War powers have been contested between governments and parliamentsthroughout the history of democratic politics and political theory. On theone hand, the authorisation of standing armies, of conscription and of taxesfor the purpose of waging war has been the raison d’être of early modernparliamentarianism ever since the English nobility reached a constitutionalsettlement in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The paper outlines some patterns and basic variations that we found in parliamentary control procedures among 49 states examined and describes the decision-making power that parliaments possess before troops can be deployed by their governments.