Acts Of Parliament Research Articles

Bringing research into policy: understanding context-specific requirements for productive knowledge brokering in legislatures

Background: Knowledge brokering is suggested as an instrument to improve productive use of research in policy organisations. Previous research asserted that research utilisation is dependent on dynamics of knowledge exchange in institutional settings, but these claims have not received substantial empirical attention (Saarela et al, 2015; Akerlof et al, 2019; MacKillop et al, 2020). Viewing knowledge brokering as the involved role, three specific challenges are identified: high legitimacy requirements for the brokered knowledge and the broker; the need to cater for a wide range of topics, audiences and uses; and the need to compete with other evidence suppliers. Aims and objectives: The research question of the article is: how do legislative knowledge brokers navigate context-specific knowledge transfer challenges presented by their institutional context? Methods: An in-depth interpretive case study of the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. The analysis includes interviews with parliamentary actors, shadowing and participant observation. Findings: The results substantiate the challenges of legislative knowledge brokering in the UK context and inductively identify a further challenge of demonstrating impact. Legislative knowledge brokers employ multiple strategies to navigate the challenges: co-shape and adhere to the norms of impartiality, mobilise external expertise, collaborate with in-house and external research support actors, employ anticipation techniques, build broker chains, seek understanding of own role and impact. Discussion and conclusion: The article contributes to the understanding of knowledge brokering as a context-dependent role. The conclusions discuss influence of knowledge brokers’ work remit and positionality in deploying strategies to overcome the legislative challenges.

Media representation of members of parliament in Egypt: A reality of gender imbalance

AbstractThis study joins recent studies that explore the meanings of the political representation of women resulting from a gender quota, through examination of their media representation. Drawing on studies on gendered mediation and women's political representation and using a content analysis method, we examine the quantity and the quality of gender media representation of Egyptian members of parliament. The findings show a nuanced picture in which the media simultaneously propagates a conservative perspective alongside progressive and egalitarian ones. Female representatives receive less media coverage and are associated with feminine topics in a way that reproduces the gender hierarchical masculine/feminine and private/public distinction within the political sphere. Nevertheless, this biased coverage coexists with an empowering representation whereby women are more heard than seen and associated with core parliamentary activities. We conclude by addressing the potential and limits of this representation, which may alter perceptions regarding women's political participation under authoritarianism.

Prospects and challenges for parliamentarism in the conditions of the development of digital constitutionalism

The purpose of the article is to carry out a multi-faceted analysis of the dynamics of the development of parliamentarism and digital constitutionalism, to identify possible challenges and threats, as well as prospects for parliaments and parliamentary activity in the conditions of the spread of modern digital (electronic) technologies. Approaches to understanding and defining the phenomena of «parliamentarism», «constitutionalism», «digital constitutionalism», some of their modifications and features are highlighted, their multifaceted nature, transformation in the conditions of modern progressive digital development, electronic democracy is emphasized. Crisis and conflict events have largely become challenges for parliaments and parliamentary activity, as well as digitalization and digitization processes and tools. It is important that parliamentary institutions of various levels (national, supranational, inter-parliamentary associations, their auxiliary bodies and services) contribute to the development and regulation of these processes, using advanced and effective digital technologies tested in practice. The «Digital Compass» for the EU Digital Decade (2030), the concept of digital sovereignty, the adopted charters of digital rights (Catalan, Nice), the Law on Digital Markets, the Law on Digital Services, the Law on Artificial Intelligence, the Declaration on European Digital Rights and Principles should be singled out. (2022), «World e-Parliament Report» of the IPU, the concept of e-democracy of the European Parliament, the resolution on e-democracy of the PACE, recommendations on open government and electronic participation of citizens OECD. Thanks to this, new forms and tools for the implementation of existing human rights are introduced, as well as new digital rights are constituted (to access the Internet, to identity in the digital environment, to protection in the digital environment, non-discrimination, etc.). In the same way, the forms and methods of activity of parliaments are being modernized (expansion of platforms for online broadcasts of plenary and committee meetings, electronic (remote) voting, improvement of interactive websites with access to draft laws and other documents, and systems of electronic petitions and consultations with voters, electronic participation of citizens and public organizations in the legislative process). However, the development of digital parliamentarism and digital democracy is accompanied by numerous challenges (digital inequality, low digital literacy of members of parliaments and parliamentary services, cyber threats, material and financial costs etc.). This requires a thorough study of the issues raised, improvement of digital culture, improvement of parliamentary and non-parliamentary procedures, along with further development of technological infrastructure, cyber security protection of the components of digital parliamentarism.

Legislative drafting techniques as a means of giving effect to the rule of law. The case of Ukraine

Ukraine is currently carrying out some reforms recommended by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and by the European Commission (in order to become a Member State of the European Union), in order to strengthen democracy, the Rule of Law, human rights and protection of minorities. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that legislative drafting techniques are a means to give effect to the principle of the Rule of Law, when it comes to Ukraine; and to recommend that Ukraine improves the way its institutions draft/scrutinise bills, and adopts best practices from Europe. The methods of this article will be those of an analysis of constitutional law. The article will rely on the definition of the principle of the Rule of Law (given by A.V. Dicey and developed by Lord Bingham) and the idea that legislative drafting techniques can be seen as a means to give effect to such a principle. The Ukrainian current constitutional context (viz., the impossibility of amending its Constitution under martial law, due to Article 157 of the Constitution of Ukraine) will be considered. Some pieces of Ukrainian legislation will be analysed in the light of the Venice Commission’s recommendations. Some of the main legislative drafting techniques and their aims, in the light of the best practices from Europe, will also be analysed. The results of the article will set out that in such a current constitutional context, where the recommended reforms can be implemented only by Acts of Parliament (although some amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution would be appropriate), in Ukraine the quality of primary legislation becomes crucial to give effect to the Rule of Law. Therefore, the scientific novelty of the article will be to test general concepts with regards to the exceptional constitutional circumstances of Ukraine. The conclusions, thus, is that Ukrainian institutions (such as the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the President of the Republic of Ukraine) should improve the way they draft/scrutinise bills, adopting best practices from Europe, in order to improve the quality of primary legislation and, thus, to give effect to the principle of the Rule of Law.

Collateral damage: the emotional and material costs of political commitment for the followers of Mazzini and Garibaldi

ABSTRACT This article aims to cast light on the backstage of total militancy in the case of the followers of Mazzini and Garibaldi during the Risorgimento and post-Risorgimento. Political engagement is an existential commitment to a cause either in undercover conspiracy networks or in openly volunteering to fight all the way through to parliamentary activity that carries emotional and material costs. These costs can best be approached through the now rich scholarly literature on political emotions and exile, and the still under-investigated collateral effects of nineteenth-century patriotism that can be recovered from the study of the correspondence of families and friends and ego-documents. From Mazzini’s most intimate confessions to the choices made by Giovine Italia’s local leaders or by Garibaldi’s officers on the battlefield or even in the parliamentary arena, the impact of politics on the private horizon reveals the multiple layers of gain and loss, of expectation and disappointment, playing an unavoidable role in the lives of so many Italian men and women. The selected cases illustrate how disruptive political engagement proved to be when it entered the private sphere in the shape of risk, absence or punishment, and yet how fulfilling it was when it offered the ultimate reason for people leaving behind their loved ones and their professional status.

Interpreting parliaments, but how?: Centring parliamentary actors and settings in ethnographic design and practice

Do researchers that use ethnographic methods study parliaments and parliamentary actors in the same way? While parliamentary ethnography is a growing research methodology to study political phenomena, such as informality, political behaviour and interpretations of parliamentary work, less is said about how access to sites and actors may affect analytical foci, strategies and outcomes. This neglects the complexity of parliamentary organisation and distinctive practices of parliamentary actors. We draw attention to this complexity to investigate how different levels and types of access to parliaments, and actors therein, affect ethnographic research. We reflect on this issue through four themes: (1) entry and access, (2) adapting to organisational rhythms, (3) ethnographic capital of researchers and (4) analysis and publication of findings. We argue that there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way of undertaking ethnographies of parliaments, but emphasise that researchers must explicitly reflect on how their particular strategies may shape ethnographic research on parliaments.

From fringe to front? Assessing the voting influence of the radical right in the European Parliament

Scholars have long believed that the influence of radical right parties in the European Parliament was indirect due to their internal heterogeneity, limited involvement in parliamentary activities, and the existence of a cordon sanitaire. However, the consolidation of these parties, marked by the Identity and Democracy group becoming the fourth largest group in 2019, raises concerns about their impact on European Union decision-making. This article seeks to understand the extent and conditions under which the radical right group in the European Parliament can influence policymaking. By analysing roll-call votes from the 9th term (2019 to 2024), we introduce a measure of voting influence, operationalised as the ability of a party group to sway the outcome of a vote in plenary. Our analysis reveals that while the radical right group frequently joins winning majorities in the European Parliament, its voting influence remains limited because of the low levels of conflict in plenary.

Automatic transcription system for parliamentary debates in the context of assembly of the republic of Portugal

The transcription of parliamentary proceedings is essential for democratic governance. Traditional methods are manual and time-consuming. This work introduces an Automatic Transcription System for the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal (STAAR) that uses an automatic speech recognition model and speaker diarization technologies. STAAR was developed after analyzing existing technologies and the Assembly’s specific needs, leading to an effective solution that integrates with current processes. STAAR stands out for its efficiency in transcribing debates and adapting to parliamentary language nuances. It significantly exceeded expectations by presenting a low transcription error rate, ranging from 1.7 to 11.3%, depending on the context and speech style, reducing the time required to produce the official parliamentary debates journal, and improving overall transcription efficiency. Additionally, STAAR enabled the transcription of previously undocumented parliamentary committee meetings, enhancing the documentation of parliamentary activities. This achievement marks a significant step in modernizing parliamentary processes, increasing transparency and accessibility of political information, and positions the Portuguese Parliament at the forefront of technological innovation in parliamentary debates transcription.

Quiet early bird or loud late riser? Parliamentary activities and types of European Parliament involvement during the negotiation of international agreements

ABSTRACT This paper inductively distinguishes six types of European Parliament (EP) involvement in the negotiation of international agreements. Since 2009, the EP has veto power on international agreements and has leveraged it through various activities such as resolutions. However, there exists no cross-case characterization of the EP’s involvement. Therefore, this paper asks: what are the types of EP involvement during the negotiation of international agreements? To systematically compare the nature, frequency and timing of EP activities, sequence analysis is applied to a dataset of EP activities relative to the 344 agreements concluded since 2009. For a majority of agreements, the EP acts as a ‘bystander’ and does not conduct any activities. When it does conduct activities, the EP most frequently acts as a ‘loud late riser’ and is active only during the ratification stage. For other agreements, EP involvement is very diverse regarding the timing and frequency of activities.

THE SETAs AND S-SYSTEM SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA AND BRAZIL: A TRANSFORMATIVE SOCIAL POLICY PERSPECTIVE

Relevance. The African Union declared 2024 the Year of Education, Educating an African Fit for the 21st Century and the Agenda 2063 aspiration seeks to catalyse an education and skills revolution for Africa’s industrialisation. This places Technical and Vocational Education and Training at the centre in skills development on the continent. As part of their endogenous initiatives at improving skills, knowledge and abilities desired for work and enhance industrial competitiveness South Africa and Brazil instituted the SETAs system and the S-System, respectively aimed at skills formation and human capital development. Aim. The two BRICS countries of South Africa and Brazil, through Acts of Parliament, institutionalised skills development programs which had seen them emerge as leading economies on their respective continents. What key lessons can be drawn for other African countries in their quest for industrialisation in the AU Year of the Year of Education to foster the relevant and competitive skills needed for the 21st century. Methods. The case studies of the S-system of Brazil and the SETAs system of South Africa are presented using a case study approach. Examining the SETAs and S-systems using a Transformative Social Policy framework, the paper adopts a case study approach seeks to answer the following questions: (1) what kind of institutional linkages and coordination between industry/business and skills/education training institutions need to be in place for adequate and appropriate human capital formation in Africa? (2) what are the appropriate funding mechanisms for human capital development suitable for African countries to adopt? (3) What coordination and facilitating role should be adopted by states in African countries to facilitate industry/training institutional linkages? Results and conclusions. Key finding indicates that while the SETAs in South Africa are widely recognised by employers and give holders a big advantage in securing employment, TVET-market coordination, regional coordination for area-specific industrialisation and appropriate skills funding mechanism are key for competitive skills development and provide practical and policy lessons for African governments.

Regionalisation under occupation: Western Saharan parliamentary elites and the Moroccan regionalisation strategy (2011–16)

ABSTRACT This article explores the role played by the Members of Parliament elected from the constituencies of Western Sahara in 2011 in the occupation strategies employed by the Moroccan state in this territory. The analysis begins at a time when territorial power was being redefined in Morocco, after the Moroccan proposal for an Advanced Autonomy Plan (2007) as a form of conflict resolution and the subsequent creation of institutions to address regionalisation (2010–11) and covers the entire parliamentary process. The paper examines three analytical dimensions – elections, political culture and parliamentary activity – in order to explain the development of identification processes.

Comparing evidence use in parliaments: the interplay of beliefs, traditions, and practices in the UK and Germany

Abstract This article draws on rich qualitative data from two national parliaments—the UK House of Commons and the German Bundestag—to examine knowledge practices in political institutions. This is an important topic, not only because parliaments play a significant role in democratic decision-making, but because it sheds light on debates about how such decision-making is based on and interacts with knowledge and evidence. By adopting an interpretive analytical approach, I analyze the ways in which those practices are shaped by the beliefs and values of parliamentary actors. Indeed, in better understanding everyday practices, beliefs, and ideational traditions, it also contributes to better explaining how components of political and parliamentary cultures contribute to knowledge use more broadly. In the House of Commons, MPs draw on a highly trusted and independent parliamentary administration; meanwhile, committees have become fruitful avenues for MPs to develop policy expertise and engage with knowledge and evidence in a non-partisan way. In the German Bundestag, MPs also develop policy expertise—in fact, they interpret their role as specialists in a “working” parliament—but their knowledge practices are more openly partisan through the structuring role of parliamentary party groups and the skepticism of “neutral” advice from research services. Consequently, committees tend to be sites of political bargaining and conflict, rather than evidence-gathering. In both cases, parliaments’ knowledge practices are shaped by wider webs of beliefs about the role of MPs within the institutions. This suggests that knowledge use in political and policy settings is shaped by broader cultural factors.

Are women politicians outperformed by men? The impact of gender on legislative activity in Japan

AbstractObjectivesGiven the distinct political landscape of Japan, this study aims to explore the impact of gender on the parliamentary behavior of Japanese legislators.MethodsUtilizing a self‐constructed data set covering the 44th–48th Diets (2005–2021), this study examines the individual‐level parliamentary activities of male and female legislators in Japan. Key metrics analyzed include the frequency of speeches delivered in both plenary and committee sessions, alongside the submission of memorandums to the Diet.ResultsThe findings indicate that on the whole, gender exerts only a minimal effect on parliamentary activities. However, upon closer examination of members belonging to opposition parties during specific time periods, female legislators emerge as more active in terms of questioning and memorandum submission compared to their male counterparts.ConclusionThis study unveils a noteworthy trend wherein women legislators in Japan demonstrate equal or greater engagement in parliamentary activities than their male counterparts. These findings underscore the importance of exploring gender dynamics within political systems beyond the Western sphere. Moreover, they emphasize the necessity for ongoing research into gender representation and participation within Japan's political arena.

Digitale Live-Öffentlichkeiten: Eine medienlinguistische Analyse von parlamentarischen Live-Tickern auf DerStandard.at

Abstract This paper adopts a media-linguistic perspective to explore how liveblogs, specifically ‘live tickers’, contribute to the formation of episodic publics during parliamentary debates and investigations. Using a dataset of 45,332 journalistic entries from the Austrian online medium DerStandard.at, the mixed-method study unpacks the complex, multimodal dynamics that emerge from the interplay between individual entries and their presentation on the news website. Liveblogs are found to enable users to regularly track parliamentary activities, thereby reflecting the episodic structure of the event and emphasizing an impression of immediacy and collective experience. Importantly, liveblogs demonstrate a strong connection to current events, constantly updating themes and anticipating future developments. Furthermore, this study sheds light on the active engagement of users who are interested not only in the outcomes of parliamentary debates or inquiries but their entire progression. The observed differences in coverage between public and non-public sessions suggest a need for further research into different forms of quotation and recontextualization practices. Ultimately, this research highlights the unique role of liveblogs as venues for political participation and engagement, and offers novel insights into the structure, function and linguistic configuration of live digital publics.

Procedural norms and their significance in the implementation of the competence of representative bodies

On the eve of the centenary of the birth of Professor E. I. Kozlova, who devoted her scientific life to the study of the problems of democracy and the forms of its implementation, attention should be paid to the problem of improving the mechanisms of parliamentary activity, which she repeatedly raised in her writings of the soviet period. Revealing the legal nature and essence of the representative bodies of the soviet period — the soviets of workers’ deputies, later — the Soviets of People’s deputies, in the post-Soviet period — parliaments, E.I. Kozlova emphasized the enduring importance of the procedures of the representative bodies. Analyzing the scientific heritage of Professor E. I. Kozlova, the author substantiates the relevance of the scientist’s conclusions and proposals for modern representative bodies, defines some directions for the development of the scientist’s ideas.

Peran Media Massa Sekjen DPR RI Dalam Program Berita "TVR 17"

This research examines the role of mass media applied by TVR Parliament, which is part of the Secretariat General of the DPR RI, through a flagship news program entitled "TVR 17". This research aims to understand the communication approach used in delivering up-to-date information about parliamentary activities to the public. The research method involved content analysis, interviews, and observation of the production and broadcast of "TVR 17". The results of this study are expected to provide an in-depth insight into the role of TVR Parliament mass media in increasing public understanding and participation in the legislative process and public policy. The implications of these findings can make an important contribution in optimizing the role of parliamentary media as a means of transparency and democratic participation in Indonesia.

Titles of Acts: Translation from English into Russian

The article examines titles of English acts such as ‘The Act of Settlement 1701’, ‘The Instrument of Government 1653’, ‘The Act of Supremacy; 1534, 1559, ‘The Reform Act’ 1832, 1867, 1884 and ‘The Test Act’ 1673, 1678 and their translation into the Russian language. The analysis of textbooks and manuals on law and state history of foreign countries in the Russian language shows that their authors refer to the titles that have firmly entrenched in the Russian language, even though some of them have been translated incorrectly. Some researchers provide their own mostly word-for-word translation or totally avoid mentioning the titles of acts in the text. At the same time, adequate translation is essential as it allows readers to elicit necessary information and gain extensive and comprehensive knowledge on the subject. The polysemy of legal terms and the underlying historical background make the process of translation into Russian even more complicated. The differences between legal systems and languages due to their unique historical and cultural development cause difficulties in the translation process even for the most advanced machine translation tools based on neural networks. In order for the translation to be accurate, and therefore the cognitive function to be fully performed in academic texts, it is necessary to be familiar with the field of legal science as a whole, to take into account the historical context as well as the background of a particular act. The lack of background knowledge and the inability to grasp the meaning, role and importance of this or that act of Parliament results in word-for-word erroneous translation that in its turn distorts the original meaning of the text. The polysemy of English terms makes it difficult to find the corresponding equivalent term in Russian. Descriptive translation based on background knowledge with due regard for language peculiarities, as well as the use of such tools as footnotes and comments, can contribute to achieving the purpose.

Political Professionalization Beyond National Borders: An Analysis of Italian MPs in Overseas Constituencies

Among European countries, Italy is one of the relatively few cases to provide a quota of reserved parliamentary seats for non-resident citizens. Despite an increased scientific interest in the topic, the group of MPs elected in Overseas Constituencies remains overlooked in the available literature. The gap relates to factors such as their socio-biographical profile, precedent careers, parliamentary activity, the role played in their recruitment by the party abroad or at a national level, and their style of representation. In this vein, the article investigates the career profiles of Italian MPs elected in Overseas Constituencies from 2006 (the first elections with the introduction of citizen representatives living abroad) to 2022. Based on an original data set and through an analysis of their biographical and political characteristics, the article builds a typology of elected MPs abroad by cross-referencing two dimensions derived from the literature: the linkage with the host country and the presence of previous political and associational experiences. The analysis shows that different types of MPs have different career lengths and a different capacity to collect preference votes.

The Continued Use of Private Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom

The Continued Use of Private Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom

Gallant Officers and Benevolent Men: Royal Navy officers, voluntarism and the launch of the Shipwrecked Mariners Society in the early Victorian era

This article examines the relatively unexplored relationship between Royal Navy flag and commissioned officers and shore-based secular and civic voluntary societies in the early Victorian period using the case study of the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners’ Royal Benevolent Society. Portrayed in the literature as heroes and objectivized symbols of the glory of nation, naval officers instead had agency of their own. They were active facilitators, employing personal experience, naval culture and patronage networks to drive forward philanthropic initiatives for the society. They were crucial to the society’s success, moving it forward to incorporation by an act of parliament in 1850, and to national and imperial expansion. It suggests that naval associative voluntary service needs to be considered more fully not only in naval history, but also within broader historical studies.