Category: Urgent Questions

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Urgent Questions

Professor Richard Whitaker

RICK WHITAKER

Rick Whitaker is a Professor of Politics at the University of Leicester. He is currently a Parliamentary Academic Fellow, working with staff in the Commons Library, select committees and Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. From January 2023 until September 2024, he was the Thematic Research Lead for Parliament, Public Administration and the Constitution in the UK Parliament.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

I did an undergraduate degree in Politics and Contemporary History having never studied politics before. I immediately got higher marks in politics than in history modules and found the subject deeply fascinating, (not that I don’t love history too!). When I came to the end of my undergraduate degree I felt like I still needed to learn more and was, by that point, really interested in comparative European politics. So I took an MA (Econ) degree in European Politics and Policy and part-way through the year, started working up a PhD proposal under the guidance of Professor David Farrell who became my PhD supervisor. After failing at the last stage in the process of getting on the NHS management training scheme, I started a PhD after my MA. Towards the end of my doctoral study, I was lucky enough to get a temporary job as a lecturer at the University of Salford, where I had studied as an undergraduates.

Which five books/articles (written by someone else) have been most important to you in your academic career?

These are all books that were really important to me in the early stages of figuring out how to be a political scientist in the world of legislative studies.

Richard Corbett, Francis Jacobs and Michael Shackleton, The European Parliament (various editions). This for me was the Bible of the European Parliament, central to understanding how it works.

Gary Cox and Mathew McCubbins (1993) Legislative Leviathan. The centrality of party to their understanding of how the US Congress operates and how it is organised internally drew me into the world of understanding committees in legislatures.

Arend Lijphart, Democracies: Patterns of Majoritarian and Consensus Government in Twenty-One Countries. This is a classic comparative politics book and important, for me, for understanding how to situate legislatures and executives in a comparative context.

Keith Krehbiel, Information and Legislative Organisation. The combination of rational choice theory with interview material and empirics make this a fascinating study of legislative organisation.

Amie Kreppel, The European Parliament and Supranational Party System: A Study in Institutional Development. This was crucial for understanding how the European Parliament could be studied in a theoretically and methodologically sophisticated way.

Which people have been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

All those who taught me as an undergrad at the University of Salford and on my MA at the University of Manchester. They developed and nurtured my fascination with politics and political science. Beyond that I’d say (in alphabetical order of surnames): Phil Cowley for teaching me how to write (I’m still learning though), my PhD supervisor David Farrell for encouraging and mentoring me and showing me how to be a political scientist, Simon Hix for showing how the EU can be analysed through the lens of comparative politics, Philip Lynch for his astonishing grasp of detail and huge knowledge of British politics (and willingness to work with me early in my career), and Shane Martin for his work on legislatures in a comparative context and wonderful research questions.

Which of your own pieces of research are you most proud of?

My book on the European Parliament’s committees brought together a lot of research from over quite a time period. I need to write another one!

What has been your greatest achievement in academia?

Having the chance to work in one of the institutions I study (the UK Parliament) for nearly two years has been a wonderful experience for which I will be ever thankful.

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

That they vary hugely beyond the minimal definition that they give assent to laws.

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I was born in Stockport and I grew up in Bramhall. I now live in Nottingham.

What was your first job?

Apart from a paper round and some gardening work, my first job was working in the carpets and rugs department (on a Sunday) in Lewis’s – now long gone – department store in Manchester.

What would your ideal job be, if not an academic?

Working as a parliament specialist in the Commons Library or being a professional musician. 

What are your hobbies?

Music. I play piano and keyboards and I am the accompanist for a choir in Beeston where I live. I used to play in bands during my PhD and when at school. A good friend gave me the chance to do this again as part of a wedding band this year, which was so much fun. I could really do with an excuse to keep doing this!

What are your favourite music albums?

I have quite varied musical tastes from progressive rock, through jazz, classical and including dance and pop music. In short, I love music. It is hard to pick one favourite album but among those I could not do without are Tears for Fears’ album The Seeds of Love, Going for the One by Yes, Oscar Peterson’s Mellow Mood and Jacob Collier’s Djesse series. 

What is your favourite artwork?

I don’t claim to have a good knowledge of art but I love Salvador Dali’s paintings for the way he bends reality and juxtaposes objects in bizarre ways.

What is your favourite sport?

I am a lifelong Formula 1 fan. I love the cars and the speed and the overtaking, when it happens.

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

Yes please.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

Elected but in a way that creates differences with the Commons (such as representing different parts of the UK in a quasi-federal system).

Restoration or Renewal?

Renewal.

Cat or Dog?

Both.

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Trains, when they are working properly.

Fish and chips or Curry?

I can’t choose, I love them both!

Scones: Cornish or Devonshire method?

Cream first, whichever method that is!

And, finally, a question asked by 6-year old Viveka: What was your favourite toy as a child?

The earliest favourite toy I can remember is a Fisher Price garage. Beyond that, it is hard to choose between the Scalextric set we had and my first (sort of) ‘keyboard’, a Casio VL-Tone.

Categories
Urgent Questions

Dr Sean Haughey

SEAN HAUGHEY

Sean Haughey is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool. He is the author of The Northern Ireland Assembly: Reputations and Realities (2023, Routledge). He is the outgoing Co-Convenor of PSA Parliaments.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

After working as an ESL Teacher in South Korea for a few years, I somehow managed to land a gig at a university in Busan, teaching politics and public speaking. The only requirement for the job was an MA in Politics and some teaching experience, so I was in. I enjoyed the teaching but I enjoyed the perks even more – two months off in winter and three months off in summer, on full pay, with no research obligations, no administration duties or leadership roles, nothing. And, on account of my basic Korean language skills, I was also spared a lot of university bureaucracy. What’s not to love? So, I thought ‘what do I need to do to land a gig like this back home?’. That led me to apply for ESRC funding to do a PhD at the University of Liverpool (where I studied as an undergrad) under the supervision of Professor Jon Tonge (who taught me there). I secured the funding, started the PhD in 2015, and quickly learned that real-life academia is a far cry from my halcyon days in Busan. But by this stage I was in my mid-late 20s and needed to make a go of something. And, to be fair, I did enjoy doing research (then on legislative behaviour in the Northern Ireland Assembly, where I’d worked as an intern as part of my MA in Legislative Studies and Practice from QUB). 

I’ve been at Liverpool ever since. Post-PhD, I was employed on a god-awful temporary contract for six months before securing a permanent Lectureship at the Institute of Irish Studies in 2019. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer earlier this year. It’s not a bad gig, even if the perks are fewer than I anticipated circa 2014.

Which five books/articles (written by someone else) have been most important to you in your academic career?

Hanna Pitkin’s The Concept of Representation (1967) – the first academic text I read, cover to cover, of my own volition. Imagine being able to write like that.

Consociational Theory: McGarry and O’Leary and the Northern Ireland conflict (edited by R. Taylor, 2009) – still the best text on consociational power-sharing in Northern Ireland, bringing together advocates, critics, and agnostics.

Rick Wilford’s 2010 article in Parliamentary Affairs, ‘Northern Ireland: The Politics of Constraint’. Sparked my interest in the NI Assembly. 

Rick Wilford’s 2015 article in Parliamentary Affairs, ‘Two Cheers for Consociational Democracy? Reforming the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive’. Sparked my interest in institutional reform.

Representing the People: A Survey Among Members of Statewide and Substate Parliaments edited by Kris Deschouwer and Sam Depauw (2014). Methodologically useful for my PhD and genuinely an interesting read.

Which people have been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

The late, great Professor Rick Wilford of QUB. He had an incredibly sharp intellect and a brilliant, dry wit. His enthusiasm for legislative studies got me interested in parliaments and played a large part in my choice of PhD proposal. When I graduated from Queen’s, Rick advised me to think about applying for a PhD but I was Korea-bound and didn’t take the idea seriously. But his vote of confidence meant a lot to me and clearly, at some level, the notion stuck in the back of my mind.

Professor Jon Tonge, who taught me during my undergrad at Liverpool, supervised my PhD, and is an antidote to a lot of the cynicism in contemporary academia (and I say that as one getting increasingly cynical). Lots of sage Tonge advice over the years, including: to remember that whilst research is important, we wouldn’t be here without the students; don’t write an email in anger/haste; and don’t Tweet drunk.

Which of your own pieces of research are you most proud of?

I’m not sure I would say proud per se but I was delighted to finish and part ways with my monograph, The Northern Ireland Assembly: Reputations and Realities. The Assembly is up and down like a fiddler’s elbow, so it can be quite a stressful subject to write about.

What has been your greatest achievement in academia?

I think ‘making it’ in academia – i.e. securing a permanent post – is a pretty big deal in itself because the job market is so competitive. It was also pretty cool to appear before a House of Commons Select Committee – that was a real ‘am I actually here?’ moment.

What has been your greatest disappointment in academia?

The rapid pace of neoliberalisation across the sector. It’s increasingly about the money, the managers, the metrics, and ‘the business’. I live in hope that the pendulum will swing back in the other direction eventually but that could be wishful thinking.

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

Re the NI Assembly, that its poor reputation is not fully deserved. Re parliaments in general, that they are much more interesting than governments (and, of course, that they are not the same thing as governments).

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I was born in Belfast and lived there until I left for university at Liverpool. I had a brief stint back in Belfast for my MA, then five years in South Korea, before returning to Liverpool, where I currently reside.

What was your first job?

A kitchen porter/pot scrubber in a restaurant.

What was the toughest job you ever had?

A three-way toss-up. Either a supervisor at a summer camp in California (a lot of fun but pretty much on the clock 24/7; sleepless nights with homesick, ill, bed-wetting kids etc.), a labourer on a construction site (in the rain, there is not a more miserable job), or a precariously employed academic (thankfully I only had a short stint of this but I was grossly overworked and seriously underpaid).

What would your ideal job be, if not an academic?

If I won the lottery, I’d buy a farm and learn how to herd sheep with border collies.

What are your hobbies?

Not to perpetuate Irish stereotypes, but one of my favourite things to do is to sit in a good pub with friends talking about everything and nothing. To keep off the beer belly (ish), I run three to four times a week, which is a great stress-buster. I’m fascinated by the American Supreme Court and listen to oral arguments (or audiobooks about the court) quite a lot. Love Korean food but have yet to master the art of cooking it.

What are your favourite books?

Dahl’s Danny, the Champion of the World – first book I borrowed from a library, and probably the first novel I read without being asked to by a teacher. Became a regular library-goer after that, so I probably owe a lot to that book.

Recent favourites include Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien and Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart.

What is your favourite piece of music?

My university anthem was/is ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ by The Courteeners. Brings me right back to Friday nights at Le Bateau on Duke Street.

What is your favourite artwork?

This.

What is your favourite film?

My all-time favourite is The Goonies. Such a classic and still makes me laugh, especially when Chunk gets locked in the freezer with the stiff.

What is your favourite building?

I don’t think I have one. I enjoyed visiting the temples in Kyoto, Japan – but they clearly didn’t impress me that much otherwise I’d remember their names.

What is your favourite TV show?

Schitt’s Creek is a masterpiece and remains my go-to for background comedy when I’m cooking or tidying up. Moira Rose is a hero. I find Alan Carr hilarious, so I’ll watch anything with him in it.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Kilkenny, Ireland (a long street of picturesque Irish pubs); Seoul, South Korea (fun nightlife and amazing cuisine); Boracay, The Philippines (outstandingly beautiful and the most relaxing place I’ve ever visited)

What is your favourite sport?

Does pub golf count?

What is your favourite restaurant?

My new favourite restaurant is The White Eagle in Anglesey. Exquisite sea food and stunning views of the Welsh countryside.

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

Yes please.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

Perhaps a mix of both, with election gradually replacing appointment.

Restoration or Renewal?

Both.

Cat or Dog?

Dogs. All the dogs.

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Trains when they’re on time, planes when the destination is sunny.

Fish and chips or Curry?

Fish, chips & curry sauce on the side, surely?!

Scones: Cornish or Devonshire method?

As an Irishman, this means nothing to me. Having googled it, surely it is easier to put jam on cream rather than vice-versa?

And, finally, a question asked by 6-year old Viveka: What is your favourite school memory?

Any time a dog got into the playground. Joy. Mayhem.

Categories
Urgent Questions

Dr Stephen Holden Bates

STEPHEN HOLDEN BATES

Stephen Holden Bates is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Birmingham. He has published a number of articles on parliamentary questions and parliamentary committees and was a UK Parliament Academic Fellow in 2021-22. He is the outgoing Co-Convenor of PSA Parliaments.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

I’m completely institutionalised at Birmingham having completed my undergraduate degree and PhD in POLSIS, as well as now having worked here as a lecturer for over 15 years. I did spend a year in London after my undergraduate degree – having a proper job with a boss was enough to tell me that the ‘real world’ was rubbish and that I wanted to do a PhD and work in academia. After my PhD, I was a teaching fellow and a post-doc for one year each before gaining a permanent lectureship back at POLSIS.

Which five books/articles (written by someone else) have been most important to you in your academic career?

Barbara Adam’s Time and Social Theory (1990) – imagine being that clever!

Karl Marx’s Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 – especially the bits on alienation and species being.

Critical Realism: Essential Readings (1998) edited by Margaret Archer et al. – bit of a cop out to have a ‘best of’ but this is my academic bible. I especially love Porpora’s chapter on social structures.

Derek Layder’s 1985 article in the Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour “Power, structure and agency” – it’s not in the Critical Realism: Essential Readings collection so I’m including it separately.

Donald Searing’s Westminster World (1994) – he really shows you how to write an interesting academic book.

Which people have been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

Colin Hay and Dave Marsh who both taught me at undergraduate level with Dave also being one of my PhD supervisors. It was very exciting being at Birmingham in the late 1990s and I had lots of brilliant lecturers but it was these two who mainly introduced me to all the stuff I still love.

Which of your own pieces of research are you most proud of?

My 2010 “Restructuring Power” article in Polity. I found it very difficult to make the jump from PhD student to lecturer and it was this piece of work which proved to me (and, more importantly, referees) that I could do political science at least moderately well.

What has been your greatest achievement in academia?

This.

What has been your greatest disappointment in academia?

That we don’t yet work in a sector which has above inflation pay rises, which doesn’t have tuition fees, and which is run on cooperative, horizontalist democratic principles.

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

Parliament is not the same as the government.

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I lived in Higham Ferrers in Northamptonshire until I was 19. I’ve now lived in south-west Birmingham for 24 of the last 26 years.

What was your first job?

Paperboy for a very exploitative £3.60 a week (or 80p an hour).

What was the toughest job you ever had?

It’s a toss up between working in a tie factory (on my first day I ironed over 1000 ties which was a record) and my post-doc.

What would your ideal job be, if not an academic?

Pop star, spin bowler for Northamptonshire and England, or Euromillions Rollover Jackpot winner – don’t mind which.

What are your hobbies?

Road cycling, birdwatching, Iyengar yoga, watching Birmingham City FC, cooking, instagramming photos of my cooking.

What are your favourite books?

Anything by Primo Levi. Anything by Sally Rooney who is hands down my favourite recent author. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing changed my life, I think. I like reading utopian and dystopian political fiction with News from Nowhere, Herland, and The Iron Heal being my favourites. I’m also a sucker for a good police procedural/murder mystery with the Martin Beck novels probably being my favourite, although a special mention must go to Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers. And also We’re Going on a Bear Hunt which has brought me immeasurable joy over the last 12 years or so.

What is your favourite music?

My younger self won’t believe it but my favourite piece of music is Bach’s Partita in D Minor and, specifically, this version, which I listen to about a gazillion times a year.

I also love, in no particular order, Stereolab, Pulp, PJ Harvey, David Bowie, the Beatles and the Stones, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, the Spencer Davis Group, Neu!, Shostakovich, Steve Reich, John Adams, Philip Glass and Sly and the Family Stone.

Who is your favourite artist?

Bridget Riley for completely obvious reasons.

What is your favourite film?

It’s a Wonderful Life – if you don’t cry at least twice during this film then there’s something wrong with you

What is your favourite building?

The Barbican, Coventry Cathedral and Birmingham’s Central Library (R.I.P.).

What is your favourite holiday destination?

The Isles of Scilly, Venice, and the Hautes-Pyrenees.

What is your favourite sport?

Football and cricket for watching (I support Birmingham City and AFC Rushden & Diamonds and Northamptonshire and Warwickshire (and derivatives) respectively). Road cycling and pingpong for doing.

What is your favourite restaurant?

Jhoti’s, Adam’s and Rico Libre in Birmingham, L’Anecdote in Paris and Trattoria da’a Marisa in Venice.

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

Yes please.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

Elected (obvs).

Restoration or Renewal?

Renewal – preferably along the lines of Cedric Price’s Pop-up Parliament.

Cat or Dog?

Cat, and specifically this one called Adélie who I love with all my heart:

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Trains, preferably a sleeper on the way from Paris to Venice or Turin.

Fish and chips or Curry?

Impossible to choose.

Scones: Cornish or Devonshire method?

Cornish (with apologies to my Devonshire in-laws).

And, finally, four questions asked by Isaac, Seth, Ira and Bernadette, who are 13, 11, 5 and 5 respectively:

What was the greatest experience of your life?

Cycling above the clouds between the Col du Soulor and the Col d’Aubisque.

Why do you have a stubble beard?

I’m trying to see whether, at the age of 45, I can finally grow a beard.

Why do you like birds?

I like their songs and their different colours and the fact that they can fly.

Why do you like cycling?

You can go a long way and see lots of countryside and go very fast down hills and talk to your friends and it’s not boring and hard on your knees like running.

Categories
Urgent Questions

Dr Chris Monaghan

CHRIS MONAGHAN

Chris Monaghan is a Principal Lecturer in Law at the University of Worcester. He is the author of Accountability, Impeachment and the Constitution: The Case for a Modernised Process in the United Kingdom (Routledge), editor of the Routledge Studies in Law, Rights and Justice book series, and co-editor of Routledge Frontiers in Accountability Studies book series. He is the outgoing Communications Officer of PSA Parliaments.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

Being somewhat obsessed by history as a child and teenager I decided to study history at university. Three years later I graduated and like many history graduates I decided to switch to law with the intention of becoming a solicitor.

I enrolled at my local university on the law conversion course (Graduate Diploma in Law) and progressed onto the Legal Practice Course, which I did part-time in London.

It was whilst studying on the Legal Practice Course that I was encouraged to apply for some part-time university teaching.

I was very lucky and a few months later I was lecturing third year LLB students Commercial Law at Anglia Ruskin University. After the initial nerves I found that I loved teaching and consequently took the decision to set aside my ambition of being a solicitor and secured a permanent lectureship in London. Eventually, I found myself at the University of Worcester, where I have been working since 2016.

Which five books/articles (written by someone else) have been most important to you in your academic career?

This is a difficult one to answer. I think the answer would be:

  1. David Butler, Vernon Bogdanor, and Robert Summers (eds), The Law, Politics, and the Constitution: Essays in Honour of Geoffrey Marshall (Oxford University Press 1999). As a new law student I found this book in the law library and read it cover-to-cover. As soon as I started part-time teaching it was the first book that I bought.
  2. Stephen Sedley, Lions Under the Throne: Essays on the History of English Public Law (Cambridge University Press 2015). This shows how a book can be written to raise serious issues, but also to give a broad sweep of the constitutional history of the United Kingdom.
  3. Penny Darbyshire, Sitting in Judgment: The Working Lives of Judges (Hart Publishing 2011). Darbyshire shows how you can take a perceived preconception of judges and turn this on its head by conducting extensive empirical research and giving a voice to a large number of judges. This book has been instrumental in how I teach students about the judiciary and my own academic writing on the role of judges and the constitution.
  4. Alan Paterson, Final Judgment: The Last Law Lords and the Supreme Court (Hart Publishing 2013). This showed me how you could write an account of the law and the role of judges. Paterson’s approach influenced how I carried out work for the British Library’s National Life Stories project and my own research into the Bancoult litigation.
  5. Alexander Horne, Gavin Drewry and Dawn Oliver, Parliament and the Law (Hart Publishing 2013). This is a great book (with subsequent new editions) and the subject of my first substantial book review.

Which people have been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

There are quite a few people who fit this category. I have been lucky to have had the support of many colleagues and other academics. In particular my former PhD supervisor, Robert Blackburn has been very influential. Over the past decade Robert has supported my career, supervised my PhD and has offered invaluable feedback on a whole host of post PhD projects and initiatives. Finally, Matthew Flinders has been a source of encouragement over the past few years and has really challenged me to develop as an academic. It has been fun and refreshing to work with Matt.

Which of your own pieces of research are you most proud of?

This has to be my PhD thesis which became a monograph: Accountability, Impeachment and the Constitution: The Case for a Modernised Process in the United Kingdom which was published by Routledge in 2022.

What has been your greatest achievement in academia?

Without doubt completing my PhD (which I did on a part-time basis).

What has been your greatest disappointment in academia?

I think in academia you have countless knock backs and disappointments. To be honest most things just fade into the background, even if at the time it was disappointing not to get a paper published in journal X ,or accepted to present at conference Y.  I would add though, how appreciative I am for when disappointing news is delivered, to have constrictive feedback as this helps going forward.

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

You need to know the detail and keep abreast of developments. I teach Public Law, so Parliament is very much a regular character in my teaching and I encourage students to ask questions and challenge preconceptions. The expenses scandal and sleaze has not helped the image of MPs, so it is really about making students move beyond the popular image of politicians.

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I was born and brought up in Bedfordshire. I now life in Worcestershire.

What was your first job?

Selling fabric and material at a high-street retailer.

What was the toughest job you ever had?

Working on a building site. Very early mornings. But worked with some great people and fun to knock things down.

What  would your ideal job be, if not an academic?

Gardener – working outside for the National Trust or something similar. It is a bit different than working indoors all day.

What are your hobbies?

These are gardening, reading, and socialising.

What are your favourite novels?

I went through a stage of reading everything by Graham Greene.

I’m currently reading Heart of a Dog.

What is your favourite music?

For quality and scope it has to be the Beatles.

What is your favourite artwork?

I am fan of the satirist James Sayers.

What is your favourite building?

The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. It was a privilege to work there (whilst I was at the University of Greenwich) and to coming to work and see which film or tv series was being filmed that day.

What are your favourite tv shows?

Veep, Stranger Things, West Wing and currently watching The Afterparty.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

It depends. I love city breaks: Berlin was very nice. But maybe the Maldives as this was so different than my usual holidays.

What is your favourite sport?

Tennis to watch. Badminton to play.

What is your favourite food?

My favourite meal has to be a curry (ideally from the Indian restaurant in the village where I previously lived).

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

No thanks.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

An elected upper chamber in an ideal world – but without losing the expertise.

Restoration or Renewal?

Renewal – like most things the problem will get worse the longer that you do nothing. But perhaps we could look at housing for MPs and greater public access to the Palace.

Cat or Dog?

Cats –  they are fantastic.

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Planes. There is something special about flying.

Fish and chips or Curry?

Curry all the way.

Scones: Cornish or Devonshire method?

Cornish. Either way is great though, especially when visiting the West Country.

And, finally, two questions asked by Ira and Bernadette, who are both 4: Would you prefer to ride a dragon or a unicorn, and why?

A dragon would be pretty cool. Perhaps the one from Zog and not the one from Room on the Broom.

Categories
Urgent Questions

Professor David Parker

DAVID PARKER

David C.W. Parker is professor and head of political science at Montana State University. He has studies the U.S. Congress, the House of Commons, and the Scottish Parliament extensively, with a special focus on legislative oversight of executives and representational relationships.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

After receiving my undergraduate degree, I did a stint in professional politics, working on a mayoral, a presidential, and two U.S. Senate campaigns during the 1995-1996 campaign cycle. After that, I worked for about two years for a small textbook publishing company. The grind and intensity of election politics was not my cup of tea, and sales bored me. Given that I had always loved to learn and to understand, I went to graduate school to fuel that passion and to inspire others to careers in politics and public service. And, 25 years later, I’m still learning, understanding, and inspiring others to service, so it seems to me it was the right choice.

Which five books/articles (written by someone else) have been most important to you in your academic career?

When Incumbency Fails, by Richard Fenno.

Divided We Govern, by David Mayhew.

Legislative Leviathan, by Cox and McCubbins.

The Politics Presidents Make, by Stephen Skowronek.

The Personal Vote, by Cain et al.

Which people have been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

My wife, Hilary, who I met in graduate school, John Coleman—my dissertation advisor, Richard Fenno, and Reviewer #2.

Which of your own pieces of research are you most proud of?

Battle for the Big Sky, in which I followed around two candidates running against each other for the U.S. Senate in Montana. I’m most proud of it because the work was hard—I soaked and poked as Fenno does in his collective work but from the perspective of both candidates—and because I was told that no assistant professor in their right mind should take on that type of a project before receiving tenure. I’m also quite fond of “Back from Holyrood: How Mixed-member Proportional Representation and Ballot Structure Shape the Personal Vote” because the project was inspired by a student’s question while visiting the Scottish Parliament (who co-authored the piece) and because it was my first effort to move into doing research outside of American politics and Congress. Today, I’ve published nearly as much on UK politics as I have on US politics.

What has been your greatest achievement in academia?

Fully embracing the notion that the academia is about discovery, period. This idea that you become an expert in just one thing, and ride that thing until you retire, is nonsense, and frankly, boring. Follow your questions and follow your ideas wherever they lead, no matter who tells you otherwise.

What has been your greatest disappointment in academia?

Not writing “the book” on Congressional Investigations when I had the chance.

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

Because legislatures generally have the power to coerce citizens through conscription and taxation, they are fundamentally the most powerful and important political institutions in liberal democracies.

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

Born in Massachusetts, grew up in Londonderry, New Hampshire 45 minutes from Boston. I am a proud Red Sox fan even though I’ve lived in Bozeman, Montana for the past 15 years.

What was your first job?

DePauw University, a small liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana.

What was the toughest job you ever had?

Working as a cashier at McDonald’s. Not for the faint of heart.

What  would your ideal job be, if not an academic?

The founder and owner of an educational travel company.

What are your hobbies?

Travel, reading, hiking, and worrying about the fate of democracy.

What are your favourite novels?

I love anything written by John Scalzi, a science fiction author. I’ve re-read his books multiple times and every time, the man makes me laugh out loud. He’s that funny and irreverent.

What is your favourite music?

I’m a huge fan of 80s music generally. My favorite? Probably Take on Me by A-ha because I just can’t help but sing along whenever I hear it and I think the music video is one of the finest ever made.

What is your favourite artwork?

Hard one, but Norman Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech. Why? Because it represents, to me, the most important liberty in a liberal democracy and because it evokes, for me at least, the New England town hall meeting—the purest form of democracy still practiced in the United States and which governed my home town of Londonderry, New Hampshire when I grew up.

What is your favourite film?

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I’m a huge Trek fan, and the movie—based upon Herman Melville’s Moby Dick—is a story of revenge and great personal sacrifice. Spock’s death scene—still to this day—brings tears to my eyes.

What is your favourite building?

The Palace at Westminster, of course!

What is your favourite tv show?

Breaking Bad because of its fundamental premise: Man chooses life of crime because America doesn’t have an adequate healthcare system free at the point of service like the NHS.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Moab, Utah. I love the national parks and the silence of the desert.

What is your favourite sport?

Baseball because it is one of the few games where the defense controls the ball.

What is your favourite food?

Like the British, I’m fond of curries generally. But, if I had to say my favorite, it would probably be a Phaal curry—reputed to be the world’s hottest curry and invented in Birmingham’s curry shops!

For UK Parliament:

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

This may be the only issue on which we agree, but I’m with Jacob Rees-Mogg: No thanks.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

Appointed, but subject to retention elections every ten years.

Restoration or Renewal?

There should be a complete decamp to get the work done as quickly as possible.

For US Politics:

Eliminating the Electoral College: yes or no?

Yes.

Eliminating the filibuster: yes or no?

Modify it per Greg Koger’s suggestions (reduce the voting threshold over time), and each filibuster must be in person and fully talked out.

Cat or Dog?

Cat. Unfortunately, my family is allergic and we have a dog (who is lovely, but not a cat).

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Trains.

Fish and chips or Curry?

Curry.

And, finally, two questions asked by 5-year-old Viveka: What’s the most beautiful animal in the world? What’s the scariest animal in the world?

Okapi and leeches respectively.

Categories
Urgent Questions

Dr Mark Bennister

MARK BENNISTER

Mark Bennister is an Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Lincoln. He is Director of the Lincoln Policy Hub and ParliLinc, the Lincoln Parliamentary Research Centre. He was awarded a parliamentary academic fellowship (2016-19) and has published on political leadership, prime ministerial power, and political oratory. He is also co-convenor of the PSA Political Leadership Specialist Group.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

I took a rather roundabout route into an academic career. I started off working in an independent record shop Selectadisc in Nottingham and had various jobs in the theatre after completing my degree at Nottingham Trent University. I returned to academia to complete an MA at Loughborough University in Contemporary European Studies. I managed to get a job working for Alan Simpson, the Nottingham South Labour MP, and then worked for an MEP in Kent before a year working at LSE and then several years at the Australian High Commission in London as a locally engaged officer supporting diplomats. My time at the High Commission really got me interested in comparative political leadership. I was lucky enough to get a ESRC 1+3 studentship at Sussex with Paul Webb and Tim Bale looking at comparative prime ministerial power in the UK and Australia. After some associate lecturer posts at Sussex and UCL, I landed a lectureship at Canterbury Christ Church University, moving on to the University of Lincoln in 2018.

Which five books/articles (written by someone else) have been most important to you in your academic career?

Political Leadership by Jean Blondel first got me thinking about the topic. I was lucky enough to later meet with Jean after he took part in our ECPR joint sessions and delighted that he wrote a chapter for our book.

Political Leadership in Liberal Democracies by Robert Elgie introduced me to comparative research possibilities through the interactive approach.

The House of Commons by Emma Crewe was a revelation and got me interested in anthropological approaches to studying legislatures.

Paul ‘t Hart’s work has always been particularly influential as he gets readers to think about research ‘puzzles’ and Understanding Public Leadership has been a key teaching text for me.

Jim Walter’s biography of Gough Whitlam provides a real insight into political leadership and introduced me to political psychology in leadership studies.

Which people have been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

In no particular order: my Dad who passed away long before I started my academic career, but as a chemist he passed on his inquisitive mind; Lindsey for everything especially supporting my late career change; and Bea for questioning the way we older folk think about stuff. In academia: Larry Wilde who sadly passed away recently, Paul ‘t Hart, Jim Walter, Alix Kelso, Ben Worthy, Kevin Theakston, Paul Webb, Tim Bale, Dan Hough, David Bates, Frank Dabba Smith, Matt Flinders, Sarah Childs, Meg Russell, Andrew Defty, Anitha Sundari, Hugh and Cath Bochel.

Which of your own pieces of research are you most proud of?

Turning my PhD into a book Prime Ministers in Power. Completing the challenge of co-editing a book. To be honest just getting stuff published is something to be proud of.

What has been your greatest achievement in academia?

Becoming an academic is an achievement itself! Publishing a book. Gaining an academic fellowship in the House of Commons attached to the Liaison Committee and being around in Westminster during the turbulent Brexit years. Being awarding a contract to deliver Parliamentary Studies module at Canterbury Christ Church.

What has been your greatest disappointment in academia?

Numerous unsuccessful funding applications – so much effort for so little reward.

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

It’s all about relationships between parties, MPs, parliamentary staff, public, etc.

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I was born in the northwest London suburb of Queensbury, near Wembley. Went to the local comprehensive school. I now divide my time between High Barnet in North London and Lincoln.

What was your first job?

Packing frozen rabbits (lasted a week), then runner in the City, clearing cheques in the pre-digital era.

What was the toughest job you ever had?

See above – frozen rabbits. Working backstage on Panto at Nottingham Playhouse (oh yes I did!) was great fun, but 3 shows a day was exhausting. Screaming kids, hectic scene changes, early start and late finishes mopping the stage at midnight.

What  would your ideal job be, if not an academic?

Cricket commentator – travel the world, watch cricket, talk about it. Perfect.

What are your hobbies?

Used to be playing cricket, now just watching. Football – I share an Arsenal season ticket (lucky me this year!). Going to watch live music. I volunteer at the Roundhouse in Camden. Travel – India, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Canada, etc. etc. Hiking – have walked London to Brighton, round the Isle of Wight, and have completed 2 stages of the Pennine Way. Knees knackered though.

What are your favourite novels?

Taken to audiobooks in the last few years and best recent books I’ve listened to are Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart and Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan. Beekeeper of Aleppo and the Taliban Cricket Club deserve a mention. Mark Lanegan’s rock ‘n’ roll autobiography read by the author was a harrowing listen.

What is your favourite music?

Big Bowie fan and Low, Ziggy Stardust and Hunky Dory are my top 3 albums. Missed seeing The Clash but London Calling is still the best. Last 3 gigs were Kae Tempest, Ezra Furman and Fontaines DC – all brilliant. Nick Cave keeps getting better. Recently got into ambient classical such as Olafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm (great for working to). Thom Yorke’s new venture The Smile at Edinburgh Usher Hall – probably the best live gig I’ve seen for a long while.

What is your favourite artwork?

Blown away by Kusama at Tate Modern recently. As a kid I was fascinated by Dali’s Metamorphosis of Narcissus. My aunt’s Marching on Parliament abstract painting in our sitting room is a particularly favourite.

What is your favourite film?

Tough one. Kes is an amazing film and still Loach’s best. We did a school production of it, and I played the unfortunate lad who got caned for nothing.

What is your favourite building?

Big fan of the British Library, if you can get a seat to work. St Pancras station shows what can be done with great architecture and public spaces. Lord’s Cricket ground manages to blend old and new.

Favourite parliament –Reichstag Building in Berlin, the public space in the roof looking down on the proceedings is spectacular.

What is your favourite tv show?

Anything with Stephen Graham in.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Love the food and wine in Portugal. Landscape in Iceland. Vastness of Australia. Could go back to Berlin again and again. St Agnes in Cornwall is fab too.

What is your favourite sport?

Cricket and football. Played both, but never good enough. Honourable mentions to rugby union having travelled to watch England lose and synchronised (now artistic) swimming having watched my daughter in countless competitions.

What is your favourite restaurant?

Cant beat a really good fish restaurant or indeed fish fresh from the sea in Portugal.

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

Yes, please.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

Elected.

Restoration or Renewal?

Both.

Cat or Dog?

Dog.

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Trains – I’m always on them!

Fish and chips or Curry?

Fish and chips.

And, finally, two questions asked by Ira and Bernadette, who have just turned four: What’s your favourite colour and why? And have you ever had a pet?

Red – see my team above.

Dougie the dog who is 10 years old (see below).

Categories
Urgent Questions

Professor Emma Crewe

EMMA CREWE

Emma Crewe is Professor of Social Anthropology and Director of the  Global Research Network for Parliaments and People at SOAS University of London. Her most recent book is An Anthropology of Parliaments: Entanglements in Democratic Politics (Routledge). She is on the right in the above photo, visiting the Sao Paulo Legislative Assembly with Professor Cristiane Bernardes.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

I studied social anthropology at Edinburgh University. I fell in love with this discipline when I visited a village in Himachal Pradesh in 1984 as a 3rd year undergraduate to study inter-caste relations. Caste was horrifying but it was exciting to realise that everything I knew about the world growing up in London was culturally specific. I had to unlearn to learn anew.

For years I worked in international development NGOs, continually arguing that we needed to unlearn our assumptions about progress and expertise and be more honest about the politics of aid. But due to disillusionment with my own capacity to change mindsets and practices, I returned to academia in the early 1990s getting a job as a university lecturer.

A few years later, I jumped to researching Parliaments – first the House of Lords and then the House of Commons. I wrote ethnographies of both Houses, aiming to be provocatively sympathetic in recognition of the increasingly difficult work that politicians and parliamentary officials do. I’m shifting towards a more critical view now, because scholars need to do a job of scrutiny as well, but I’m also creating coalitions for comparative work across parliaments (ww.grnpp.org). My two current jobs are a perfect combination for me: a research professor in social anthropology at SOAS University of London and supervisor of PhDs in management at the University of Hertfordshire. My obsession for today is how to make collaboration work well both intellectually and ethically.

Which five books/articles have been most important to you in your academic career?

As an undergraduate Nature, Culture and Gender edited by Carol MacCormack and Marilyn Strathern helped me realise that not only is gender experienced differently across cultures, but so are most interesting aspects of our being in the world. During my PhD the book that changed the way I think was Pierre Bourdieu’s An Outline of a Theory of Practice. I did not really understand it, but he gave me a way of conceiving of social structures beyond individuals and seeing how inequality was continually being created at every turn. His theory was so compelling, I got stuck in a post-structural rigidity for years. My examiner, Jonathan Spencer, was a massive influence – his article Post-colonialism and the Political Imagination (and later his book Anthropology, Politics and the State) – freed me up to think more about history, emotion and performance. Chantel Mohanty’s Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses alerted me to the racism in much Western feminism but also scholarship more generally. It wasn’t until I worked with Ralph Stacey – who has written a range of books about complexity and management – that I began to understand the experience of structural constraint and individual freedom through the concept of paradox. Our colleague Chris Mowles summarises this theoretical approach beautifully in his book Managing in Uncertainty: Complexity and the paradoxes of everyday organizational life.

Which people have been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

Tony Good suggested that I apply for a PhD award under his supervision. I wouldn’t have dreamt of doing this in a million years if he hadn’t encouraged me. He was a brilliant supervisor. I liked to take arguments to the extreme and he kept pulling me back to a more honest position.

Which of your own pieces of research are you most proud of?

I like a passage where I copy Woody Allen’s film Annie Hall and provide the transcript of giving evidence to a select committee alongside an embarrassing narrative of the emotions I was feeling, and political tactics I remember calculating, as a witness during the session (the Anthropology of Parliaments, p.123).

What has been your greatest achievement in academia?

Learning to live with imposter syndrome.

What has been your greatest disappointment in academia?

Failing to entirely banish imposter syndrome.

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

What you can’t easily see is even more interesting that what is on public view.

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

Born in Cambridge, grew up in London, about to move to Hastings.

What was your first job?

A waitress in a hotel in Norfolk.

What was the toughest job you ever had?

Teaching undergraduate courses about branches of anthropology that I knew nothing about at all.

What  would your ideal job be, if not an academic?

A novelist if I had the talent, which I don’t.

What are your hobbies?

Chatting to my daughters in cafes and kitchens.

What are your favourite novels?

Hopeful Monsters, by Nicholas Moseley – it’s about love, political idealism, and history of the twentieth century. I read it as a student and it prepared me for life. Otherwise magical realism starting with Isabel Allende’s The House of Spirits.

What is your favourite music?

Playlists created by my two daughters. I can enjoy the music, but also enjoy the thought of my daughters enjoying the music.

What is your favourite artwork?

Rodin sculptures in his museum in Paris for their beauty.

What is your favourite film?

Nearly all films directed by the Coen brothers for their humour.

What is your favourite building?

I find it interesting looking at religious buildings that are like Russian dolls – a temple inside a mosque inside a church etc – even though they can have disturbing histories.

What is your favourite tv show?

The Wire – the most sociological box set I’ve ever seen.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Brancaster, North Norfolk, for the swimming, walks and mussels.

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

No thanks.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

Hybrid.

Restoration or Renewal?

Renewal.

Cat or Dog?

Cat in the house, dog outside.

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Trains.

Fish and chips or Curry?

Fish and chips in small towns, curry in the city.

Scones: Cornish or Devonshire method?

Cornish.

And, finally, a question asked by Ira and Bernadette, who have just turned four: What is your favourite letter of the alphabet and what’s your favourite number?

My favourites are Z and 5.

Categories
Urgent Questions

Professor Felicity Matthews

FELICITY MATTHEWS

Felicity Matthews is Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield and Director of the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership. Her research concerns the exercise of power in the policy process, and the relationships that exist between government, parliament and citizens. She completed a Parliamentary Academic Fellowship in 2018-19, working under the auspices of the House of Commons Petitions Committee.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

I kind of fell into academia. I was a bit rudderless as a teenager and didn’t really have any role models, being the first person in my family to go to uni and coming from a ‘low participation’ area. Growing up, I wanted to do something artsy such as being a graphic designer or illustrator, and was set to start an Art Foundation course after my A-levels. But I had a last minute change of heart, and ended up dropping out… and without enough ‘academic’ A-levels to get into university. So I ended up studying two A-levels condensed into an eight month (!) period: History, and Government and Politics. This was perhaps the most intensive year out ever – I was also working full-time alongside these compressed A-Levels – but I was inspired to study the subjects at university, and in the late 90s I arrived at to the University of Sheffield to study BA Modern History and Politics.

I loved it, and decided to train as a history teacher, duly embarking on a PGCE after my degree. Teaching sadly turned out to be the wrong choice for me at that time in my life, and instead I started working for a local housing association. But I’d stayed in touch with my undergraduate dissertation supervisor, Matt Flinders, who was encouraging me towards postgraduate study. And crucially, was able to explain to me the various funding options available. There was no way I could have undertaken further study without financial support, and I was incredible fortunate to be awarded a 1+3 scholarship from the University of Sheffield.

After this, things took a more conventional route: PhD, post-doc, post-doc, lectureship, lectureship, SL and then Professor in 2021. In recent years, I’ve moved towards university leadership and am currently the Director of the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership. It’s mad to think about how far I’ve come, as I can still remember calling my mum in tears from a phone box to say I’d dropped out of art school, but didn’t know what to do!

Which five books/articles have been most important to you in your academic career?

I’m meant to whittle this down to five? Okay…. And in no particular order…. Anthony King’s 1976 ‘Modes of Executive-Legislative Relations’; Isabel Hardman’s 2019 Why We Get the Wrong Politicians; Emma Crewe’s 2015 House of Commons: an anthropology of MPs at work; David Judge’s 2014 Democratic Incongruitie: Representative Democracy in Britain; and, Christopher Hood and Martin Lodge’s 2006 The Politics of Public Service Bargains: Reward, Competency, Loyalty – and Blame.

Which people have been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

I’ve been so fortunate to be supported by excellent colleagues who have generously shared some fantastic opportunities and have put their faith in me.  Foremost amongst these is Matt Flinders, who was my PhD supervisor, and has been a long-time friend.  Without Matt, I wouldn’t have an academic career, as he opened so many doors for me at the start.  More recently, the kindness and wisdom of past-and-present Sheffield colleagues including Nicola Phillips, Ruth Blakely, John Flint and Craig Watkins has been greatly valued as I’ve started to move into University leadership.  I’m learning from fantastic role models!

What has been your greatest achievement in academia?

Without doubt, being made Professor.  I went crazy and changed all of my bank cards the same day I found out!

What has been your greatest disappointment in academia?

There isn’t enough space to list, and we certainly do need more honesty about the disappointment to success ratio (I reckon about 10:1).  But my greatest disappointment was early on in my career when, after pouring my heart and soul into a new third year module, I got so-so student feedback accompanied by some unnecessarily personal (dare I say gendered) feedback.  Not much sleep that evening.  It’s really incumbent on all of us to think about how our actions and word affects others.

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

If you don’t like the way in which politics is done, do something about it.  Don’t grumble from the sidelines.

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I was born in Margate and moved when I was eight to a Fleetwood, which is a small fishing town near Blackpool.  I then moved to Sheffield at 19 to go to uni.  Since then, I’ve lived in various bits of Sheffield, had a couple of incursions into Leeds, a very enjoyable period in the Derbyshire Dales, and now live in Harrogate.

What was your first job?

Working on a cake stall on a local market.  I have a sweet tooth, so must confess to eating more stock than was defensible!

What was the toughest job you ever had?

Secondary school teacher.

What  would your ideal job be, if not an academic?

Architect, without a doubt.  I would love to design fantastic buildings whilst wearing funky glasses and black knitwear.

What are your hobbies?

I spend too much time knee-deep in yarn, as I love knitting and crochet.  It’s the ultimate destress!  Gardening too, as I love getting up close to nature.

What are your favourite novels?

Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia.  The BBC adaptation was broadcast when I was 13, and straight after the series I read the book.  It made such an impression on me as a bored and stifled teenager growing up in a small fishing town miles away from the action, and I love re-reading it now.

What is your favourite music?

Where to begin? In the interests of brevity stick with just one old-time favourite, which is Suede’s first album.  Massive memories of my youth, including seeing Suede live at Blackpool Empress Ballroom in 1995!

What is your favourite artwork?

‘Nocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge’ by James Abbot McNeill Whistler is one of my longstanding favourites.  That said, my tastes are generally more bright and graphic.  Give me anything by Keith Haring and I am happy!

What is your favourite film?

Definitely The Full Monty.  Everything about it is perfect, particularly its Sheffield-ness!

What is your favourite building?

Too many to list, but the Lloyds Building is probably my number one.  I saw it just after it opened when I was 7 or 8, and it was like something from space.  Completely path-breaking, a perfect representation of the 1980s City of London/Big Bang zeitgeist, and to me it remains fresh and exciting.

What is your favourite tv show?

The Great British Sewing Bee.  I never miss an episode!  Ditto Gardener’s World.

What is your favourite sport?

I sometimes get dragged to a local football match on Boxing Day.  I actually don’t like football (or any sport really…), but have fond memories of seeing Fleetwood Town FC with loved ones no longer with us.

What is your favourite food and restaurant?

Mmmmm pizza!  We have two pizza ovens at home (outdoors and indoors – all weather bases covered).  But nothing can beat Proove in Broomhill, Sheffield and Pizza Social in Harrogate.

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

Yes please, but in a way that is inclusive and ensures that people are not left behind.  This is a wider challenge related to hybrid, and I am concerned about the impact on careers for those who already face barriers to progression.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

Fixed-term appointment according to stringent criteria/vetting and with a strict limit on numbers.

Restoration or Renewal?

Full decant followed by a permanent move into a modern and inclusive space.

Cat or Dog?

Cats for now – I love my two ragdolls!  But a dog for retirement.  I’d love a Scottish Terrier, and always take the dog token if I am ever coerced into playing Monopoly.

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Trains. Let someone else take the strain of getting me from A to B!

Fish and chips or Curry?

Fish and chips are nice as an idea only.  Give me a good veggie curry any day of the week.

And, finally, a question asked by Ira and Bernadette, who have just turned four: What is your favourite animal and your favourite bird?

My favourite animal is a platypus.  I would love to see one in real life.  My favourite bird is a wood pigeon.  They’re bumbling and gentle, despite the ridiculous noise they make on take-off.

Categories
Urgent Questions

Dr Alexandra Meakin

ALEXANDRA MEAKIN

Alexandra Meakin is a Lecturer in British Politics at the University of Leeds. She won the 2020 Political Studies Association’s Walter Bagehot Prize for best dissertation in the field of government and public administration for her thesis Understanding the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster: A case study of institutional change in the UK Parliament. She is co-editor of the second edition of the Exploring Parliament textbook (Oxford University Press) and is the outgoing co-convenor of PSA Parliaments.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

It was a slightly roundabout journey. I had started working for my local MP during my undergraduate degree, and during a placement in his Westminster office as part of my MA, he offered me a job as a parliamentary researcher. I spent the next ten years working in or around Westminster until in 2015 I left London so my husband and I could move closer to his family in the north. I worked for a while for an MP in Sheffield and then in the Department of Politics at the University of Sheffield before I was lucky enough to be awarded funding for a PhD at the same department. After my viva (and some maternity leave) I had a postdoc year with the brilliant Louise Thompson on her fantastic Small Parties in the UK Parliament ESRC project before being appointed as a lecturer at the University of Leeds in 2021, which is an absolute dream.

Which five books/articles (written by someone else) have been most important to you in your academic career?

This is such a fun question! I’m very worried I’ve missed out something incredibly important, but here you go:

1) Marc Geddes “Dramas at Westminster”. It was actually Marc’s PhD thesis, on which this book was based, which had a huge impact on going into academia. I met Marc when we worked together for the same select committee in the Commons, when he was on his PSA placement, and it made me think seriously about a PhD on Parliament…

2) Emma Crewe “The House of Commons: An Anthropology of MPs at Work”. There’s an ethnographic theme here! All Emma’s work within Westminster is essential for anyone studying (or working within!) the UK Parliament.

3) Lord Norton “Power behind the Scenes: The Importance of Informal Space in Legislatures” in Parliamentary Affairs. Hard to pick just one from Lord Norton, but this helped me rethink the use of space and importance of design.

4) David Judge and Cristina Leston-Bandeira ‘The Institutional Representation of Parliament’ in Political Studies. This is a vital work to understand the role of parliamentary staff.

5) ) Sarah Childs ‘The Good Parliament’. A report, rather than an article, but the result of brilliant fieldwork which also challenges me constantly to think about the purpose of my research and the role of an academic.

Which person has been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

So many people. I am utterly convinced that the old stereotype of an academic as a solitary genius is massively out-of-date (if it was ever true) and that any academic career is due in equal parts to huge amounts of luck and support. For me, all my colleagues in the PSA Parliaments group have been an amazing help on so many levels and it was through the group I met Louise Thompson and Cristina Leston-Bandeira, without whom there is absolutely no way I’d be doing this job. They’re the total heroes of legislative studies and my academic mum role models. When I had finished my PhD and went on maternity leave both Louise and Cristina offered me the most incredible support and guidance—and my post-PhD jobs are totally due to this help. I could not be more indebted or grateful to them.

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

That 95% of MPs—even if you disagree with their views—are incredibly committed to public service and do an utterly thankless job.

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I was born in Plymouth, grew up in Reading, moved to Sheffield at 18 for university and after a decade in north London, moved back to Yorkshire seven years ago.

What was your first job?

Leaflet delivering with my twin, maybe age 12? (a bit older than in the attached photo, anyway!) We soon moved to daily newspaper rounds and then when we turned 16 I got a job at Burger King with my twin working at McDonalds on the very same street.

What was the toughest job you ever had?

MP constituency caseworker. Absolutely brutal.

What would your ideal job be, if not an academic?

Honestly, I think I’m doing it already.

What are your hobbies?

Running. Exploring the Peak District. Trekking round the north to watch Reading FC inevitably lose in dismal fashion. Watching a truly ridiculous amount of other sport. Chasing round after my very active toddler and my much less active elderly greyhound.

What are your favourite novels?

Brick Lane by Monica Ali – I’ve reread this multiple times every year over the last two decades and always get something new from it.

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo — the greatest thing I’ve read in the last few years.

What is your favourite building?

I spend a lot of my time writing about the Palace of Westminster so I better answer that!

What is your favourite tv show?

This is going to sound terrible but I almost only watch sport. But when I’m sick the ultimate comfort TV is The West Wing (it’s totally flawed and yet I still love it).

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Pre-baby it was Boston, Massachusetts in autumn. Go for runs along the Charles, buy stacks of second-hand books in Cambridge, watch as many Red Sox and Patriots games as possible. Now, the pure joy of seeing my daughter by the seaside is even better. We went to Northumberland this year and it was incredible.

What is your favourite sport?

Football, cricket, and athletics. Plus baseball and NFL and a summer Olympics obsession. This is why I have so little time for TV or films!

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

Yes, absolutely. If you care about representation you can’t dismiss the huge benefits for people living with disabilities or caring responsibilities.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

I used to support the latter, now would be happy with a mix. But the current size and composition is unsustainable.

Restoration or Renewal?

Both, but really, just do something before it burns down.

Cat or Dog?

Dog, always. Here’s Maddy, who plays a starring role in my lectures.

Maddy; a greyhound.

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Trains. My rail geekery was only exacerbated by a year working for the Transport Select Committee.

Fish and chips or Curry?

Fish and chips, eaten on the beach.

Scones: Cornish or Devonshire method?

Devonshire! Except I skip the jam and just pile on even more cream.

And, finally, a question asked by Ira and Bernadette, who have just turned four and who have replaced Seth who is now ten and who is too old for this nonsense: What is your favourite dinosaur and why?

Hi Ira and Bernadette! What an honour to answer your question. My daughter is not quite at dinosaur age yet, but my nephews have taught me a lot about this so in a shout out to their fave, I’ll say an allosaurus.

Categories
Urgent Questions

Professor Diana Stirbu

DIANA STIRBU

Diana Stirbu is Professor of Public Policy & Governance at London Metropolitan University. She is perhaps best known for her work on the Welsh Parliament / Senedd Cymru and has recently completed an Academic Fellowship there, conducting research into measuring the effectiveness of the committee system.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

I would say that it all started with a rather radical career change for me: from being a computer programmer in a nuclear power station in Romania to becoming passionate about parliaments, public administration, and political science research. In 2003 I won an EU scholarship to study a master’s degree in the UK (University of Liverpool). That then led to a PhD and to my first job as a researcher at the Hansard Society’s Parliament and Government programme and eventually to my first academic job at London Metropolitan University in 2010. Here at London met, I have taught in the Politics and IR programme at first, the Master of Public Administration and, in 2019, I was promoted to professorship.

Which five books/articles (written by someone else) have been most important to you in your academic career?

Richard Rawlings ‘Delineating Wales. Constitutional, Legal and Administrative Aspects of National Devolution’ was instrumental in the early stages of my PhD.

Robert E. Goodin ‘The Theory of Institutional Design’ and B. Guy Peters ‘Institutional Theory in Political Science’ have shaped my interest in institutionalism, a perspective that has driven a lot of my research.

Vicky Randall ‘Women in Politics’ opened up a whole new field and standpoint in political research.

Michael Marinetto ‘Studies of the Policy Process’ was my go to textbook in the first years of teaching career.

Which person has been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

Professor Laura McAllister (at Cardiff University now) was the most influential for my academic career. Not only did she facilitate my first research placement (and first encounter with) the Welsh Parliament during my master, she supported me throughout my PhD as my supervisor and shaped me into the academic that I have become. I really appreciated Laura’s ability to engage with such a wide range of policy actors (from sports, to gender and equality in government, to constitutional design and offering advice to parliaments), and I am ever so grateful for involving me in many projects as a doctoral student. In a sense, my interest in research impact, my outreach work outside academia has been shaped by her.

Which of your own pieces of research are you most proud of?

Can I choose two? I think I am most proud of my first ever joint article with Laura McAllister, published in Policy & Politics in 2007, when I was still doing my PhD. The other work I am quite proud of is my Fellowship report to the Welsh Parliament (the Senedd) about the effectiveness of the Senedd Committees. I am proud of that because I managed to engage meaningfully with officials and politicians in the Senedd.

What has been your greatest achievement in academia?

Being promoted to Professor.

What has been your greatest disappointment in academia?

Every article rejection of grant proposal rejection feels like the greatest disappointment. It’s tough.

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

I don’t get to teach an awful lot about parliaments, but when I do get the chance, I tell them they are the most fascinating public sector organisations.

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I was born in eastern part of Romania and grew up in a small town in the south-east of the country, by the river Danube. I now live in East London.

What was your first job?

Research Assistant in the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Romania.

What was the toughest job you ever had?

The summer jobs in one of my mum’s grocery stores, during my high school and university years. It was exhausting but also kind of exciting and got to meet so many people.

What  would your ideal job be, if not an academic?

Probably something to do with gardening or coaching football.

What are your hobbies?

Photography and alternative processes in photography. I used to be an active member of a studio in East London and learnt how to do lith printing and cyanotypes. So much fun experimenting with different processes and materials in photography.

What are your favourite novels?

Over the years I have had so many favourites. I am still under the spell of  Bernardine Evaristo’s ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ , although I read this a couple of years ago– it was so powerful, so vibrant, such captivating story-telling. More recently, I have loved Mieko Kawakami’s ‘Breasts and Eggs’ – such a literary celebration of womanhood.

What is your favourite music?

Too many to mention here, but let’s try. I work out (including the ultra-rare dancing night out) on electronic music (anything Jon Hopkins, Nicolas Jaar, Moderat, etc). Sunday mornings are jazzy or Brazilian bossa nova. The latest amazing concert I have been to was Marisa Monte (a Brazilian grandee). When I need to concentrate and write, I prefer classical music. One of my favourite bands is The Doors. And yes, my latest guilty pleasure is cooking on Harry Styles tunes.

What is your favourite artwork?

I love Yayoi Kusama’s art. The Kusama: Infinity (2018) documentary was a great one about her evolution as an artist.

What is your favourite film?

Again, too many to mention, but the latest one I have seen and left me quite amazed was Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. I mean, you can’t have a better film coming out of this pandemic.

What is your favourite building?

The Welsh Parliament building (The Senedd) in Cardiff Bay is an absolute masterpiece. It’s not only about the architectural merits of the building, but the symbolism of it: the openness, the transparency and the way it uses Welsh sourced slate for instance to make a compelling story of Wales’ democracy.

What is your favourite tv show?

It has to be Parks and Recreation. I mean, a TV series about local government, with Joe Biden featuring multiple times in it. And the whole dynamic between Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson… it’s just so good.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Brazil, Japan, Portugal, Romania. I love Brazil and its energy and complexity. Portugal and Romania feel like home. Japan is just so beautiful and different and has the best food in the world.

What is your favourite sport?

I used to play football. I love football, but I get annoyed by the exploitative and discriminatory nature of the industry surrounding it. I am so glad that women’s football is getting more profile though. I also played and love watching tennis.

What is your favourite restaurant?

In London: Monohom Ramen in Old Street. It’s a small Japanese ramen restaurant, and yes, ramen is one of my favourite foods.

In Portugal / Porto: Capa Negra restaurant serves the best Francesinha, a Porto specific dish that is an absolute calorie bomb.

I also love (of course) Romanian food. My grandmother was an amazing cook and  I remember fondly the taste of my favourite things cooked by her (sarmale – stuffed vine leaves or cabbage leaves with mince meat, rice and lots of herbs; chicken/duck cooked in a pot with lots of garlic, herbs and home made tomato sauce; garlic green beans stew). Never quite get the same taste in restaurants though.

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

Yes, please, if and when needed. No need for parliament to be stuck in old ways when all other industries and workplaces are adapting to new ways of working.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

Elected and representing regions.

Restoration or Renewal?

Both.

Cat or Dog?

Dog.

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Trains.

Fish and chips or Curry?

Curry – but needs to be a good curry.

And, finally, a question asked by Seth, who has just turned 10: Would you rather never wear shoes or never wear a hat for the rest of your life?

Pragmatic answer would be never wear a hat.