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Contributing to the first full-scale review of Lords scrutiny committees in a quarter-century

Dr Brigid Fowler discusses the Hansard Society’s evidence to the House of Lords Liaison Committee’s review of Lords scrutiny committees.

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Divisions in the Select Committee on Exiting the European Union

Philip Lynch and Richard Whitaker discuss the work of the House of Commons Select Committee on Exiting the European Union, and its current split on the issue of hard or soft Brexit.

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1979 and all that: an alternative view of select committee reform

Dr Philip Aylett, House of Commons Clerk, discusses his doctoral research on select committees in the 1960s and 70s.

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Revisiting Tony King’s analysis shows just how much parliament has changed

Meg Russell and Philip Cowley discuss Anthony King’s seminal 1976 article ‘Modes of executive–legislative relations: Great Britain, France and West Germany’.

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“Living this written life”: Early impressions from a fieldwork study of parliamentary engagement through narrative

In the latest blog from our Legislatures in Uncertain Times conference, Alex Prior (University of Leeds) discusses the use of ‘narrative’ as a means of strengthening parliamentary engagement.

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Events News

Call for Papers: Committees in Comparative Perspective

The PSA Parliaments Group is pleased to share a Call for Papers from the Birmingham-Illinois Partnership for Discovery, Engagement and Education (BRIDGE). 

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Post-Legislative Scrutiny: The Case of the Freedom of Information Act 2000

This week marks thirteen years since the full provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 came into force on 1 January 2005. In a new blog, based on his paper at our Legislatures in Uncertain Times conference, Tom Caygill (Newcastle University) examines the post-legislative scrutiny of the Act, carried out by the House of Commons Justice Select Committee in 2012.

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Everyone loves select committees these days. But have they really changed?

The Wright reforms have been widely credited with reinvigorating select committees. In a blog originally published by Democratic AuditStephen Bates, Mark Goodwin (University of Birmingham) and Steve McKay (University of Lincoln) take issue with this assumption. They found the reforms have made little or no difference to MP turnover and attendance, which are driven by the parliamentary cycle. When MPs are jostling for payroll vote positions and trying to keep up with constituency duties and votes in the Chamber, select committees are likely to suffer.

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Smile or smirk? Why non-verbal behaviour matters in parliamentary select committees

When witnesses appear before select committees, Hansard records their words – but not their expressions. In a blog originally posted on Democratic AuditCheryl Schonhardt-Bailey (LSE), analysed nonverbal behaviour in 12 economic policy committee hearings, including some in which George Osborne gave evidence. In some of the hearings with Osborne, he appears to be smirking; in others, his smiles appear genuine. She argues that gestures, expressions and tone may be pivotal in whether a policymaker’s arguments are accepted.

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Legislation at Westminster – and how parliament matters more than many people think

The Westminster parliament is famous throughout the world, but often presented as relatively non-influential when it comes to making the law. Meg Russell and Daniel Gover‘s new book Legislation at Westminster is the most detailed study of the British legislative process for over 40 years, and challenges these assumptions. In a blog originally posted on the Constitution Unit, the authors summarise their findings on how different groups of actors at Westminster exercise subtle and interconnected influence, contributing to what they dub ‘six faces of parliamentary power’.