Category: News

Hello, everyone! We are a bit late with the newsletter this month, but all for good reasons! A lot of us will have been busy following the 4th of July General Election and will still be busy with post-election analysis. Our next newsletter will be out on the 2nd of September. Meanwhile, we have lots of news for you this month.

1. Our Annual Conference: Save the Date!
2. Our Annual Conference: Call for Papers!
3. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay Competition: Last call
4. 25^th Anniversary of the Devolved Legislatures in Scotland and Wales
5. General Election Insights
6. Recent Publications
7. Recently on the Blog
8. Overview of Parliaments Map

If you have any notices/messages you would like us to circulate to our group, please let us know.

Best wishes,

Caroline, Diana, Ruxandra, Jack and Lauren

1. Our Annual Conference: Save the Date!

We are very excited to share that we have a date and location for our Annual Conference. The conference will be held 21-22 November 2024 in Cardiff, Wales.

25 years ago, the Senedd Cymru was first created as the National Assembly for Wales as part of the devolution process. The red-brick Pierhead Building of 1897 in Cardiff Bay is now at the doorstep of the modern glass-fronted Senedd building and has served as the Senedd’s visitor and education centre since 2010. We are very grateful to be able to hold our Annual Conference in this setting, especially since we have such fond memories from our 2019 conference at the Senedd.

After positive feedback from last year, we will again organise a workshop for early-career researchers on Thursday, 21 November 2024. Our traditional pre-conference drinks reception will be on Thursday evening. The venues for the workshop and drinks reception will be confirmed soon.

Further details and the call for papers can be found on our website.

2. Our Annual Conference: Call for Papers!

Main conference (22 November) – We invite you to propose papers featuring original research on any parliaments or legislatures around the world. In light of the Senedd’s anniversary, we are keen to receive submissions that focus on the devolved parliaments. We also encourage papers by researchers working in parliaments and collaborations between practitioners and academics.

The deadline for proposing abstracts is 16 September 2024. Please fill in this form. Please note that if accepted, we will ask you to submit a blog post to be published on our blog in the aftermath of the conference.

ECR workshop (21 November) – If you are a PhD student, postdoctoral researcher or an early-career academic not in a permanent position, please consider applying for our pre-conference early-career workshop where you get the opportunity to receive in-depth feedback on a draft paper. We welcome papers on any aspect of parliamentary and legislative studies that you seek to get published. (If you are collaborating with senior colleagues, you should be the main author of the paper.)

The deadline for the workshop proposals is also 16 September 2024, and the application form can be found here. If accepted, we will ask you to share your paper with the other participants and expert discussants two weeks before the event.

If you would like to volunteer to act as a discussant, please let Caroline know. We would be very grateful.

Further details and the call for papers can be found on our website.

We hope to see you in the Welsh capital in November!

3. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay Competition: Last call

The deadline for our undergraduate essay competition is approaching fast. If you are teaching at a UK university and have marked an excellent piece of work by a student, please consider nominating them.

The deadline is 12 July at 5pm BST. You can find all the details here.

4. The 25^th Anniversary of the Devolved Legislatures in Scotland and Wales

The Festival of Politics (Monday 19 August to Friday 23 August 2024)

The Scottish Parliament’s Festival of Politics (In partnership with Scotland’s Futures Forum) is happening in August, with a five-day programme of over 30 events, in the home of Scottish politics at Holyrood. More info

25 years of Welsh law-making

To mark the Senedd’s 25^th anniversary, Senedd Research has published a special series on 25 years of Welsh law-making. Welsh law-making is still young and has adapted to its changing context, whether initiated from within Wales or externally. The series looks at how the legislative process in the Senedd has changed, the role external bodies and events have played in its evolution and considers the impact of Senedd reforms.

5. General Election Insights

PSA website General Election resources

The PSA has set up a special section on their website to feature resources about the General Election. There is also information about how you can contribute and share your insights. Please see here.

Call for contributions on the PSA Parliaments blog

Over the next few months we are welcoming timely contributions discussing the implications of the General Election for the UK Parliament and the devolved legislatures so please get in touch with our communications officer, Jack.

6. Recent Publications

• Thomas Fleming and Hannah Kelly, Delivering House of Commons Reform: What Works?, Constitution Unit.
• Wang Leung Ting, “You are unmuted: The impact of virtual arrangements on women and old age legislators’ participation during the COVID-19 pandemic”in Parliamentary Affairs
• Francesca Melhuish & Ben Young, “Parliamentary questions to the House of Commons Commission: Accountability and parliamentary administration” in Parliamentary Affairs
• Shan-Jan Sarah Liu & Tsung-Lun Alan Wan, “COVID success? For whom? Examining the political representation of migrants in Taiwan” in Ethnic and Racial Studies

If you would like your published research to be featured in this section, please email Caroline with details.

7. Recently on the Blog

• ‘Petitions and Petitioning in Europe and North America‘ by Henry Miller, which summarises the new edited book of the same title published by OUP.
• ‘Parliaments need to ensure democratic accountability for public debt‘, by Frank de Vrieze.

If you have an idea for a blog on some aspect of parliamentary study, please get in touch with our new communications officer, Jack.

8. Overview of Parliaments Map

We have one new contribution to our Overview of Parliaments Map:

• Overview of the Israeli Knesset by Avital Friedman

For anybody who wishes to cover any of the countries not yet covered in our map, contact our communications officer Jack.

Hello, everyone! We  hope you all enjoyed the late May Bank holiday and that you are as excited as we are about the forthcoming General Election! We have plenty of updates for you this month!

1. New Book: Reimagining Parliament
2. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay Competition
3. Events
4. Job Opportunities
5. Call for Papers
6. Recent Publications
7. Recently on the Blog
8. Overview of Parliaments Map

If you have any notices/messages you would like us to circulate to our group, please let us know.

Best wishes,

Caroline, Diana, Ruxandra, Jack and Lauren

1. New Book: Reimagining Parliament

David Judge and Cristina Leston-Bandeira have edited a book which does exactly what the title says: Reimagining Parliament. As luck would have it, it was officially published on the day the next general election was announced. This is the ideal literature to distract you from the latest election coverage and rethink the future of the UK parliament.

The main objective of the book is to discuss how the guiding principles of openness, engagement/connectedness, accessibility, inclusion, equality, fairness, responsiveness, and accountability can be reimagined in terms of space, connectivity, and interaction. See our blog for a teaser.

In addition to Cristina and David, the book includes contributions by our friends and colleagues Alexandra Meakin, Emma Crewe, Didier Caluwaerts, Daan Vermassen, Hannah White, Ben Yong, Lucinda Maer, and Paul Evans.

The book has been published by Bristol University Press and is available in paperback, hardback and as an e-book. See here.

2. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay Competition

We are seeking nominations for our Undergraduate Essay Competition. If you are teaching undergraduates in the UK, please consider nominating a student for their excellent written work on any topic related to parliaments and legislatures. In addition to academic recognition, the winning student will get a £100 prize and the runner-up a £50 prize.

The submission deadline is 12 July. For more details, check our website or feel free to contact Caroline.

3. Events

The UCL Constitution Unit vitual panel on: Priorities for new MPs’ induction in the next parliament

The UCL Constitution Unit is hosting a virtual panel on “Priorities for New MPs’ Induction in the Next Parliament”. The experts are Ruth Fox (Director of the Hansard Society), Hannah White (Director of the Institute for Government), Daniel Greenberg (Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards) and Alistair Burt (former Conservative MP), and Meg Russell (Director of the Constitution Unit) will be chairing. The event takes place on 5 June, 1:00-2:15pm. You can sign up here.

The UCL Constitution Unit Conference: New Constitutional priorities for the Next Government 24- 25 June 2024

This two-day conference will bring together a range of senior speakers, including parliamentarians, academics and commentators, to discuss the constitutional priorities for the next government. For more information, see here.

4. Job Opportunities

The University of Edinburgh is offering a three-year fully funded PhD scholarship to work on “Patterns, Practices and Interpretations of Knowledge Use in Parliaments”. The position sits within the Studying Parliaments and the Role of Knowledge (SPARK) led by Marc Geddes. The application deadline is 6 June. More information can be found here.

5. Call for Papers

Parliamentary Affairs call for papers: Special section on the state of British politics in 2024/5

This call for papers, from the editors of Parliamentary Affairs, is for a special section of the journal on the state of British politics in 2024/5. The deadline for proposal submissions is 30 September 2023, with first drafts due at the end of January 2024. 

For more information see here. 

WFD and AFRODAD call for papers and experts on the role of African parliaments in public debt oversight

The Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and the African Forum and Network for Debt and Development (AFRODAD) intend to examine the role of African parliaments in public debt oversight. The intention is to  compile a research publication featuring 8 to 10 peer-reviewed articles, each authored by different contributors who will submit full papers after abstract review. The paper abstract deadline is 10 June 2024

For more details and a timeline please see here or contact: Franklin De Vrieze (WFD) or Shem Joshua Otieno (AFRODAD).

6. Recent Publications

• The special issue “Interpreting UK legislatures: an introduction”, edited by Matt Beech & Mark Bevir, has been published in The Journal of Legislative Studies. It includes contributions by Marc Geddes, Emma Crewe, Cillian McGrattan, and Edward Shepherd.
• Richard Huzzey, Maartje Janse, Henry Miller, Joris Oddens, and Brodie Waddell (eds.) Petitions and Petitioning in Europe and North America. From the Late Medieval Period to the Present, Oxford University Press. The book will be published for the British Academy in June 2024.
• Louise Thompson & Alexandra Meakin, “Small Opposition Parties in a Westminster System: How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Participation, Decision-Making and Oversight in the UK House of Commons?” in Political Studies Review.
• Marc Geddes, “Comparing evidence use in parliaments: the interplay of beliefs, traditions, and practices in the UK and Germany” in Policy and Society.

If you would like your published research to be featured in this section, please email Caroline with details.

7. Recently on the Blog

• ‘Reimagining the UK Parliament’ by David Judge and Cristina Leston-Bandeira

If you have an idea for a blog on some aspect of parliamentary study, please get in touch with our new communications officer, Jack.

8. Overview of Parliaments Map

We have one new contribution to our Overview of Parliaments Map:

• ‘Nigeria’s National Assembly: A Slowly Maturing Legislature‘ by Omomayowa O. Abati and Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi

For anybody who wishes to cover any of the countries not yet covered in our map, contact our communications officer Jack.

Hello, everyone! We are two days late from our usual schedule, but we hope you all enjoyed the first May Bank holiday! We have plenty of updates for you this month!

1. PSA (Parliaments) News
2. Urgent Questions with Sean Haughey
3. Undergraduate Essay Competition
4. Opportunities
5. Special Issue: Call for Articles
6. Recent Publications
7. Recently on the Blog
8. Overview of Parliaments Map

If you have any notices/messages you would like us to circulate to our group, please let us know.

Best wishes,

Caroline, Diana, Ruxandra, Jack and Lauren

1. PSA (Parliaments) News

Welcome to Lauren Martin

We are delighted that Lauren Martin is joining our team as our new Treasurer and Membership Officer. Lauren is a PhD student at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on the use of the House of Commons e-petition system as a way for citizens to engage with Parliament and explores how they are featured in both individuals’ and organisations’ campaigning activities.

Call for and to Members 

If you have colleagues who are interested in parliaments, consider recommending them to join our specialist group! We are open to members who study legislatures from anywhere around the world, with any theoretical or methodological approaches, from an academic or from a practitioner perspective. Even if parliaments are just a small part of your broader research agenda (for example you are using parliamentary debates to try out a new text analysis technique), we want to hear from you and learn more about your work!

If you supervise or work with PhD students or Early Career Researchers, please forward our details to them, and we’ll be happy to chat if they have any questions. We hold regular events where they can get feedback on papers, like the ECR workshop we held at the LSE in November 2023, and we are keen to plan more ECR events (such as workshops and methods training) in the future.

If you are not a member of the Political Studies Association, consider joining in order to benefit from the full range of PSA events.

Worrying developments at the University of Lincoln and other universities

We are all aware that the UK higher education sector has come under significant financial pressure. More than 50 universities have already opened voluntary severance schemes or announced compulsory redundancies. (The UCU branch at Queen Mary University of London has compiled an overview here.) We also know that the social sciences, arts and humanities tend to be particularly vulnerable to budget cuts.

The PSA, BISA and UACES have recently issued a joint letter regarding the redundancies faced by the Department of Politics & International Relations at Goldsmiths. The University of Huddersfield just announced that around 12% of staff are at risk and at least 12 courses (including sociology) will be axed. Unfortunately, these are just some of the examples highlighting the precarious state of many universities.

As representatives of the community of academics in the subfield of parliamentary studies, we are also very concerned about the news we hear from the University of Lincoln, where one in ten academic staff is facing redundancy. The university is known for excellent parliamentary research and teaching (see e.g. the Lincoln Parliamentary Research Centre), and we stand in solidarity with our colleagues who are affected.

Help Shape the PSA 2025+ Strategy

The PSA’s Trustees want to devise a new strategy to ensure the PSA is clear on its direction and role, and is sustainably resourced, from 2025 to best serve our community in the future. More information can be found here. You can share your thoughts HERE! For further questions please email: strategy@psa.ac.uk

2. Urgent Questions with Sean Haughey

Our outgoing Co-Convenor Sean left us a special present and answered our Urgent Questions. Whether you want to read about an Irishman in Seoul, join in the dream of being a farmer with dogs (many dogs) or need a restaurant recommendation for Wales, you should read Sean’s answers here.

3. Undergraduate Essay Competition

It is that time of the year again! The call for our 2024 undergraduate essay competition has officially opened.

If you are teaching undergraduates in the UK, we are asking you to nominate a student for their excellent written piece on parliaments and legislatures. It is a fantastic opportunity for them to get recognition for their work and even win prize money. More details can be found here.

4. Opportunities

Full-Time and Permanent Job Opportunity at University of Edinburgh 

The School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh is looking for a Lecturer in (British) Politics. Applicants with expertise in any area of Scottish, British or UK politics (i.e., research on political behaviour and elections/parties; parliaments and other political institutions; and representation and participation) are welcome. This post is open ended, available from September 2024. You can find the job advert here. The deadline for applications is 14 May 2024.

Lectureship in Politics and Gender at Queen Mary University

Queen Mary University of London is seeking a permanent Lecturer in Politics and Gender at the School of Politics and International Relations. The closing date for applications is 26th May 2024. Find more information here.

Commons Library website

The House of Commons Library provides politically impartial research, analysis, statistics and information to help MPs to scrutinise legislation, prepare for debates, develop policies and support their constituents. They want to hear more about how you use the Library website and would be very interested to have a 30-40 minute call with you to discuss your views. Please contact Ed Knight (knightec@parliament.uk) if you would like to participate and we will organise a call.

5. Special Issue: Call for Articles

Please note the following Call for Articles for a special issue of the International Journal of Parliamentary Studies, “Political impartiality in a parliamentary context” (to be published in 2025) edited by Ben Yong (Durham) and Christoph Konrath (Austrian Parliament).

There is a growing interest in the administration of parliaments, and the work of parliamentary officials. This special issue aims to examine a core aspect of parliamentary administration: political impartiality. 

We invite applications with titles, abstracts (maximum 300 words) and short CVs, which should be sent by 31 August 2024 to benjamin.y.yong@durham.ac.uk. Selected candidates will then have to send their articles by 31 March 2025. More details can be found here.

6. Recent Publications

• Emma Crewe, “Parliamentary Standards Under Attack: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding the Westminster Parliament” in The Journal of Legislative Studies.
• Shane Martin & Kaarle W. Strøm published Legislative Assemblies: Voters, Members, and Leaders with Oxford University Press.
• Shane Martin, Charles T. McClean & Kaarle W. Strøm, “Legislative Resources, Corruption, and Incumbency” in British Journal of Political Science.
• Lasse Aaskoven & Shane Martin, “Parliamentary Control of the Executive and the Duration of Government Formation” in Legislative Studies Quarterly.
• Ashlee Christoffersen & Orly Siow, “There is no such thing as ‘women’s representation’: intersectionality and second-generation gender and politics scholarship” in European Journal of Politics and Gender.

If you would like your published research to be featured in this section, please email Caroline with details.

7. Recently on the Blog

• ‘Evidence on Stage? Comparing committee hearings in the UK House of Commons and German Bundestag‘ by Marc Geddes
• ‘Refinement Is All You Need: Shaping the Future of Parliaments with AI‘ by Alberto Mencarelli

If you have an idea for a blog on some aspect of parliamentary study, please get in touch with our new communications officer, Jack.

8. Overview of Parliaments Map

We have one new contribution to our Overview of Parliaments Map:

• ‘Parliament in the World’s Most Populous Democracy: An Overview of India’s Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha‘ by Jack Liddall and Janani Mohan

For anybody who wishes to cover any of the countries not yet covered in our map, contact our communications officer Jack.

Hello, everyone! We hope you all enjoyed the Annual PSA Conference in Glasgow! Here are some highlights for April 2024!

1. PSA Parliaments at #PSA24 Highlights
2. Upcoming Parliamentary Studies Conferences and Workshops
3. Opportunities to Get Involved
4. Funding Opportunities
5. Recent Publications
6. Recently on the Blog
7. Overview of Parliaments Map

If you have any notices/messages you would like us to circulate to our group, please let us know.

Best wishes,

Seán, Caroline, Diana, Ruxandra, and Jack.

1. PSA Parliaments at #PSA24 Highlights

We were happy to see so many of you attending our panels at the 74th Annual Conference of the Political Studies Association, which took place at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow from 25-27 March 2024. A big thumbs up for the local organisers and big thank you for those attending our panels and AGM. Here are some of the highlights from the conference.

Knowledge and specialisation in parliaments

We had one panel on the first day of the conference. This was focused on knowledge and specialisation in parliaments. The first paper, by Stephen Bates (Birmingham), Caroline Bhattacharya (Helsinki), and Stephen McKay (Lincoln) looked at patterns of MPs taking specialist or generalist career pathways in the UK House of Commons between 2001-2019. The second presentation outlined results from research done by Marc Geddes (Edinburgh) and Jack Liddall (Cambridge) on how Select Committees in the UK House of Commons gather evidence, and from whom. The third paper, by Vicky Ward (St Andrews) and Mark Monaghan (Loughborough niversity), unpacked how parliamentary officials understand and practice ‘impartiality’ in parliamentary research services. Concluding the panel, Cherry Miller (Helsinki) explored how parliamentary diplomacy is interpreted and practiced by the UK and EU member states.

Speech and Presence in Parliaments

We kicked off day two of the conference with a panel on speech and presence in parliaments. Kiwi Ting (Reading) began by presenting his latest research on House of Commons debates during the Covid-19 pandemic, comparing whether virtual speeches are more or less ‘influential’ than speeches made in person. This led to some excellent questions about what actually constitutes ‘influence’ in a speech, and the different ways in which parliamentary scholars could measure this. Next up we had Coree Brown Swan (Stirling) who used maiden speeches to analyse how Scottish National Party MPs rhetorically construct and define their (outsider) role in the House of Commons. For linguists this was an especially fascinating paper, but unfortunately Corree could not be persuaded into donning her best Scottish accent when discussing an array of Scottish colloquialisms! Paul Lam (National Tsinghua University) presented a very timely paper, which used social network analysis to explore the role of clientelism and brokerage in Hong Kong’s ‘reformed’ electoral system. Paul’s paper received lots of questions, particularly about the potential for comparison between Hong Kong and other regimes experiencing democratic backsliding. The panel ended with a paper from Sebastian Ludwicki-Ziegler (Sterling), who compared the role of Parliamentary Assistants (PAs) in the Scottish and Finnish parliaments, and left us in no doubt that PAs do a lot for their MPs – in person and via WhatsApp(!) – and, by extension, make a crucial contribution to wider parliamentary systems.

Exploring Participation and Public Engagement

Our third panel focused on participation and public engagement in parliaments. We had two great methodological contributions, one from Prof. Cristina Leston-Bandeira and Dr. Blagovesta Tacheva (Leeds) providing extremely useful insights on how to engage seldom-heard groups in political research, and  the other one from Dr. Alex Prior and Dr. Samuel Johnson-Schlee (London Southbank)  and Dr. Ryan Swift (IPPR) exploring go-along research in the UK Parliament.  The other two papers explored parliamentary public engagement in Latin America, by Dr. Khemvirg Puente from the National Autonomous University of Mexico), and the added value of citizen engagement in the EU, by Mr. Paul Kindermann from the London School of Economics.

Accountability and Scrutiny

Our final panel of the conference included research on accountability and scrutiny. Kento Ohara (Oxford) presented the theoretical framework of his PhD research, looking at how parliamentary reform referring to executive accountability could be measured. Next, Nathaniel Sablan and Matthew Flinders (Sheffield) outlined the main themes of a new research project investigating the work of Select Committees in the UK House of Lords. The final paper, by Steven Barnett (Westminster) and Judith Townsend (Sussex), explored patterns of legacy publisher influence on UK media policy.

AGM

We also held our AGM on the second day and we were delighted with the excellent turnout and the useful discussions and feedback. We said farewell to Seán, who stepped back from his co-convenor role, and we welcomed Ruxandra as co-covenor, who stepped up from her Treasurer and Membership Officer role. We wished Seán all the best in his new research endeavors and called out for any interest in the treasurer and membership officer role.

There is a lot we took away from our discussions and feedback. As a team we will consider and further deliberate on some of the issues raised (future of our Annual Conference, social events at the PSA Conference etc) and we will let everyone know what decisions we come at.

2. Upcoming Parliamentary Studies Conferences and Workshops

Women in Legislative Studies Conference

The 2024 Women in Legislative Studies Annual Conference will be held 20-21 September 2024 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, WI. All women and non-binary scholars studying legislative politics or legislative-adjacent topics are welcome.

The application deadline is 30 April. You can apply to attend, present, chair and/or act as a discussant here.

Westminster Foundation for Democracy: Post-legislative scrutiny (PLS) clinic on public consultation and participation

On the 19th of April (9:00 – 10:15am UK time) the Westminster Foundation for Democracy is organising an online event on the topic of public consultation and participation in the context of post-legislative scrutiny in parliaments.  

You can find all info on the content, speakers and the registration link here.

3. Opportunities to Get Involved

Call for written submissions for the Welsh Parliament / Senedd Reform Bill Committee

The Reform Bill Committee would like to hear diverse views on the Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill. If passed, the Bill will introduce an integrated statutory gender quota to the Closed List Proportional Representation electoral system expected to be introduced by the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill.

Further information, including the terms of reference for our work and how you can share your views, can be found on the consultation webpage. The closing date for written evidence is Friday 12 April 2024.

Scottish Parliament Fellowship Scheme

This Academic Fellowship Scheme, which is managed and hosted by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), enables academics to work on projects with the Parliament in support of this purpose. They are  are now inviting bids via this application form for the following topics: 

• Applying participatory action research and/or arts-based methodologies to the committee scrutiny process (111KB, pdf)
• Employability funding (66KB, pdf)

There is also an Open Call whereby requests for fellowship proposals are considered from academics on any topic relevant to parliamentary business, in particular original, analytical or primary research. Applicants for the open call  should email a one-page document outlining their proposed project, and also send a cv to academia@parliament.scot. 

Deadlines:

• Topic Areas (see above): Friday 3 May 2024 at 5.00pm.
• Open Call: Friday 26 April 2024 at 5.00pm.

For further information including eligibility requirements, application process and answers to some frequently asked questions see:

Guide to the Scottish Parliament Academic Fellowship Scheme

4. Funding Opportunities

UKICE small grant fund: Apply now

UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) is offering support for small-scale projects (max. 6 months) that explore the topics of political behaviour and public opinion in the context of party politics (e.g. voter responses to campaigns, Brexit and electoral choice, immigration and vote choice, polling methods and accuracy). ESRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost, which should not exceed £30,000. The deadline for application is 30 April. You can find out the eligibility criteria and details of the call here.

5. Recent Publications

• Meg Russell & Lisa James, “Representation of the UK Parliament’s Power in the National Media: Too Weak, or Too Strong?” in Parliamentary Affairs
• Greg Power, “Inside the Political Mind. The Hunam Side of Politics and how it shapes development”, Hurst Publishers

If you would like your published research to be featured in this section, please email Caroline with details.

6. Recently on the Blog

• Narges Mohammadi, writes on the “Parliament’s Role in the Downfall of the Republic in Afghanistan (2001-2021)”
• Grace Cooper, explores “Where MPs sit in social networks matters” (this was first published on LSE British Politics & Policy)

If you have an idea for a blog on some aspect of parliamentary study, please get in touch with our new communications officer, Jack. We will be posting more blogs from those who presented at our Annual Conference last November, so watch this space!

7. Overview of Parliaments Map

We have one new contribution to our Overview of Parliaments Map:

• Ecuador by Pablo Valdivieso Carrillo – PhD candidate at University of Oxford has written on the Ecuadorian Parliament

For anybody who wishes to cover any of the countries not yet covered in our map, contact our communications officer Jack.

Here are the latest February updates for you:

1. Call for Papers
2. #PSA24: Early Bird Registration Deadline Extended
3. Spotlight on Our Members
4. Invitation to an Exhibition on Parliaments
5. Entries for the APSA-PSA International Partnerships Award
6. Editorial Announcements from Parliamentary Affairs
7. Recent Publications
8. Recently on the Blog
9. Overview of Parliaments Map

If you have any notices/messages you would like us to circulate to our group, please let us know.

Best wishes,

Seán, Caroline, Diana, Ruxandra, and Jack.

1. Call for Papers

Sixteenth Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians, Wroxton College, 27-28 July 2024

Today is the last day to send a paper/panel proposal for the Sixteenth Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians, which will be held on Saturday 27 July and Sunday 28 July 2024 at Wroxton College, Oxfordshire, UK. The Workshop serves to bring together scholars and parliamentarians – from legislatures around the globe – to discuss research findings likely to be of practical interest to members of parliaments.

Paper proposals (no more than 300 words), should be sent to Professor The Lord Norton of Louth, via e-mail and should arrive no later than Monday 5 February 2024. Decisions will normally be made within a month of receipt.

2. #PSA24: Early Bird Registration Deadline Extended

The early bird registration for the PSA Annual Conference (25–27 March 2024), taking place in Glasgow, has now been extended until 9 February. This is your chance to take advantage of discounted rates. If your paper has been accepted on one of our panels, please take this opportunity to secure your spot.

3. Spotlight on Our Members

• Ruxandra Serban (UCL), discussed her research on how parliaments question Prime Ministers on the latest episode of the “Uncovering Politics” podcast by UCL.
• James Strong (QMUL), discussed the war powers of parliament on the Hansard Society’s Parliament Matters podcast last month.

4. Invitation to Exhibition on Parliaments

The Global Research Network on Parliaments and People would like to invite members of the SPG, PSA and IPEN to an exhibition on Parliaments on 15th February 6-8pm, hosted by Emma Crewe (SOAS) with Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira (Leeds) reflecting on a joint research programme Ethnographies of Parliaments and People – in Brazil, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, the UK and the US).

On the evening between 6-8pm guests will be offered a tour of the exhibition of photography, film, timelines and installations, with refreshments and networking in the Brunei lower gallery, SOAS University of London. Please sign up on Eventbrite.

For those able to come a little earlier, there is also the option of a film screening 5:30-6:50pm: “Elections in Paradise”. Directed by Tumeli Tuqota and Laisiasa Dave, this film is one of four in the exhibition, showing on 15th February in the central room of the exhibition.  

5. Entries for the APSA-PSA International Partnerships Award

The APSA-PSA International Partnerships Award honours those Political Studies academics engaged in collaborative and productive cross-national partnerships that make a significant contribution to the discipline in the areas of teaching, research, or civic engagement. The deadline for applications is 14 February 2024.

The award will be judged by a joint APSA and PSA panel and the winning entry will this year be announced at the APSA’s annual meeting in Philadelphia in September 2024 and will be awarded a cash prize worth £2,000. For entry requirements and submission process, please click here.

6. Editorial Announcements from Parliamentary Affairs

The editors of Parliamentary Affairs have issues a couple of announcements regarding a) aims and scope, hopefully clarifying the type of papers the journal is looking looking for, and b) authors’ guidelines have now been updated and submissions are now accepted in any format! 

7. Recent Publications

• Caroline Bhattacharya & Stephen Holden Bates, “Why are MPs speaking more often but for less time? Five possible reasons”, Hansard Society blog, 16 January 2024.

If you would like your published research to be featured in this section, please email Caroline with details.

8. Recently on the Blog

• Tal Elovits (University of Milan) contributed a piece on “Obstruction, Alternation, and Amendments: Evidence from Israel”.

If you have an idea for a blog on some aspect of parliamentary study, please get in touch with our new communications officer, Jack. We will be posting more blogs from those who presented at our Annual Conference last November, so watch this space!

9. Overview of Parliaments Map

We have two new contributions to our Overview of Parliaments Map.

• Lebanon by Meray Maddah – PhD candidate at University of Konstanz
• Peru by Milagros Campos and Ana Neyra  – Professors at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and former head of parliamentary research at Peruvian Congress (Campos) and former Peruvian Minister of Justice (Neyra)

For anybody who wishes to cover any of the countries not yet covered in our map, contact our communications officer Jack.

Happy New Year to you all! We hope you’re well. Here are the latest updates for you:

1. Call for Papers
2. #PSA24: Early Bird Registration
3. PSA: Nominations for Academic Prizes
4. University of London Exhibition on Parliaments
5. Call for Applications: ECPR Summer School of the Standing Group on Parliaments
6. RKE Opportunities and Academic Fellowships
7. Recent Publications
8. Recently on the Blog
9. Overview of Parliaments Map

If you have any notices/messages you would like us to circulate to our group, please let us know. The next newsletter will be sent on 5th of February.

Best wishes,

Seán, Caroline, Diana, Ruxandra, and Jack.

1. Call for Papers

Workshop: Legal aspects of reform to the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland

Please consider the call for papers for this joint workshop on legal aspects of reform to the devolved institutions in NI from the Liverpool Public Law Unit and the International Law and Human Rights Unit at the University of Liverpool. The workshop will take place on 10 April 2024. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 28 January. Any queries should be directed to Dr Katie Johnston (katie.johnston@liverpool.ac.uk).

The Central European University 19th Annual Doctoral Conference

The CEU Annual Doctoral Conference (Re)Searching Power: Emerging Approaches across Disciplines is taking place between 17 and 19 April, 2024. The conference provides a professional, supportive, and international environment for PhD students and early career researchers in various fields of the humanities and social sciences to discuss their works in progress, establish formal or informal networks, and initiate future collaborative research. The submission deadline is 14 January 2024. For more details, click here or email adc2024@ceu.edu

2. #PSA24: Early bird registration still open

The early bird registration for the PSA Annual Conference (25–27 March 2024 in Glasgow) is still open until 2 February. This is your chance to take advantage of discounted rates. If your paper has been accepted on one of our panels, please take this opportunity to secure your spot.

Please note that there is a further discount for scholars from the Global South and Low-income Countries. The application deadline for the PSA Support Fund to assist with conference expenses is also 2 February. 

3. PSA: Nominations for academic prizes

17 January (5pm GMT) is the last day to submit a (self-)nomination for the PSA academic prizes, which will be presented during the PSA’s Annual Conference. The PSA particularly encourages you to make a nomination for the prestigious teaching prizes. More information is available here.

4. University of London Exhibition on Parliaments, 12 January – 16 March

The Global Research Network on Parliaments and People is holding an exhibition Living Democracy: Frayed Entanglements on the relationship between politicians and people in the Brunei Gallery, SOAS. The exhibition is open Tuesday to Saturday 10:30am-5pm, from the 12th January to 16th March 2024, featuring research findings from Brazil, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, the UK and the US.

Living Democracy – Frayed Entanglements offers films, photography, installations, podcasts and timelines about riffs, rhythms and rituals in parliaments. 

5. ECPR Summer School of the Standing Group on Parliaments: Call for applications

The ECPR Standing Group on Parliaments has just opened the call for applications for their summer school. The school is for PhD students and early career scholars. It takes place 18-29 August 2024 in Frankfurt, Germany. More information on what to expect and how to apply can be found here.

6. RKE opportunities and fellowships

The UK Parliament Knowledge Exchange Unit Call for Thematic Research Leads 2024 – 2026

The KE Unit is recruiting to eight positions  for thematic research leads from a broad range of scientific and research disciplines. These part-time roles, funded by UKRI and supported by all of UKRI’s research councils, will be appointed to work with UK Parliament from September 2024 to summer 2026.

More details can be found here. The deadline to apply is 23:55, Sunday 3 March 2024.

Parliamentary Academic Fellowship Scheme (UK Parliament)

The Parliamentary Academic Fellowship Scheme (UK Parliament) runs on a rolling basis, as Parliament identifies a need for academic expertise. Open for applications are the following:

• Lobbying and Political Ethics Parliamentary Academic Fellowship
• Constitutional Law Parliamentary Academic Fellowship

The closing date for applications is 25th February 2024 at 23:55. More details and guidance can be found here. 

7. Recent publications

• Emilia Belknap & Meryl Kenny, “‘The first, but not the last’: Women’s descriptive and substantive representation in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election”. British Politics.
• Alia Middleton & Louise Thompson, “More than a memento mori? Assessing the participation of former Prime Ministers in the House of Commons”, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations.

If you would like your published research to be featured in this section, please email Caroline with details.

8. Recently on the blog

• Dr Mari Takayanago contributed a blog piece on ‘Necessary Women: pioneering women working in Parliament‘. It draws on her first book co-authored with Elizabeth Hallam Smith: ‘Necessary Women: the Untold Story of Parliament’s Working Women‘.

If you have an idea for a blog on some aspect of parliamentary study, please get in touch with our new communications officer, Jack. We will be posting more blogs from those who presented at our Annual Conference last November, so watch this space!

9. Overview of parliaments map

We have two new contributions to our Overview of Parliaments Map.

• Muhammad Asad Ayaz, a parliamentary researcher, has written a piece on the National Assembly of Pakistan.
• Robert Hirst, a recent MA graduate from the University of Sheffield, has looked at the UK Parliament.

For anybody who wishes to cover any of the countries not yet covered in our map, contact our communications officer Jack.

We hope you’re well. We have some updates for you:

1. Highlights: PSA Parliaments Annual Conference 2-3 November 2023
2. #PSA24: Early bird registration
3. PSA membership
4. SGP Annual Weekend, 5-6 January 2024
5. Call for papers: NoPSA 2024
6. PhD scholarships, jobs and RKE opportunities
7. Recent publications (and other things) that have caught our eye
8. Recently on the blog

If you have any notices/messages you would like us to circulate to our group, please let us know.

Best wishes

Seán, Caroline, Diana, Ruxandra, and Jack.

1. Highlights: PSA Parliaments Conference, 2-3 November 2023

Seeing so many of you at our Annual Conference in November was an enormous pleasure. Despite Storm Ciarán interfering with travel plans, the early career symposium we held for the first time, the drinks reception and the conference were a great success. Read the highlights and see photo evidence here.

If you attended the conference, whether in-person or virtually, we would be grateful to hear your feedback to help us improve future conferences. The survey just has four questions and should only take a couple of minutes to complete.

2. #PSA24: Early bird registration

The PSA Annual Conference will take place from 25–27 March 2024 in Glasgow, convened by the University of Strathclyde. The early bird registration is now open until 2 February, allowing presenters and attendees to secure their spot at a discounted rate. If your paper has been accepted on one of our panels, please take this opportunity to secure your spot and take advantage of the discount.

Please note that there is a further discount for scholars from the Global South and Low-income Countries. The application deadline for the PSA Support Fund to assist with conference expenses is also 2 February 2024.

More information on pricing and registration details can be found here.

3. PSA membership

If you receive our newsletter but are not a member of the UK Political Studies Association, then now is the perfect time to consider joining. Starting from £10/year for students, PSA membership provides numerous benefits including access to various resources and journals, discounted conference registration fees and opportunities to network and even win academic prizes. The full list of benefits and more information on how to join can be found here.

If you are already a PSA member, now is still a good time to verify that your contact details are up-to-date and that you are also an official member of our specialist group (in the ‘My group membership’ section of your PSA account). We would greatly appreciate your support since the number of members directly impacts our allocated funding and hence capacity to put on events for you.

4. SGP Annual Weekend, 5-6 January 2024

The Study of Parliament Group Annual Weekend 2024 will take place over Friday 5th and Saturday 6th January. You can register here, and check the action packed programme here.

5. Call for papers: NoPSA 2024

Our colleagues from the Nordic Political Science Association have published a call for papers for the NoPSA Political Science Congress, which will be held in Bergen (Norway), 25-28 June 2024. There are a few panels that may be relevant to parliamentary scholars (i.e., Conflict in Parliamentary Parties, Generational Politics: Participation, Representation and Politics, or Gender, Politics and Democracy).

6. PhD scholarships, jobs and RKE opportunities

PhD scholarships at the University of Leeds

Do you know of excellent students who are considering doing a PhD? If so, please forward the information below about this open call for PhD Scholarship in Politics and International Studies 2024/25, at the University of Leeds. The deadline  for applications is Monday 11th March 2024 and the application to PhD needs to be accepted first to be eligible to scholarship. Further details can be obtained by emailing Prof. Cristina Leston-Bandeira at C.Leston-Bandeira@leeds.ac.uk

CPA call for consultants

The CPA Headquarters Secretariat is calling for consultants to develop an online course on the role of Parliamentarians in upholding human rights as part of the CPA Parliamentary Academy online learning platform. The consultant will work with the CPA to develop the written course content for use by Parliamentarians of Commonwealth national and subnational legislatures. Deadline for applications – 8 December 2023. Read more about this call and apply here.

Research and Knowledge Exchange with the Welsh Parliament on gender and diversity quotas

A number of committees in the Welsh Parliament /Senedd Cymru are currently looking to engage with academics to support the scrutiny of forthcoming  gender/diversity quota legislation. You can sign-up through the Area of Research Interest (ARI) form and provide details about your existing and future research on gender and diversity quotas. This might lead to an invitation to provide oral or written evidence.

7. Recent Publications (and other things) that have caught our eye

• Cherry Miller, “Gendering Parliamentary Diplomacy: The Case of EU27-UK relations”, Social Politics.
• Lotte Hargarve, “Earning Their Stripes? How Political Experience Shapes Gendered Policy Prioritization”, Legislative Studies Quarterly.
• James Weinberg published a new book Governing in an Age of Distrust: A Comparative Study of Politicians’ Trust Perceptions and Why They Matter, Oxford University Press.
• The Hansard Society’s Parliament Matters Podcast: Two of the UK’s leading parliamentary experts, Mark D’Arcy (Parliamentary Correspondent) and Ruth Fox (Director of the Hansard Society) have joined up to produce a weekly podcast about all things Parliament and we love it!

If you would like your published research to be featured in this section, please email Caroline with details.

8. Recently on the blog

• Making the Law Count: The UK Post-Legislative Gap. Tom Caygill examines the nature of the decline in engagement in post-legislative scrutiny in Westminster, the wider reasons for it and suggests how we can move forward from here.  
• What are the implications of having the Foreign Secretary sitting in the House of Lords? Andrew Defty examines the implications raised by David Cameron’s appointment as Foreign Secretary.
• Also on the blog, we have a new update on our map of parliaments around the world courtesy of Calixte Bloquet’s contribution on the French Parliament.

If you have an idea for a blog on some aspect of parliamentary study, please get in touch with our new communications officer, Jack.