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This article analyses the relationship the legislature and the executive, focusing on the capacity of the legislature to scrutinise and constrain the executive. It defines a legislature and the constitutional features that determine the type of political system and the basic relationship between legislature and executive. It draws out the capacity of the legislature to scrutinise and constrain the executive through identifying and assessing the different forms of opposition that may exist to the executive. The multi-faceted nature of opposition reveals the extent to which legislatures remain significant political actors.