Popular assemblies as historical prototypes of parliamentarism

Relevance. The emergence of parliamentary mechanisms in the European space is the result of a strong political and legal tradition. Before parliaments acquired the status of state structures, society developed special representative institutions - prototypes of parliamentarism, which are rightly considered popular assemblies. The analysis of their legal status and functionality is a promising scientific direction, as it allows us to generate regularities and factors of parliamentarism as a unique category.

 Purpose: generalization of retrospective experience of people’s assemblies in the context of their positioning as proto-parliamentary models.

 Objectives: to study the empirical basis for the functioning of popular assemblies in the format of ecclesia, commissions, tings and veche, to determine the «points of influence» of these structures on the fixation of parliamentary values in national legal orders.

Methodology. The methodology of the research is represented by a combination of general scientific, private scientific and special legal methods, among which the comparative legal method is of particular importance.

Results. The results of the study are of theoretical and applied nature and consist in a summarized view of the competence toolkit of popular assemblies operating in different historical periods on the territory of the European continent and their role in the subsequent establishment of parliamentary principles.

Conclusions. Popular assemblies in the format of ecclesia, commissions, tings and veche, accompanying the development of the state system of various countries and epochs, were peculiar stimuli for the formation of parliamentarism, which acquired a stable reputation as the social architecture became more complex and deliberative structures were introduced into the managerial conjuncture. The experience of people's assemblies largely predetermined the further emergence of parliaments as a natural result of the development of social relations.

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