Global Challenges and Opportunities for Parliamentary Public Engagement during the Covid-19 Crisis

Abstract

During the Covid-19 crisis, parliamentarians and parliamentary staff faced a novel combi­nation of challenges to their existing functions . In responding to the Covid-19 crisis, parlia­ments were forced to re-examine their political and democratic roles, and in many cases restricted themselves to a small number of ‘core functions’ . Drawing on interviews and focus group undertaken for the third Global Parliamentary Report by the Inter-Parliamen­tary Union and the United Nations Development Programme, different approaches to public engagement by parliaments are assembled and their challenges and opportunities discussed . It shows that public engagement was side-lined in many parliaments while it was maintained or even received renewed attention in a few . This is especially true when it comes to procedural digital innovation and to outreach activities in remote areas and dias­pora communities . Thus the pandemic did accelerate changes that were already underway in some parliaments . It also showed the need for a renewed focus on parliamentary engage­ment not only in the crisis but also beyond .