PSA Parliaments 2021 Annual Conference

The impact of Covid-19 has led to the re-organisation of the work of parliaments in a very short space of time, sometimes overthrowing – or at least suspending – centuries of tradition. This process has thrown into sharp relief the purpose and effectiveness of hitherto existing practices and procedures that, in turn, perhaps raise questions about what parliamentarians should return to once the current crisis is over.

We are also living during a time when there is considerable concern about democratic backsliding around the world with parliaments and parliamentarians often being criticised, side-lined, undermined and, in some instances, violently attacked.

It is in response to these contexts that our theme for this year’s annual conference is Parliament at a Critical Juncture.

Conference Timetable (all times GMT)

9.30: Welcome

9.45: Panel 1: Representatives & Representation

• Akirav Osnat - The intersectional representation of Arab legislators in the Israeli parliament
• Anna Boching-Welch, Richard Huzzey, Cristina Leston-Bandeira and Henry Miller - What does petitioning in the 20th century show us about the relationship between people and parliament?
• Alex Prior - The reinforcement and disruption of the UK’s parliamentary narratives through new visual cues
• Wang Leung Ting - You are unmuted: The impact of virtual arrangements on legislators’ participation during the COVID pandemic
• Mette Marie Stæhr Harder and Hallbera West - Controlling at Home from Abroad? Faroese and Greenlandic Representatives in the Danish Parliament

11.15: Break

11.30: Panel 2: Accountability & Transparency in Parliaments

• Mouli Banerjee - Performing neutrality: the Speaker of an Indian parliament in crisis
• Chris Monaghan - Whatever happened to impeachment in the UK? Accountability, history and the decline of parliamentary impeachment
• Ben Worthy and Cat Morgan - Does being watched make MPs behave better?
• Ndirangu Ngunjiri - Innovative practices in legislative oversight and research in the fight against corruption

13.00: Lunch

14.00: Panel 3: Power(lessness), Practices & Conventions

• Zoe Oliver-Watts - Myanmar’s parliament and the coup
• Amjed Pervez Malik - Parliamentary sovereignty in Pakistan: A losing game
• Luai Allarakia - The Kuwaiti National Assembly: Fighting for relevance in a time of crisis
• Leah Rea - “Tread carefully”: the UK Parliament as a human rights “defender” within the Northern Ireland devolution framework
• Francesco Bromo - The impact of the emergence of the confidence principle on governments and legislatures: the case of Italy

15.30: Social

16.30: Finish