The Elgar Encyclopedia of Parliamentary Studies is a new project instigated by IPEN members Cristiane Brum Bernardes and Emma Crewe, which aims to work with contributors from around the globe.
The encyclopedia will provide a background of the literature around parliamentary studies and a theoretical introduction, followed by a range of examples of themes, issues, experiences and structures that are central to parliaments.
Funded by the European Research Council, the publication will be Open Access and will be of benefit to academics, students and parliaments round the world.
Experts in legislative studies, ethnography of parliaments, parliamentary communication, digital democracy, political engagement and other related fields are invited to participate in the project by writing entries for the encyclopedia.
The Elgar Encyclopedia of Parliamentary Studies will explore a list of given themes such as ‘parliamentary committees’ and ‘access to information in parliaments’. Some of the topics yet to be covered include ‘inter-parliamentary bodies and monitoring organisations’ and ‘leaders and leadership’.
The idea of the encyclopedia came out of the research Global Ethnographies of Parliaments, Politicians and People: representation, relationships and ruptures (EoPPP), coordinated by Emma Crewe (Professor of Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London). Cristiane Brum Bernardes – who holds a PhD in Political Science and works as a civil servant at the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies – is responsible for the Brazilian team working on the project.
Cristiane and Emma said:
“As much as possible, we would like author representation from across the globe and from different disciplines, whilst acknowledging that we are unlikely to cover all countries and issues comprehensively within the scope of the project.
“We expect the encyclopedia entries to give an overview of exciting scholarship on the topic, with examples from a range of different parliaments. The idea is to give students and researchers interesting approaches for studying and/or researching parliaments rather than just to provide information and knowledge about parliaments/legislatures.
“To accomplish this task, we thought a brief theoretical introduction to the topic would be useful to readers, showing the latest and most exciting research being done in different parts of the world.
“We are putting out a call to others to complement this with some data and insights from their own research, or briefly outline some case studies, narratives or findings to provide some examples and depth.”
If you are interested in contributing to the Elgar Encyclopedia of Parliamentary Studies, please contact Cristiane or Emma directly by email for further guidelines and a list of topics available: cris.brum@gmail.com and emma.crewe@gmail.com.
Article published: 20 July 2023