As Westminster gets virtual Franklin De Vrieze of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy provides an overview of how a number of parliaments are adapting to unprecedented challenges associated with emergency powers, social distancing and executive scrutiny.
Author: psaparliaments
The physical distancing at Westminster is also leading to increased political distancing of government from parliamentary scrutiny, writes David Judge. He explains that the latter has already been happening and is likely to continue, even after the social distancing measures are lifted. The blog was originally written for the LSE Politics and Policy page but has been kindly shared with the PSA Parliaments Specialist Group.
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An Unhealthy Scrutiny?
Stephen Holden Bates, University of Birmingham discusses potential difficulties effecting scrutiny of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The piece considers problems that may arise due to Jeremy Hunt’s role on the Health and Social Care Select Committee.
Franklin De Vrieze, Senior Governance Adviser at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy discusses the role played by independent oversight institutions in ensuring democratic accountability. As governance processes occur within a country’s political-economic and legal-constitutional context, bringing accountability to national governance cannot be left to those individuals and groups holding power. Independent oversight institutions have a specific role in strengthening accountability which is complementary to the oversight role of parliament. Because the relationship between parliament and independent oversight institutions is sub-optimal in many countries, this article discusses the issues shaping their relationship, outlining how to make it more productive.
Caroline Bhattacharya uses an analysis of Bundestag debates on the Euro crisis to highlight the relationship between cohesion and control in internal positioning strategies taking place within political parties.
Richard Kelly of the House of Commons Library provides an overview of recent developments in the field of parliamentary standards. The blog discusses how institutional arrangements have evolved in response to a series of significant events such as scandals related to ‘cash for questions’ and MP’s expenses.
Dr Philip Aylett builds on his previous contributions to this blog-site to provide historical insight into the role played by Commons Committees as the UK participated in the European Economic Community during the 1970s and 1980s.
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Latest news from the PSA Parliaments Group
Welcome to our latest newsletter!
Dear members,
In this month’s newsletter, we have the following announcements/information:
- Panels at PSA Annual Conference
- Changes to the Team
- ESRC PhD studentship opportunity – Parliament and Education
- Essay Competition: Judging Panel Announced
- Call for Papers: Parliaments and Security Conference
- Ethnography of Parliaments Panel at EASA
- Job Alert: Lecturer in the Politics of Gender, Sexuality and Identity
- National Assembly for Wales: Academic Fellowship Scheme now open
- Hansard Resource
- Recently on our blog
If you have any notices/messages you would like us to circulate to the group, please let us know.
Best wishes,
Marc (@marcgeddes), Louise (@LouiseVThompson), Gavin (@GavinHart10) and Seán (@S_Haughey)
Mark Bennister, Ben Yong and Diana Stirbu discuss the lack of a shared parliamentary identity in Westminster, considering the implications for institutional governance and reform.
PSA Parliaments will be contributing a great selection of panels at the PSA 2020 conference, serving to highlight the diverse nature of the research taking place across our network. The theme of the event will be ‘reimagining politics’ as the PSA reaches its 70th year. This provides a great opportunity to showcase some cutting edge scholarship on a range of themes that are central to the understanding of parliaments and legislatures as they evolve in response to contemporary challenges. In total, we have seven panels running at the annual conference, which have been scheduled for Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th April. They cover the following topics:
- Parliamentary Questions: Adversarialism and Constituency Links
- Perspectives on Transparency
- Comparing Parliamentary Perspectives in the UK
- Parliamentary Roles
- Do MPs care about their publics?
- Scrutiny and Legislation
- The Changing Face of Parliament
Full details of the panels can be seen on our website. If you are presenting a paper on one of our panels, or chairing a panel, please make sure that you register for the conference through Ex Ordo by Monday 17th February.