Parliamentary Studies

Description

Overview: Parliaments are paradoxical political institutions: on the one hand they are deeply distrusted by the people they are supposed to represent; on the other they are deemed to be central to the legitimation of liberal democratic states and public policy outputs. This class examines this paradox, along with the claim that ‘parliaments matter’. In a multi-level system of governance such as the UK the study of parliamentary institutions necessarily entails analysis of the Scottish parliament and the European parliament alongside Westminster. The class has not only a distinctive academic focus – in taking a specific type of political institution and then analysing that institution in a matrix of normative and empirical theories and comparative investigation – but also a distinctive mode of delivery. It is co-taught with staff from the UK Parliament and the Scottish Parliament. While the form this takes varies year to year, past classes have included a number of Clerks (senior officials) of the House of Commons providing first hand insights into the workings of the Westminster Parliament. The activities of the Scottish Parliament will be analysed during the course of an extended session at Holyrood. In this manner the academic study of legislatures is linked with the practical world of decision-making in representative institutions. Syllabus: The teaching methods will combine a mix of foundational lectures and face-to-face interactive discussion sessions with academic staff and practitioners (including a visit to the Scottish Parliament). The first two sessions will be scene-setting lectures introducing the concepts and analytical perspectives to be used to structure the deliberations of later sessions. The research skills and methods associated with the class and the opportunities for accessing appropriate research resources will be discussed. Thereafter three sessions coordinated by the class convenors will examine: i) institutional and individual roles; ii) processes of decision and organisational imperatives; and iii) parliaments at multi-levels. These will be interactive sessions, with small group deliberation, Socratic exchanges and in-depth analysis of key readings and official documents. Interspersed with the ‘academic’ sessions will be four further sessions involving the direct participation of officials from the UK and Scottish parliaments. These sessions will examine: the legislative process at Westminster; the role and reform of the select committees of the House of Commons; the organisation of the Scottish Parliament; and the interconnection of parliaments at the UK and the European levels. These sessions will be moderated by the class convenors and are designed to encourage students to make the connections between academic theories and perspectives and the experience and insights provided by practitioners. Learning Outcomes: Learning objectives On completion of the class students will be able to: • understand the paradoxes and challenges facing representative institutions. • analyse and assess conflicting academic assessments of the role of legislatures. • demonstrate knowledge of the procedures, processes and organisational structures of parliaments in the UK. • utilize parliamentary websites, data sources, records of official proceedings, and official reports for research purposes. • critically engage with parliamentary officials and members of legislatures to demonstrate appropriate communication and presentational skills. • locate the practical operations of UK legislatures within the broader conceptual frame of representative democracy. Learning outcomes On completion of the class students will have developed: • Organisational skills through the sustained tracking of committee activity and working to deadlines in producing summaries/reports. • Skills in the collation of data (both qualitative and quantitative) • Communication skills developed through interacting with professional staff and members of parliament(s). • Deliberative skills developed individually Assessment: Assessment is by coursework and written examination. Coursework weighting: 50 per cent Examination weighting: 50 per cent There are two elements of coursework i) A monitoring exercise of MPs’ twitter accounts (10 per cent of final mark) ii) A coursework project (40 per cent of final mark) Monitoring exercise An assessment of the types of MP and the roles they perform based on the monitoring of Twitter (20 tweets for two Scottish MPs). Full details and guidance on the coursework monitoring exercise is provided on Myplace. Coursework Project An individual project (of 2500 words), in the form of a report, on the operation of the UK e-petitioning system in its first year (from the introduction of the House of Commons’ Petitions Committee in July 2015 until July 2016). Full details and guidance on the coursework project is provided on Myplace.