Parlement Vpar-b-montN Supreme court under the ancien regime in France. It developed out of the curia regis (“king’s court”) in which the Capetian kings convened their chief vassals and prelates to consider feu¬ dal and political issues. By the mid-13th century this judicial institution was known as Parlement and served as a court of appeals against the judgments of royal officials. Later Parlements also reviewed the king’s edicts to determine whether they were just and lawful. The chief Parle¬ ment was located in Paris, and others were established in the provinces. The Parlements were abolished in the French Revolution.
Parliament Legislative assembly of Britain and of other governments modeled after it. The British Parliament consists of the monarch, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons, and traces its roots to the union (c. 1300) of the Great Council and the King’s Court, two bodies that treated with and advised the king. In the 14th century, Parliament was split into two houses, with the lords spiritual and temporal (i.e., not only the nobility but also high officials of the church) debating in one and the knights and burgesses in the other. In the 14th century Parliament also began to present petitions (“bills”) to the king, which with his assent would become law. Robert Walpole was the first party leader to head the government as prime minister (1721-42). See also parliamentary democracy.
Parliament, Canadian Legislature of Canada, created by the British North America Act. The 301 members of its House of Commons are elected for maximum terms of five years from the provinces on the prin¬ ciple of representation by population. The 105 members of its Senate are appointed by Canada’s governor-general from the regions of Canada and serve until age 75. The parliament has authority over the armed forces, regulates trade and commerce, levies taxes, and is in charge of banking, credit, currency and bankruptcy, criminal law, postal services, fisheries, patents and copyrights, the census, navigation and shipping, railways, canals, and telegraphs. It also retains powers not specifically assigned to provincial legislatures. The leader of the party winning the most seats in a general election becomes prime minister and is called on by the governor-general to form a government. He generally chooses elected party colleagues to form the cabinet. The party winning the second-largest number of seats in the House becomes the official opposition party.
Parliament Act of 1911 Act passed in the British Parliament that deprived the House of Lords of its absolute power of veto on legislation. Proposed by a Liberal majority in the House of Commons, the act stated that any bill passed unchanged by the Commons in three separate ses¬ sions over two years could be presented for the royal assent (necessary for a bill to become law) without the Lords’ consent. By subordinating the Lords to the Commons, the act was seen as another step in making the British Constitution more democratic.
parliamentary democracy Democratic form of government in which the party (or a coalition of parties) with the greatest representation
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parliamentary procedure ► parrot I 1451
in the parliament (legislature) forms the government, its leader becoming prime minister or chancellor. Executive functions are exercised by members of the parliament appointed by the prime minister to the cabinet. The par¬ ties in the minority serve in opposition to the majority and have the duty to challenge it regularly. The prime minister may be removed from power whenever he loses the confidence of a majority of the ruling party or of the parliament. Parliamentary democracy originated in Britain (see Par¬ liament) and was adopted in several of its former colonies.
parliamentary procedure or rules of order Generally accepted rules, precedents, and practices used in the governance of deliberative assemblies. They are intended to maintain decorum, ascertain the will of the majority, preserve the rights of the minority, and facilitate the orderly transaction of business. Rules of parliamentary procedure originated in Britain in the 16th and 17th centuries and were subsequently adopted by legislatures around the world. Robert’s Rules of Order, codified in 1876 by U.S. Gen. Henry M. Robert (1837-1923) and regularly refined and enlarged, is the standard set of rules used by legislatures in the U.S.
Parma City (pop, 2001 prelim.: 156,172), Emilia-Romagna region, north¬ ern Italy. Located on the Parma River, the site was founded by the Romans in 183 bc; it became an episcopal see in the 4th century ad. Parma was destroyed by the Ostrogoths under Theodoric I but was rebuilt in the Middle Ages. Made part of the duchy of Parma and Piacenza in 1545, it was held by the Farnese family and later passed to the Austrians. In 1815 Napoleon gave the city to his second consort, Marie-Louise. In 1861 it became part of united Italy. It was badly damaged during World War II but was rebuilt. It is the commercial centre of an agricultural region and is famous for its Parmesan cheese. Sites of interest include the 12th- century Romanesque cathedral, the 13th-century baptistery, and the uni¬ versity (founded in the 11th century).
Parmenides \par- , men-9-,dez\ (b. c. 515 bc) Greek philosopher, leader of the Eleatics. His general teaching has been reconstructed from the few surviving fragments of his lengthy verse composition On Nature. He held that the multiplicity of existing things, their changing forms and motion, are but an appearance of a single eternal reality, “Being.” This doctrine, which was formulated as the principle that “all is one,” entails that all claims of change or of non-Being are illogical. Because of his method of basing claims about appearances on a logical concept of Being, he is con¬ sidered a founder of metaphysics. Plato’s dialogue Parmenides discusses his thought.
Parmigianino \,par-mi-ja-'ne-no\ orig. Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (b. Jan. 11, 1503, Parma, Duchy of Milan—d. Aug. 24, 1540, Casalmaggiore, Cremona) Italian painter and etcher. He painted some of his early frescoes for San Giovanni Evangelista; they were influ¬ enced by Correggio, who had recently worked in the same church. His originality is seen in his Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (1524). His Madonna of the Long Neck (1534) is typical of his later work, which is characterized by ambiguity of spatial composition, elongation of the human figure, and the pursuit of a rhythmical, sensuous beauty beyond nature. Among the most remarkable portrait painters of his age, he was one of the first artists to develop the elegant and sophisticated version of Mannerism that influenced the next generation of painters and was one of the first Italian artists to practice etching.
Parnaiba \,par-na- , e-b3\ River River, northeastern Brazil. It rises in the Tabatinga Mountains and flows northeast for 1,056 mi (1,700 km) to empty into the Atlantic Ocean, forming a delta at its mouth. The river has great economic importance. It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels from its mouth at least as far south as the junction of the Caninde River. The port of Parnaiba, located near the river’s mouth, is a commercial centre.
Parnassian \par-'na-se-9n\ Members of a French school of poetry of the second half of the 19th century that was headed by Charles-Marie- Rene Leconte de Lisle (1818-94) and Th£ophile Gautier. The Parnassians stressed restraint, objectivity, technical perfection, and precise description as a reaction against the emotionalism and verbal excess of Romanticism. Their name came from the anthology to which they contributed, Le Par- nasse contemporain (1866, 1871, 1876). Their influence was evident in movements such as Modernismo and led to experimentation in metres and verse forms and the revival of the sonnet.