The Westminster parliament is famous throughout the world, but often presented as relatively non-influential when it comes to making the law. Meg Russell and Daniel Gover‘s new book Legislation at Westminster is the most detailed study of the British legislative process for over 40 years, and challenges these assumptions. In a blog originally posted on the Constitution Unit, the authors summarise their findings on how different groups of actors at Westminster exercise subtle and interconnected influence, contributing to what they dub ‘six faces of parliamentary power’.
Category: Blog
The new cohort of select committee chairs will be scrutinising the work of a weakened government, write Mark Goodwin, Stephen Bates and our PSA Parliaments Co-Convener, Marc Geddes in a blog originally posted on Democratic Audit. Nine of the 28 are women, reflecting the advantage female MPs enjoy when they stand for committee elections. The current line-up also includes some well-known figures who have clashed with their party leaderships, creating an intriguing new dynamic.
The Scottish Parliament’s Commission on Parliamentary Reform, established by the Presiding Officer last year, reported in June. Its recommendations include that committee conveners should be elected by the whole Parliament, changes to First Minister’s Questions, the extension of the legislative process from three stages to five and the establishment of a new backbench committee. In a post originally posted on the Constitution Unit blog, Ruxandra Serban summarises the report and notes that several of the most substantive recommendations would bring the Scottish Parliament’s procedures closer to those of the House of Commons.
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Every picture tells a story
The extent to which legislation can change in parliament poses challenges to effective scrutiny by legislators and wider society. In this post Ruth M. Dixon and Jonathan A. Jones visualise the amendments to three recent bills to reveal the political drama of the parliamentary process.
Following the early General Election, all House of Commons select committees have had to be reconstituted. Marc Geddes, Co-Convenor of the PSA Parliaments Group, looks ahead to this week’s elections for Committee Chairs.
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EU referendum: one year on – MPs
How easy will it be for the Prime Minister to pass Brexit legislation through Parliament without a majority in either House? Prof Philip Cowley explores the prospects of rebellion among Conservative MPs, in a blog originally posted by UK in a Changing Europe.
How do MPs in Bangladesh build and maintain support within their constituencies? Dr Zahir Ahmed discusses fieldwork with MPs in rural Bangladesh.
PSA Parliaments member, Julia Schwanholz of University of Goettingen, provides an overview of the German Bundestag as part of our Parliament Overviews series.
Being the first without a majority in the Commons or the Lords for 40 years, how will Theresa May’s minority government implement any part of their legislative agenda? How will committees function? Will the smaller parties in the Commons work together? In a blog originally posted on LSE British Politics and Policy, PSA Parliament exec members Marc Geddes, Alexandra Meakin, and Louise Thompson offer a preview of how the 2017 Parliament may function.
PSA Parliaments member, and second-year PhD student, Alex Prior, discusses his PSA placement with the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.