We just wanted to share the great success that we had at the PSA Conference in Brighton last week – having held a range of panels and talks throughout Tuesday and Wednesday of the Conference.
Tuesday morning began with a discussion of the relationship between public law, legal perspectives, and parliamentary and legislative studies, which featured four excellent papers from Oonagh Gay, Ben Yong, Jack Simson Caird and Louise Thompson (panel details here).
https://twitter.com/EI_lead/status/712224602576064512
This session was followed by a lunchtime panel on Parliaments and Citizens. It was thought-provoking and popular session, in which the room was packed and there was standing room only. It had papers from David Lowe, Cristina Leston-Bandeira and Louise Thompson, Hartwig Pautz and Stephen Elstaub, and Michael Parsons (panel details here).
Fabulous Panel 'Parliaments & Citizens' with @estrangeirada @LouiseVThompson and others #psaparliaments #PSA16 pic.twitter.com/nZlr2WPnjW
— Julia Schwanholz (@jschwanholz) March 22, 2016
Packed room for our #psaparliaments panel, "Parliaments and Citizens", taking place in The Grand Consort Room #psa16 pic.twitter.com/ylKDPC57aO
— PSA Parliaments (@psa_parl) March 22, 2016
The day continued with a panel on Parliaments and Policy, featuring papers from Tony McNulty, Julia Schwanholz and Tobias Jakobi, Stephen MacGregor, and Alexandra Kelso, Mark Bennister and Phil Larkin (panel details here); and the day was rounded off with a final panel on Parliaments and Representation, including papers Richard Reid, Cory Belden, Valesca Lima, and Juan Munoz-Portillo (panel details here).
Our next #psaparliaments panel kicks off with super view of "messy realities" of gov & parl by @Tony_McNulty #PSA16
— Louise Thompson (@LouiseVThompson) March 22, 2016
Our events continued in earnest on Wednesday morning with a panel on scrutiny and accountability. We heard from Marc Geddes, Stephen Bates and Mark Goodwin, Jessica Mulley and Richard Kelly, and Mark Shephard (panel details here). We also had a parallel session on comparative parliaments, and included papers from Martin Kuta and Jan Nemec, Richard Reid, Steven MacGregor, and Andrea Lawlor and Erin Crandall (panel details here).
https://twitter.com/CrickCentre/status/712570041183707136
On Wednesday lunch time, we held our final event, led by Caroline Kenny, on the relationship between Parliament and academia, and what all this meant in terms of the Research Excellence Framework (REF).
In addition to panels and papers, we also held out AGM, where we discussed future ideas – keep your eyes peeled, we have big ideas for the coming months ahead!
Judging by the comments on Twitter and the attendance at our panels, the conference went very well for the Parliaments and Legislatures Specialist Group. Thanks to everyone that gave a paper, chaired a panel, asked a question, or attended one of our sessions – all the input, feedback, ideas, discussions raised were really worthwhile.
https://twitter.com/DrAlixKelso/status/712678808160178177
Really enjoyed #psa16 conference – especially the excellent @psa_parl panels. Now all over until next year. 😢 #psaparliaments
— Daniel Gover (@DanielGover) March 23, 2016