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The Senate of Canada: Coming of a New Age?

Matt Williams of Jesus College, Oxford provides a fascinating overview of the effects of Trudeau’s reforms in the Canadian Senate.

In 2014, Justin Trudeau disbanded the Liberal caucus of Senators in Canada’s upper house. On becoming Prime Minister, in 2015, he appointed independent Senators on recommendations of a non-partisan body. More than half of Senators (58/103 in 2019) are now independents. In this blog, I will assess what observable effects, if any, reform has wrought on the Senate’s representativeness (Pitkin 1967), independent-mindedness (Russell 2001) and “redundancy” (Patterson and Mughan 1999). Statistical analyses of all 16,629 senatorial votes recorded in the 42nd Parliament are presented, along with machine reading data from all 1,611,817 words of enacted legislation. Preliminary evidence suggests that Senators are independent-minded but not transforming legislation, so a new age of Canadian bicameralism is yet to come.

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Bedding Down, Treading Water and Taking Two Steps Forward: Gender Equality and the 2019-20 House of Commons Select Committee Elections

Stephen Holden Bates (University of Birmingham, UK)

Stephen McKay (University of Lincoln, UK)

Mark Goodwin (Coventry University, UK)

The results of the elections for the UK House of Commons Select Committees are out[1]!

The 2010 Wright Reforms, designed to increase the standing of Parliament in the wake of the MPs’ expenses scandal, are now a decade old. One of the main reforms introduced was to alter the method of selection for House of Commons Select Committees[2] from one of appointment by party managers to one of election by the whole House (in the case of chairships) and by party caucuses (in the case of membership). This reform has been hailed by many as one of the reasons why select committees have become an ever more prominent and prestigious part of Parliament. There is also evidence that the reform has been good for some aspects of gender equality within the committee system, particularly in terms of female MPs becoming committee chairs[3]. Below we consider the outcomes of the latest round of select committee elections and argue that, in terms of female representation, they are a case of simultaneously bedding down, treading water and taking two steps forward.

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No quarantine for democracy: How parliaments can uphold accountability for the emergency powers granted to the executive

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.

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Social distancing meets political distancing: scrutiny in a digital parliament

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.

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Bringing accountability to national governance: parliament interacting with independent oversight institutions

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.

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The Party in Control of Plenary Debates? The Case of Bundestag Debates on the Euro Crisis 

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.

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Parliamentary Standards – the battle to retain control

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.

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Keeping Track of the EEC – Commons Committees and Europe in the 1970s and 1980s

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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Running parliamentary institutions: dilemmas of leadership, governance and identity

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.

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