PSA ParliamentsBy Dr Sue Griffiths and Sameer Kassam
Parliaments in the Arab world were dismissed prior to 2011 as rubber-stamps for their regimes, and afterwards as too dysfunctional to warrant serious consideration, but their stories since have reflected broader trends in those countries.
By Cristina Leston-Bandeira and Louise Thompson
About eight months ago, we got together to come up with an idea for Parliament Week. We’d recently taken over as the new Co-Convenors of the Political Studies Association’s specialist group for Parliaments and Legislatures, and we thought the group should be involved with this initiative. It fit right in with our strategy of promoting the study and understanding of parliament and, most importantly, it went beyond the academic community. Eight months later we were sitting in Portcullis House in one of Parliament Week’s prime slots, waiting for The Political Studies Association (our co-organisers) to arrive, along with over 100 sixth form students!
By Barry Winetrobe
The recent fiasco over the appointment of a House of Commons Clerk/Chief Executive has led to the appointment of a select committee on House governance chaired by Jack Straw. It is tasked with reviewing this complex topic, especially allocation of the most senior responsibilities currently held by the Clerk/Chief Executive, and reporting to the House by 12 January 2015.
A version of this piece was published on The Conversation on 11 November 2014.
By Louise Thompson
It’s not often that parliamentary procedure hits the headlines. And it’s even less often that delegated legislation does. So the debate (if you can call it that) in the House of Commons about whether the UK would opt in to various parts of European legislation was a rarity indeed.Those watching the House of Commons on Monday evening were treated to a truly confusing spectacle that may have left many disheartened with Parliament – and with democracy.
By Joshua Newton
Technology and social media are often revered as a 21st Century remedy to the ills of citizen detachment from politics and to the closed and elitist nature of UK political institutions. This was demonstrated by a recent Hansard Society Report which highlighted the central role that Parliament could play in communicating and engaging with the public. Yet with a unique organisational structure, that does not lend itself to far-reaching internal reform, the challenge of Parliament to devise and introduce a digital adaptation plan is daunting. Step-forward the Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy (DDC). Launched by John Bercow last year, its aim is to explore how representative democracy can embrace technology. Having been lucky enough to contribute through a students’ forum, I will outline some of the productive ideas that are emerging out of the inquiry’s ground-breaking and inclusive nature.
By David Cragg and Cristina Leston-Bandeira
Parliaments have been experimenting with public engagement initiatives for some years now. From general cultural and educational initiatives, to far more specific events. From these the main lesson has been that the public engages through issues, not politics per se. Adapting its approach to this principle, the UK parliament has recently been developing new ideas, which try to maximise the idea of engagement through issues, at the same time as using digital means for a wider communication, beyond the usual suspects. Below we present the reflections of someone involved in a recent example of this type of engagement initiative: a #ParliChat around a Westminster Hall debate on the Melbourne Declaration on Diabetes.
By Paul Cairney
It is now commonplace in Britain to bemoan the failings of the ‘political class’. A wide selection of broadcast, print and social media commentators argue that elected politicians in the UK are not representative of their constituents. Instead, they are part of a self-referential ‘political class’ which is increasingly distant from the real world and mistrusted by the public.
By Louise Thompson
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow suggested in a speech last week that it “wouldn’t be so heretical” to consider whether Commons votes might in the future be taken with the help of modern technology. Housed in the nineteenth century building is an increasingly techy Parliament and a digitally aware cohort of MPs. In the last few years alone we have seen MPs tweeting directly from the chamber, parliamentary papers delivered to Members’ iPads and speeches given from tablets rather than handwritten notes. Electronic voting then seems quite a natural progression.
By Cristiano Ferri Faria
In June 2013 the streets of Brazilian cities were taken over with protests by millions of citizens. It started as an outcry against the rise of public transportation fares. Then, many other issues came out including demands for better education and health systems. In short, citizens cried out for higher quality in public services as a whole.
Please note that this blog piece was originally published in the Revolts blog on 03 June 2014, and is available here.
By Philip Cowley
We’ve been producing end-of-session reports on the behaviour of government MPs at Westminster for almost a decade. This morning we’ve launched the report on the 2013-14 session, entitled The four year itch (and which is free to download). It contains plenty to concern the party whips.