Canada, under the leadership of Nellie McClung, organized a mock parliament to parody the refusal of the government of Manitoba to grant women the right to vote.
This article about a youth organization is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
The Model Parliament is the term, attributed to Frederic William Maitland, used for the 1295 Parliament of England of King Edward I.
This assembly included members of the clergy and the aristocracy, as well as representatives from the various counties and boroughs. Each county returned two knights, two burgesses were elected from each borough, and each city provided two citizens. This composition became the model for later parliaments, hence the name.
A similar scheme had been used in summoning De Montfort's Parliament in 1265. That Parliament, however, had been called by Simon de Montfort in the midst of the Second Barons' War against Henry III of England; that the same scheme should be adopted by a king (Henry's son and heir, who had quelled Montfort's uprising) was remarkable.
Edward I summoned the parliament on 13 November 1295. In calling the parliament, Edward proclaimed in his writ of summons, "what touches all, should be approved of all, and it is also clear that common dangers should be met by measures agreed upon in common." At the time, Parliament's legislative authority was limited and its primary role was to levy taxes. Edward's paramount goal in summoning the parliament was to raise funds for his wars, specifically planned campaigns against the French and the Scots for the upcoming year, and countering an insurgency in Wales. This "sound finance" by taxation was a goal of summoning the parliament, but it was tied into "counsel" to the king and "the element of service" for feudalism.