Almost all democratic legislatures depend on committees to conduct their business. This paper discusses the different types of committees, committee meetings and hearings, committee membership, leadership and staff and their roles in the legislative process.

All legislatures empower a presiding officer whose responsibility is to direct and manage debate. This manual describes the three general models of presiding officers in the legislature. It describes the nature of the speaker’s authority based on the history and tradition of each model.

Read the report in Spanish.