scrutiny

Majoritarianism reinterpreted: why Parliament is more influential than often thought

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FelicityProfileFelicity Matthews, co-editor of Policy & Politics

This blog post was originally published on the British Politics and Policy blog run by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

In the Hansard Society’s latest Audit of Political Engagement, a record 73% of respondents agree that Westminster’s Parliament is ‘essential to democracy’. Yet within the very same survey, only 32% are satisfied with the way Parliament works and only 28% believe that it encourages public involvement in politics. A number of academic commentators have also cast doubt upon Parliament’s credentials, with some regarding it as ‘either peripheral or totally irrelevant’; and within comparative scholarship, the House of Commons is frequently derided as lacking the clout of its continental counterparts.

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Committee scrutiny in Scotland: a comparative and bi-constitutional perspective

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Michael Cole discusses his latest article in Policy & Politics, 
“Committee scrutiny in Scotland: a comparative and bi-constitutional perspective“.

In the last few months, an intensive spotlight has been thrown on Scottish government and politics. First, almost 45% of the voters supported leaving the UK and second a consensus has emerged that the Scottish Parliament should acquire additional powers. Latterly, opinion polls have chronicled a surge in support for the SNP and potential electoral doom for Labour in Scotland and perhaps consequentially at UK level.   These contemporary events provided a good forward for research I have been undertaking over the last few years on scrutiny in the Scottish Parliament.  The central themes perhaps being is this resurgent self-confidence in Scottish institutions justified? And how do they differ from those at UK level?

By Emoscopes (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
By Emoscopes (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The research looked at the nature of the committee scrutiny at the Parliament in terms of the selection of committee Continue reading →