Date and time: Thursday 10th September, 09.30 – 10.30 GMT+1 / UK time; 10.30 – 11.30 CET
Speakers: Lily Gibbs (Political Anthropologist), Damir Neziri (WFD Regional Director, Europe and Central Asia), Alex Parsons (Democracy Lead, mySociety)
Chair: Alex Scales (WFD Evidence & Learning Manager)
Details: Welcome to the second joint webinar between the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN) and Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD)
Parliamentary integrity initiatives often include measures like standards regimes, codes of conduct, registers of interests, lobbying regulations, transparency measures, ethics oversight bodies, and mechanisms designed to prevent undue influence and abuse of power. While these initiatives play an important role in safeguarding democratic governance, their relationship with public confidence is relatively under-examined. So, how can we be sure of when they enhance or undermine public confidence in politics and parliaments?
This webinar will discuss different perspectives on how parliamentary integrity initiatives contribute to public confidence in parliament and how they fit within broader efforts to strengthen public engagement, accountability and democratic resilience. A key question running through the session and the open Q&A will be: how should parliaments engage the public on issues of integrity, ethics and accountability? We will examine how the design of integrity standards and processes, as well as how parliaments communicate and discuss them, can strengthen or undermine public confidence. We will also discuss how they compare with other approaches to building stronger relationships between parliaments and citizens, and what this means for how parliaments engage with citizens.
The discussion will consider how integrity initiatives sit alongside broader efforts to improve parliamentary openness, responsiveness, representation and public participation. We will end with an open discussion and space for Q&A.
Please note: the webinar is for IPEN members and WFD staff and associates only. For any questions, please contact [email protected]
Featured Image: Public event at the National Assembly on Public Debt Management, Nigeria. Image credit: Westminster Foundation for Democracy. All rights reserved