Exploring Parliament
2nd Edition
Published on 19. March 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
426 pages
978-0-19-288874-7 (ISBN)
Description
A fresh perspective on an evolving institution; Exploring Parliament offers an engaging and real-life insight into the inner workings, impact, and relevance of the twenty-first century UK Parliament. Short academic and practitioner chapters are combined with highly relevant and practical case studies, to provide a new and accessible introduction to Parliament's structures, people, and practices.
As well as covering the broader structure of the UK Parliament, this text explains the role of backbench MPs in scrutinising government and campaigning the design and space of Parliament and the challenges facing MPs. It offers illuminating case studies on highly topical areas such as Brexit, COVID-19, and recent pieces of legislation such as the British Sign Language Act and Online Safety Act.
New to this Edition
- This edition has been updated to include content on the 2024 General Election.
- Over half of the chapters are new or newly authored to reflect the changing nature and scholarship in the field.
- An increased focus on diversity, including a new chapter on diversity and representation in the House of Commons.
- Expanded coverage on devolved parliaments, including a new chapter on interparliamentary relations.
Key Features
- Draws on the perspectives of academics and parliamentary practitioners, to give students an authentic insight into the workings of Parliament.
- Provides a series of evidence-based case studies so that students can fully understand the reality of Parliament in practice.
- Explores the relationships between the different structures, parliamentarians and practitioners within Parliament on both a formal and an informal level, to enable student to truly understand the key processes and actors that shape Parliament.
As well as covering the broader structure of the UK Parliament, this text explains the role of backbench MPs in scrutinising government and campaigning the design and space of Parliament and the challenges facing MPs. It offers illuminating case studies on highly topical areas such as Brexit, COVID-19, and recent pieces of legislation such as the British Sign Language Act and Online Safety Act.
New to this Edition
- This edition has been updated to include content on the 2024 General Election.
- Over half of the chapters are new or newly authored to reflect the changing nature and scholarship in the field.
- An increased focus on diversity, including a new chapter on diversity and representation in the House of Commons.
- Expanded coverage on devolved parliaments, including a new chapter on interparliamentary relations.
Key Features
- Draws on the perspectives of academics and parliamentary practitioners, to give students an authentic insight into the workings of Parliament.
- Provides a series of evidence-based case studies so that students can fully understand the reality of Parliament in practice.
- Explores the relationships between the different structures, parliamentarians and practitioners within Parliament on both a formal and an informal level, to enable student to truly understand the key processes and actors that shape Parliament.
Reviews / Votes
There is no comparable textbook. * Alan Convery, University of Edinburgh * This is the most up-to-date study, which manages to combine breadth of coverage with depth of content, especially via the brilliant case studies. * David Jeffery, University of Liverpool * Nothing is as up-to-date with this range and quality of contributions. * Colin Talbot, University of Cambridge *More details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
17 figures
Dimensions
Height: 23 mm
Width: 170 mm
Thickness: 244 mm
Weight
677 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-288874-7 (9780192888747)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira is a Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds. She has worked on parliaments for nearly 30 years. She is Chair of the International Parliament Engagement Network and a previous Chair of the UK Study of Parliament Group (2019-22). Professor Leston-Bandeira's research focuses on public engagement with parliament, having published widely on the topic and having secured funding from the AHRC, the British Academy, ESRC and the Leverhulme Trust. She regularly gives evidence to parliaments on public engagement, having held a fellowship with the Petitions Committee of the UK House of Commons in 2016-17. She is the recipient of numerous awards recognizing the quality and innovation of her teaching, including a Higher Education Academy National Teaching Fellowship (2012) and the Political Studies Association Bernard Crick Main Prize for Outstanding Teaching (2010).
Dr Alexandra Meakin is Lecturer in British Politics at the University of Leeds. Her research focuses on parliamentary governance and the plans to repair the buildings of the UK Parliament (known as the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster). Dr Meakin's PhD 'Understanding the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster: A case study of institutional change in the UK Parliament' was awarded by the University of Sheffield in 2019 and received the 2020 Walter Bagehot Prize for best dissertation in the field of government and public administration by the Political Studies Association. She is a member of the Study of Parliament Group and the International Parliament Engagement Network, and a former convenor of the Political Studies Association Specialist Group on Parliaments and Legislatures. Prior to entering academia, Dr Meakin worked for over a decade in Westminster, for select committees in the House of Commons and for MPs.
Dr Louise Thompson is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on legislative scrutiny, committees and political parties in the House of Commons. She is the co-editor of Parliamentary Affairs and a POST parliamentary fellow (2024-2025) undertaking research with the UK Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. She was previously the Co-Convenor of the Political Studies Association's specialist group on Parliaments and Legislatures (2014-2018). In 2022, Dr Thompson was awarded the Political Studies Association's Richard Rose Prize for a distinctive contribution to the study of British Politics.
Dr Alexandra Meakin is Lecturer in British Politics at the University of Leeds. Her research focuses on parliamentary governance and the plans to repair the buildings of the UK Parliament (known as the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster). Dr Meakin's PhD 'Understanding the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster: A case study of institutional change in the UK Parliament' was awarded by the University of Sheffield in 2019 and received the 2020 Walter Bagehot Prize for best dissertation in the field of government and public administration by the Political Studies Association. She is a member of the Study of Parliament Group and the International Parliament Engagement Network, and a former convenor of the Political Studies Association Specialist Group on Parliaments and Legislatures. Prior to entering academia, Dr Meakin worked for over a decade in Westminster, for select committees in the House of Commons and for MPs.
Dr Louise Thompson is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on legislative scrutiny, committees and political parties in the House of Commons. She is the co-editor of Parliamentary Affairs and a POST parliamentary fellow (2024-2025) undertaking research with the UK Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. She was previously the Co-Convenor of the Political Studies Association's specialist group on Parliaments and Legislatures (2014-2018). In 2022, Dr Thompson was awarded the Political Studies Association's Richard Rose Prize for a distinctive contribution to the study of British Politics.
Content
Part I: Introducing the UK Parliament 1: Cristina Leston-Bandeira, Alexandra Meakin, Paul Silk, Louise Thompson, and Aileen Walker: Introduction 2: Philip Norton: Parliament in context 3: Sean Haughey, Mark Shephard, and Diana Stirbu: Westminster in the UK context Part II: People and places in parliament 4: Richard Kelly and Louise Thompson: The political organisation of parliament 5: Sarah Petit and Benjamin Yong: The governance of parliament 6: Matthew Congreve and Rebecca McKee: Supporting Members and Peers 7: Emma Crewe and Paul Evans: The significance of rituals in parliament 8: Kate Anderson, Alexandra Meakin, and Alex Prior: Spaces and places in parliament Part III: Law Making 9: Liam Laurence Smyth, and Matt Korris: The legislative process 10: Meg Russell and Daniel Gover: Parliamentary scrutiny and influence on government bills 11: Ruth Fox and Brigid Fowler: Delegated legislation 12: Tom Caygill and Michael Collon: Post-legislative scrutiny 13: Nia Moss and Gareth Williams: Interparliamentary relations 14: Ruth Dixon and Anne-Marie Griffiths: Private Members' Bills 15: Felicity Matthews and Paul E J Thomas: Campaigning to change law and policy Part IV: Scrutiny and Accountability 16: Martyn Atkins, Andrew Defty, and James Strong: The Westminster Model of accountability 17: Marc Geddes and Farrah Bhatti: Select Committees in the House of Commons 18: Ruxandra Serban, Luke Hussey, and Peter Kerr: Questioning the government 19: Rosanna Barry and Chloe Mawson: Scrutiny by the House of Lords 20: Lucinda Maer and Richard Whitaker: Scrutiny in challenging times 21: Sasha Fuller, Alasdair Rendall, and Anikka Weerasinghe: Parliament and the media Part V: Representation 22: Richard Cracknell and Ekaterina Kolpinskaya: Diversity and representation in the House of Commons 23: Rosie Campbell, Chloe Challender, Sarah Childs, and Jessica Smith: Women in the House of Commons 24: Nicholas Allen and Emma Salisbury: MPs and their constituencies 25: Stephen Holden Bates and Caroline Bhattacharya: The role of a backbencher 26: Peter Dorey and Matthew Purvis: Representation in the Lords 27: Cristina Leston-Bandeira, Emma McIntosh, and Ben Pearson: Parliament and public engagement Part VI: Challenges 28: Alistair Clark and Hannah White: Conduct and standards of parliamentarians 29: Margaret McKinnon, Stefanie Reher, and James Weinberg: Challenges facing MPs 30: Elise Uberoi and Ben Worthy: Trust in parliament 31: Mark Bennister and Kevin Maddison: Reforming parliament 32: Graeme Cowie and Jack Sheldon: A Parliament for the Union? 33: David Judge: Conclusion: the future of parliamentary politics