Category: News

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.

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

1. PSA Parliaments Conference 2023: Call for Papers
2. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay Competition
3. Parliamentary Studies Module: Call for Applications
4. POST Fellowship (UK Parliament): Mapping Public Engagement in Parliaments across the World
5. Survey on the Importance & Prestige of Parliamentary Work in the House of Commons
6. Hanna Pitkin & David Olson
7. Recent Publications 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.

This is our last newsletter of the academic year. We’ll see you all again in September!

Best wishes

Stephen, Seán, Caroline, Diana, Chris and Ruxandra.

1. PSA Parliaments Conference 2023: Call for Papers

We are very pleased to announce that our annual conference will take place at the LSE and online on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd November!

As usual, we will be holding the conference on the Friday and a drinks reception on the Thursday evening. However, in an exciting new development, we will also be holding a working papers workshop, co-hosted by the PSA Early Career Network, for early career researchers during Thursday daytime.

Full details about the conference and workshop, including how to apply and/or volunteer as a workshop discussant, can be found here.

We are very grateful to Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey for helping us to organise the conference and to the Department of Government at LSE for co-sponsoring the event.

2. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay Competition

There’s still time to submit an entry for our undergraduate essay competition! In fact, due to the UCU marking and allocation boycott, we’ve decided to extend the closing date to the 15th September 2023.

If, once you’ve done your marking, one of your undergraduate students has produced an exceptional piece of work, then please consider submitting it on their behalf (no self-nominations allowed).

Every year we want to reward the best assignments written by UK-based undergraduate students on any aspect of parliamentary and legislative studies. The entries which display the most originality, analytical rigour and significant contributions to the field will be awarded a prize of £100 for the winner and £50 for the runner-up.

Full details of the competition, including how to submit nominations, can be found here. For any questions, please get in touch with Caroline.

3. Parliamentary Studies Module: Call for Applications

Applications will open next week for Higher Education institutions to deliver the Parliamentary Studies module for academic years 2024/5 – 2029/30.

This will be the third time that the UK Parliament has sought collaborators to teach the Parliamentary Studies module. For this five year cycle we have made provision for 20 universities or other higher education institutions to deliver the Parliamentary Studies module in partnership with Parliament, and those currently delivering the module are welcome to apply again.

Applications will be judged by a panel of staff from the Houses of Parliament and representatives from the Higher Education sector. The deadline for applications is Thursday 6 July 2023. We aim to inform successful institutions by the end of July/early August.

If you’re interested in further information and/or wish to request an application pack, please contact ppoe@parliament.uk

4. POST Fellowship (UK Parliament): Mapping Public Engagement in Parliaments across the World

Faced with rising populism and political disengagement, parliaments across the world are making efforts to connect with their citizens. What do these activities look like, who undertakes them, where do they take place? Help us answer these questions and create a map of public engagement activities happening in parliaments across the world (rather like this brilliant map showing parliaments’ access to academic research), to enable the International Parliament Engagement Network to foster lesson sharing, knowledge exchange and collaborations.

This opportunity is open to university-based researchers or knowledge exchange professionals. Ideally, you would be working with us 60% of your time for one year, but we can be flexible about these arrangements. You will be able to shape the project and have access to existing networks. More information is available here. Prof. Cristina Leston-Bandeira is also happy to give further details and/or discuss this opportunity further. You can contact her here.

5. Survey on the Importance & Prestige of Parliamentary Work in the House of Commons

Stephen Holden Bates, Caroline Bhattacharya and Stephen McKay are running a survey on the importance of different aspects of parliamentary work and the prestige of different select committees and they would like to hear your views. The survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete and can be found here.

If you have any questions about the survey, then please contact Stephen.

6. Hanna Pitkin & David Olson: In Memory

We were very sad to hear last month of the deaths of both Hanna Pitkin and David Olson.

You can read an obituary of Hanna Pitkin here and a tribute to David Olson here.

7. Recent Publications that have Caught Our Eye

Sebastian Dettman has published The Geographic Scope Of Opposition Challenges In Malaysia’s Parliament in Pacific Affairs.

Boydell & Brewerhave published the 9(!) volume The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1640-1660 edited by Stephen K. Roberts.

Christian D. Phillips has published Nevertheless, He Persisted: White Men and the Links Between Incumbency and Group Descriptive Representation in Political Research Quarterly.

Daniel Stockemer and Aksel Sundström have published Age Inequalities in Political Representation: A Review Article in Government & Opposition.

And new issues of Representation and Legislative Studies Quarterly are out.

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

8. Recently on the Blog

We published one great blog last month.

• A Nation of Petitioners: people and Parliament in the nineteenth century United Kingdom by Henry Miller

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

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

1. PSA Parliaments Conference 2023: Call for Papers
2. PSA Parliaments Book Launch: Henry J. Miller’s A Nation of Petitioners
3. PSA Parliaments Annual Conference 2022: Extra Online Panel
4. Welcome to Diana Stirbu!
5. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay Competition
6. Parliamentary Studies Module: Call for Applications
7. Congratulations to Lotte Hargrave!
8. Other Events: ECPR Gender & Politics Seminar & PSA ECN Workshops
9. Recent Publications that have Caught Our Eye
10. 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

Stephen, Seán, Caroline, Chris, Ruxandra and, for the first time, Diana.

1. PSA Parliaments Conference 2023: Call for Papers

We are very pleased to announce that our annual conference will take place at the LSE and online on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd November!

As usual, we will be holding the conference on the Friday and a drinks reception on the Thursday evening. However, in an exciting new development, we will also be holding a working papers workshop for early career researchers during Thursday daytime.

Full details about the conference and workshop, including how to apply and/or volunteer as a workshop discussant, can be found here.

We are very grateful to Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey for helping us to organise the conference and to the Department of Government at LSE for co-sponsoring the event.

2. PSA Parliaments Book Launch: Henry J. Miller’s A Nation of Petitioners

We are delighted to announce that PSA Parliaments will be hosting a book launch for Henry J. Miller’s new book, A Nation of Petitioners: Petitions and Petitioning in the United Kingdom, 1780-1918 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023).

The event will take place via Zoom on Wednesday 3rd May at 2pm BST.

Full details, including how to book your free ticket, can be found here.

The book launch is part of our Online Brown Bag Seminar Series. If you have an article or book that has been accepted for publication and you would like to present it as part of our series, then please get in contact with Stephen.

3. PSA Parliaments Annual Conference 2022: Extra Online Panel

Our rescheduled panel on Parliaments in Context will take place on Wednesday 24th May at 2pm BST.

We have three great papers. Full details, including how to book your free ticket, can be found here.

4. Welcome to Diana Stirbu!

We are very pleased to announce that Diana Stirbu has become a co-convenor of PSA Parliaments.

Diana is Professor of Public Policy and Governance at the London Metropolitan University and is probably best known for her work on the Welsh Senedd. You can read her Urgent Questions here.

Diana will be replacing Stephen who is stepping down as co-convenor in November after our annual conference.

5. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay

Our undergraduate essay competition is running again this year!

Many of you have probably been busy marking over the last few weeks. If one of your undergraduate students has produced an exceptional piece of work, then please consider submitting it on their behalf (no self-nominations allowed).

Every year we want to reward the best assignments written by UK-based undergraduate students on any aspect of parliamentary and legislative studies. The entries which display the most originality, analytical rigour and significant contributions to the field will be awarded a prize of £100 for the winner and £50 for the runner-up.

The closing date is 12th June 2023.

Full details of the competition, including how to submit nominations, can be found here. For any questions, please get in touch with Caroline.

6. Parliamentary Studies Module: Call for Applications

Applications will open next week for Higher Education institutions to deliver the Parliamentary Studies module for academic years 2024/5 – 2029/30.

This will be the third time that the UK Parliament has sought collaborators to teach the Parliamentary Studies module. For this five year cycle we have made provision for 20 universities or other higher education institutions to deliver the Parliamentary Studies module in partnership with Parliament, and those currently delivering the module are welcome to apply again.

Applications will be judged by a panel of staff from the Houses of Parliament and representatives from the Higher Education sector. The deadline for applications is Thursday 6 July 2023. We aim to inform successful institutions by the end of July/early August.

If you’re interested in further information and/or wish to request an application pack, please contact ppoe@parliament.uk

7. Congratulations to Lotte Hargrave!

Congratulations to Lotte Hargrave for winning the PSA’s 2023 McDougall Trust Prize for her dissertation which examines the impact of gender stereotypes on politicians’ behaviour and voter attitudes.

More details can be found here.

8. Other Events: ECPR Gender & Politics Seminar & PSA ECN Workshops

The ECPR Gender & Politics Standing Group are holding a series of online seminars on ‘feminist dialogues on the classics’. The first considers gender and sexuality representation in politics on Tuesday 30th May at 2pm (BST).

Full details can be found here.

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The PSA’s Early Career Network are holding two online workshops on knowledge exchange. The first is on May 3rd and considers demonstrating knowledge exchange and impact in grant applications. The second is on June 7th and focuses on developing ethical knowledge exchange and impact.

Full details can be found here and here.

9. Recent Publications that have Caught Our Eye

Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi, Damilola Temitope Olorunshola and Boluwatife Solomon Ajibolad have published Turning public engagement into standard practice: institutionalisation in the work of the South African Parliament in the Journal of Legislative Studies.

Mette Marie Staehr Harder has published Parting with ‘interests of women’: how feminist scholarship on substantive representation could replace ‘women’s interests’ with ‘gender equality interests’ in the European Journal of Politics and Gender.

Jonathan Malloy has published The Paradox of Parliament with the University of Toronto Press.

Mihail Chiru has published Seniority and Ideological Proximity? A Longitudinal Analysis of the Appointment of Party Group Coordinators in the European Parliament in the Journal of Common Market Studies.

Elizabeth Evans and Stefanie Reher have published Gender, disability and political representation: understanding the experiences of disabled women in the European Journal of Politics and Gender.

The Routledge Handbook of Parliamentary Administrations edited by Thomas Christiansen, Elena Griglio and Nicola Lupo has been published.

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

10. Recently on the Blog

We published one great blog last month.

• The Parliamentary Battle over Brexit: The Story in Brief by Meg Russell and Lisa James

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

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

1. PSA Parliaments at PSA23!
2. PSA Parliaments Book Launch: Henry J. Miller’s A Nation of Petitioners
3. PSA Parliaments Annual Conference 2022: Extra Online Panel
4. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay Competition
5. PSA Trustee Elections
6. ALCS Membership: Public Service Announcement
7. Recent Publications 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

Stephen, Seán, Caroline, Chris and Ruxandra.

1. PSA Parliaments at PSA23!

We had a great time in Liverpool for the Annual PSA Conference. 

We convened four panels on parliamentary processes and procedures, comparative analysis of legislatures, scrutiny and legislation, and rhetoric and representation, which were all very well attended and which all contained some very interesting and important papers.

We believe all panels were recorded by the conference organisers so, if you missed the conference or just want to relive the experience, you’ll hopefully have access to all presentations soon.

2. PSA Parliaments Book Launch: Henry J. Miller’s A Nation of Petitioners

We are delighted to announce that PSA Parliaments will be hosting a book launch for Henry J. Miller’s new book, A Nation of Petitioners: Petitions and Petitioning in the United Kingdom, 1780-1918 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023).

The event will take place via Zoom on Wednesday 3rd May at 2pm BST.

Full details, including how to book your free ticket, can be found here.

The book launch is part of our Online Brown Bag Seminar Series. If you have an article or book that has been accepted for publication and you would like to present it as part of our series, then please get in contact with Stephen.

3. PSA Parliaments Annual Conference 2022: Extra Online Panel

We have not forgotten about our postponed online panel Parliaments & Parliamentarians in Context.

We will be rearranging this panel very soon and will hopefully announce a new date and time next month.

Details of the panel can be found here.

4. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay Competition

Our undergraduate essay competition is running again this year! 

Many of you have probably been busy marking over the last few weeks. If one of your undergraduate students has produced an exceptional piece of work, then please consider submitting it on their behalf (no self-nominations allowed).

Every year we want to reward the best assignments written by UK-based undergraduate students on any aspect of parliamentary and legislative studies. The entries which display the most originality, analytical rigour and significant contributions to the field will be awarded a prize of £100 for the winner and £50 for the runner-up.

The closing date is 12th June 2023.

Full details of the competition, including how to submit nominations, can be found here. For any questions, please get in touch with Caroline.

5. PSA Trustee Elections

Two of our members, Nicholas Allen and Matthew Hepplewhite, are standing to become trustees of the PSA. 

You can read their pitches and details of how to vote here.

6. ALCS Membership: Public Service Announcement

If you publish books and in journals that are based in the UK and you are not yet a member, then please consider joining the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Societyso you can receive payment for secondary uses of your work.

One of our convenors hadn’t even heard of it until this time last year and doesn’t know why this isn’t the first thing you are told when you start your PhD. 

Anyway, it can earn you hundreds and even thousands of pounds each year!

7. Recent Publications that have Caught Our Eye

Orly Siow has recently published two articles: Needles in a haystack: an intersectional analysis of the descriptive, constitutive and substantive representation of minoritised women in the European Journal of Politics and Gender and What Constitutes Substantive Representation, and Where Should We Evaluate It? in Political Studies Review.

Nic Cheeseman and Marie-Eve Desrosiers have published How (not) to engage with authoritarian states and Douglas Thorkell has published Futureproofing democracy: Principles of foresight-based policy analysis and stress-testing for national parliaments and governments, both with the Westminster Fotw-text-wideundation for Democracy.

Franklin De Vrieze has published Advancing parliamentary innovation through Post-Legislative Scrutiny in The Parliamentarian. 

Jelena Lončar has published Evoking the resemblance: Descriptive representation of ethnic minorities in Ethnicities.

Meg Russell has published a working paper House of Lords reform: navigating the obstacles with the Bennett Institute for Public Policy.

And new issues of the Journal of Legislative Studies and the International Journal of Parliamentary Studies have been published.

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

8. Recently on the Blog

We didn’t publish anything this past month because we were too busy on the picket lines winning back our pensions and trying to get better pay and conditions.

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

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

1. PSA Annual Conference 2023 in Liverpool & Online
2. PSA Parliaments Annual Conference 2022: Extra Online Panel
3. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay Competition Launch!
4. Urgent Questions with David Parker
5. PSA Parliaments Book Launch: Henry J. Miller’s A Nation of Petitioners
6. PSA Trustees Wanted!
7. Job: British Politics Lecturer, University of Leeds
8. Other Events: Book Launch of The Parliamentary Battle Over Brexit
9. Other Events: 100 more by 2030! How to Create a More Gender-balanced Democracy
10. Other Events: Austrian Day of Parliamentary Research
11. Recent Publications that have Caught Our Eye
12. Recently on the Blog

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

Best wishes

Stephen, Seán, Caroline, Chris and Ruxandra.

1. PSA Annual Conference 2023 in Liverpool & Online

Registration has opened for the 2023 PSA Annual Conference being held in Liverpool and virtually in April 2023. Early bird registration ends on 4 February 2023, and accepted paper-givers must register by then to guarantee their place. Full details of the conference and how to register can be found on the PSA23 website.

PSA Parliaments are running four panels on the Monday and Tuesday, as can be seen from the conference programme here.

The PSA offers support to UK based PhD students and early career researchers as well as scholars from the Global South. See the website for more information.

Whether in person or online, we hope to see you there!

2. PSA Parliaments Annual Conference 2022: Extra Online Panel

Due to the on-going UCU industrial action, we postponed our online panel Parliaments & Parliamentarians in Context on Wednesday 15th February 2023.

We will rearrange the panel once it is clear what is happening with the industrial action (and/or employers have given staff in UK higher education a decent pay rise, restored lost pension benefits and addressed casualisation, workload and the gender, disability and ethnicity pay gaps).

Details of the panel can be found here.

3. PSA Parliaments Undergraduate Essay Competition Launch!

We are very pleased to announce the launch of our 2023 undergraduate essay competition! 

Many of you have probably been busy marking over the last few weeks. If one of your undergraduate students has produced an exceptional piece of work, then please consider submitting it on their behalf (no self-nominations allowed).

Every year we want to reward the best assignments written by UK-based undergraduate students on any aspect of parliamentary and legislative studies. The entries which display the most originality, analytical rigour and significant contributions to the field will be awarded a prize of £100 for the winner and £50 for the runner-up. The closing date is 12th June 2023.

Full details of the competition, including how to submit nominations, can be found here. For any questions, please get in touch with Caroline.

4. Urgent Questions with David Parker

This month’s interviewee is Prof. David Parker (Montana State University)!

Head over to Urgent Questions to read about soaking and poking, Red Sox, Star Trek and lots, lots more!

5. PSA Parliaments Book Launch: Henry J. Miller’s A Nation of Petitioners

We are delighted to announce that PSA Parliaments will be hosting a book launch for Henry J. Miller’s new book, A Nation of Petitioners: Petitions and Petitioning in the United Kingdom, 1780-1918 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023).

The event will take place via Zoom on Wednesday 3rd May at 2pm BST.

Full details, including how to book your free ticket, can be found here.

The book launch is part of our Online Brown Bag Seminar Series. If you have an article or book that has been accepted for publication and you would like to present it as part of our series, then please get in contact with Stephen.

6. PSA Trustees Wanted!

The PSA are currently calling for nominations from their membership for three trustees to ensure the PSA continues its journey to excellence, sustainability, diversity, and growth.

These positions are open to all Academic Members and the PSA would very much welcome nominations from women and scholars from groups generally under-represented in the discipline. 

The deadline for nominations closes on Wednesday 8th March.

You can find out more about governance of the PSA and the role of the trustees here, and there is information about how to apply here.

7. Job: British Politics Lecturer, University of Leeds

The University of Leeds are advertising for a Lecturer in British Politics (Grade 8). More details can be found here.

8. Other Events: Book Launch of The Parliamentary Battle Over Brexit

The Constitution Unit at UCL are holding an online book launch for Meg Russelland Lisa James’s new book The Parliamentary Battle Over Brexit (OUP) on Thursday 23rd March 2023. Other speakers include David Gauke, Joanna Cherry and Robert Saunders.

More details, including how to book your free ticket, can be found here.

9. Other Events: 100 more by 2030! How to Create a More Gender-balanced Democracy

The Mile End Institute at Queen Mary University of London are holding an event on how to create a more gender-balanced democracy on Thursday 23rd March 2023. Speakers include Frances Scott and Rainbow Murray. 

The event is on later than the book launch above so you can go to both!

More details, including how to book your free ticket, can be found here.

10. Other Events: Austrian Day of Parliamentary Research

The Legal, Legislative and Research Services (RLW) of the Austrian Parliamentary Administration, in cooperation with the International Journal of Parliamentary Studies, is holding the first “Austrian Day of Parliamentary Research” on 26th June 2023. 

This one-day conference in the premises of the Austrian Parliament will bring together scholars from various disciplines to discuss current developments in parliamentary research, as well as their reception in and potential contribution to parliamentary practice.

More details, including how to submit a paper proposal, can be found here.

11. Recent Publications that have Caught Our Eye

Silje Hermansen and Andreja Pegan have published Blurred lines between electoral and parliamentary representation: The use of constituency staff among Members of the European Parliament in European Union Politics.

The Hansard Society has published a new working paper Proposals for a New System for Delegated Legislation.

Matthew Smith and Jack Newman have published MPS, Outside Interests, and Corporate Boards: Too Busy to Serve? in Parliamentary Affairs.

Erica Rayment and Elizabeth McCallion have published Contexts and Constraints: The Substantive Representation of Women in the Canadian House of Commons and Senate in Representation.

Punam Yadav has published Do political quotas work? Gender quotas and women’s political participation in Nepal in the European Journal of Politics and Gender.

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

12. Recently on the Blog

We published one blog last month:

• Love in the Legislature: From Proposal to “Aye Do” by Charlie Feldman

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