David C.W. Parker is professor and head of political science at Montana State University. He has studies the U.S. Congress, the House of Commons, and the Scottish Parliament extensively, with a special focus on legislative oversight of executives and representational relationships.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

After receiving my undergraduate degree, I did a stint in professional politics, working on a mayoral, a presidential, and two U.S. Senate campaigns during the 1995-1996 campaign cycle. After that, I worked for about two years for a small textbook publishing company. The grind and intensity of election politics was not my cup of tea, and sales bored me. Given that I had always loved to learn and to understand, I went to graduate school to fuel that passion and to inspire others to careers in politics and public service. And, 25 years later, I’m still learning, understanding, and inspiring others to service, so it seems to me it was the right choice.

Which five books/articles (written by someone else) have been most important to you in your academic career?

When Incumbency Fails, by Richard Fenno.

Divided We Govern, by David Mayhew.

Legislative Leviathan, by Cox and McCubbins.

The Politics Presidents Make, by Stephen Skowronek.

The Personal Vote, by Cain et al.

Which people have been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

My wife, Hilary, who I met in graduate school, John Coleman—my dissertation advisor, Richard Fenno, and Reviewer #2.

Which of your own pieces of research are you most proud of?

Battle for the Big Sky, in which I followed around two candidates running against each other for the U.S. Senate in Montana. I’m most proud of it because the work was hard—I soaked and poked as Fenno does in his collective work but from the perspective of both candidates—and because I was told that no assistant professor in their right mind should take on that type of a project before receiving tenure. I’m also quite fond of “Back from Holyrood: How Mixed-member Proportional Representation and Ballot Structure Shape the Personal Vote” because the project was inspired by a student’s question while visiting the Scottish Parliament (who co-authored the piece) and because it was my first effort to move into doing research outside of American politics and Congress. Today, I’ve published nearly as much on UK politics as I have on US politics.

What has been your greatest achievement in academia?

Fully embracing the notion that the academia is about discovery, period. This idea that you become an expert in just one thing, and ride that thing until you retire, is nonsense, and frankly, boring. Follow your questions and follow your ideas wherever they lead, no matter who tells you otherwise.

What has been your greatest disappointment in academia?

Not writing “the book” on Congressional Investigations when I had the chance.

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

Because legislatures generally have the power to coerce citizens through conscription and taxation, they are fundamentally the most powerful and important political institutions in liberal democracies.

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

Born in Massachusetts, grew up in Londonderry, New Hampshire 45 minutes from Boston. I am a proud Red Sox fan even though I’ve lived in Bozeman, Montana for the past 15 years.

What was your first job?

DePauw University, a small liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana.

What was the toughest job you ever had?

Working as a cashier at McDonald’s. Not for the faint of heart.

What  would your ideal job be, if not an academic?

The founder and owner of an educational travel company.

What are your hobbies?

Travel, reading, hiking, and worrying about the fate of democracy.

What are your favourite novels?

I love anything written by John Scalzi, a science fiction author. I’ve re-read his books multiple times and every time, the man makes me laugh out loud. He’s that funny and irreverent.

What is your favourite music?

I’m a huge fan of 80s music generally. My favorite? Probably Take on Me by A-ha because I just can’t help but sing along whenever I hear it and I think the music video is one of the finest ever made.

What is your favourite artwork?

Hard one, but Norman Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech. Why? Because it represents, to me, the most important liberty in a liberal democracy and because it evokes, for me at least, the New England town hall meeting—the purest form of democracy still practiced in the United States and which governed my home town of Londonderry, New Hampshire when I grew up.

What is your favourite film?

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I’m a huge Trek fan, and the movie—based upon Herman Melville’s Moby Dick—is a story of revenge and great personal sacrifice. Spock’s death scene—still to this day—brings tears to my eyes.

What is your favourite building?

The Palace at Westminster, of course!

What is your favourite tv show?

Breaking Bad because of its fundamental premise: Man chooses life of crime because America doesn’t have an adequate healthcare system free at the point of service like the NHS.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Moab, Utah. I love the national parks and the silence of the desert.

What is your favourite sport?

Baseball because it is one of the few games where the defense controls the ball.

What is your favourite food?

Like the British, I’m fond of curries generally. But, if I had to say my favorite, it would probably be a Phaal curry—reputed to be the world’s hottest curry and invented in Birmingham’s curry shops!

For UK Parliament:

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

This may be the only issue on which we agree, but I’m with Jacob Rees-Mogg: No thanks.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

Appointed, but subject to retention elections every ten years.

Restoration or Renewal?

There should be a complete decamp to get the work done as quickly as possible.

For US Politics:

Eliminating the Electoral College: yes or no?

Yes.

Eliminating the filibuster: yes or no?

Modify it per Greg Koger’s suggestions (reduce the voting threshold over time), and each filibuster must be in person and fully talked out.

Cat or Dog?

Cat. Unfortunately, my family is allergic and we have a dog (who is lovely, but not a cat).

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Trains.

Fish and chips or Curry?

Curry.

And, finally, two questions asked by 5-year-old Viveka: What’s the most beautiful animal in the world? What’s the scariest animal in the world?

Okapi and leeches respectively.