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Rubber stamp (politics)

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A rubber stamp is a political metaphor, referring to a person or institution with considerable de jure power but little de facto power — one that rarely or never disagrees with more powerful organizations. Historian Edward S. Ellis used the term toy parliament to describe a rubber-stamp legislature.

Function

In situations where this superior official's signature may frequently be required for routine paperwork, a literal rubber stamp is used, with a likeness of their hand-written signature. In essence, the term is meant to convey an endorsement without careful thought or personal investment in the outcome, especially since it is usually expected as the stamper's duty to do so. In the situation where a dictator's legislature is a "rubber stamp", the orders they are meant to endorse are formalities they are expected to legitimize, and are usually done to create the superficial appearance of legislative and dictatorial harmony rather than because they have actual power.

In a constitutional monarchy or parliamentary republic, heads of state are typically "rubber stamps" (or figureheads) to an elected parliament, even if they legally possess considerable reserve powers or disagree with the parliament's decisions.

Rubber-stamp legislatures may occur even in democratic countries if the institutional arrangement allows for it.

Examples

In many instances, the refusal of a constitutional monarch to rubber stamp laws passed by parliament can set off a constitutional crisis. For example, when then-king Baudouin of Belgium, because of his religious objections, refused to sign a bill legalizing abortions in April 1990, the Belgian Federal Parliament declared him temporarily unable to reign. That effectively transferred his powers to the Cabinet for a single day, consequentially overriding his veto.

Legislatures

Historian Edward S. Ellis described Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II's General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire as a toy parliament. It was created in 1876 with the sole purpose of appeasing the European powers.

One of the most famous examples of a rubber stamp institution is the Reichstag of Nazi Germany, which unanimously confirmed all decisions already made by Adolf Hitler and the highest-ranking members of the Nazi Party. Many legislatures of authoritarian and totalitarian countries are considered as rubber stamps, such as communist parliaments like the Chinese National People's Congress, or the Italian Chamber of Fasces and Corporations during the Fascist regime.

Since the 2003 elections, Russia's Federal Assembly has been similarly referred to as a rubber stamp institution. Russia's State Duma (the lower house of the Federal Assembly) quickly adopted a number of laws proposed by the government without delay. The annexation of Crimea was quickly approved in 2014 with only one deputy, Ilya Ponomarev, voting against. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the legislative approvals of the annexation of occupied territories in late 2022 did not meet any resistance, giving the government full control.

Other suggested examples of rubber stamp legislatures include:

Historic legislatures
Current legislatures

References

  1. Webster's New World Dictionary, Second College Edition, ISBN 0-671-41809-2 - page 1242 - "*rubber-stamp 2. to approve or endorse in a routine manner, without thought - *rubber stamp - 2. a) a person, bureau, legislature, etc., that approves or endorses something in a routine manner, without thought, b) any routine approval"
  2. Montgomery, Paul (5 April 1990). "Belgian King, Unable to Sign Abortion Law, Takes Day Off". New York Times. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  3. Martin, Shane; Saalfeld, Thomas; Strøm, Kaare W.; Schuler, Paul; Malesky, Edmund J. (1 January 2014), Martin, Shane; Saalfeld, Thomas; Strøm, Kaare W. (eds.), "Authoritarian Legislatures", The Oxford Handbook of Legislative Studies, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199653010.013.0004, ISBN 978-0-19-965301-0
  4. "Nothing to see but comfort for Xi at China's annual parliament". Reuters. 16 March 2017. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  5. Wee, Sui-Lee (1 March 2018). "China's Parliament Is a Growing Billionaires' Club". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  6. ^ Rosefielde, Steven; Hedlund, Stefan (2009). Russia Since 1980. Cambridge University Press. p. 174. ISBN 9780521849135. Retrieved 16 June 2023. Duma election of 2003, reducing the legislature to a rubber stamp.
  7. ^ Troianovski, Anton; Nechepurenko, Ivan (19 September 2021). "Russian Election Shows Declining Support for Putin's Party". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021. Russian elections are not free and fair, and Parliament's role in recent years has mainly been to rubber-stamp the Kremlin's initiatives while providing a veneer of democratic legitimacy to Mr. Putin's rule.
  8. ^ Rutland, Peter (June 2009). "Post-socialist states and the evolution of a new development model: Russia and China compared" (PDF). Polis (3). Moscow: 165–176.
  9. "Duma Ends in Rubber-Stamp Ruling Frenzy". The Moscow Times. 27 November 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  10. Gorelova, Anastasia (25 March 2014). "Russian deputy isolated after opposing Crimea annexation". Reuters. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  11. Williams, Stuart (7 March 2014). "Russian Parliament Will Vote Crimea Referendum 'Into Law'". Business Insider. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  12. ^ Berlinger, Joshua; Voitovych, Olga (3 October 2022). "Russian Parliament begins process to rubber-stamp annexations as Moscow struggles to define borders". CNN. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  13. Townson, Duncan (2001). The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern History: 1789-1945 (2nd ed.). Penguin Books. p. 459. ISBN 0140514902. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  14. "Anos 60 e 70: ditadura, bipartidarismo e biônicos - Notícias". Portal da Câmara dos Deputados (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  15. "The Macau Precedent". Wall Street Journal. 16 March 2009.
  16. Coughlin, Con (2023). "2: The Velvet Glove". Assad: The Triumph of Tyranny. 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR, UK: Pan Macmillan. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-5290-7490-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  17. Ziadeh, Radwan (2011). "2: Inheriting Syria from Father to Son: Hafez al-Asad's Last Days". Power and Policy in Syria. 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010, USA: I.B. Tauris. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-84885-434-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  18. "Syria holds parliamentary election amid pandemic and new US sanctions". ABC News. 20 July 2020. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020.
  19. "Syria's Least Passive Parliament in More Than Half a Century". 21 July 2020. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020.
  20. "Critics decry 'rubber-stamp' role of Egypt parliament". The Arab Weekly. 9 October 2016.
  21. "Standing in Agreement: Egypt's Parliament Risks Becoming Rubber Stamp". The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  22. "Egypt starts voting in first stage of parliament elections". Al Jazeera. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2024. Egyptians are voting to elect a new parliament which critics say will just replicate a "rubber-stamp" body in place since 2015 under hardline President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
  23. "The Assembly of Experts". The Iran Primer. United States Institute of Peace. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  24. Vatanka, Alex (26 May 2020). "A new session for Iran's rubber-stamp Parliament". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  25. "N Korea holds parliamentary poll" Archived 4 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
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