This report was written by the Overseas Development Institute for DFID, to provide insight into parliamentary strengthening and to analyse how DFID can progress in this field in the future. The first chapter provides an introduction into parliamentary strengthening programs and provides an overview of organizations and projects. Chapter two outlines the theoretical relationship between parliaments and governance, exploring what parliaments might play in delivering effective governance. Chapter three examines the role which parliaments play in practice, identifying a number of factors which limit their contributions to effective governance. Chapters four and five outline the parliamentary strengthening work, first of organisations based outside the UK, and second of UK-based organisations. Chapter six begins by exploring the relevance of the Paris Agenda’s principles on aid effectiveness to parliamentary strengthening. Finally, the report outlines a series of issues which DFID will need to consider in formulating its future strategy for parliamentary strengthening work, and makes a number of recommendations as to how DFID should move forward in this area.