This course considers two major themes: one of particular historical interest and the other of a more general and enduring concern.
The particular theme focuses on the evolution of disciplinary control within Britain’s Parliament, from its origins in the 13th century through to the present day. It will explore, explain and evaluate the origins and development of such roles as the Speaker, Black Rod, Serjeant-at-Arms and the Whips, as well as the formal and informal rules and regulations which were first codified by Thomas Erskine May in the 19th Century and have been questioned, challenged and revised ever since.
The more general theme draws on this British example to reflect on the lessons it teaches us, both positive and negative, about the possible and most desirable nature and extent of internal discipline for any political assembly which today aspires to be responsible, democratic and efficient.
Among the topics covered in the course will be the peculiar ways in which Britain’s ‘organic’ and only partially written constitution gradually managed to find the means to organise and legitimise the performance of its Parliament; the subsequent process within each parliamentary party to create and maintain its own disciplinary system; the reasons for, and implications of, the establishment in 2009 of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority; and, taking the subject right up to the present day, the dramatic clash in January 2019 between the current Speaker and the Government over Parliament’s response the Brexit bill will be explained and assessed.
The aim of the course, therefore, is twofold: to provide an informative, enlightening and entertaining account of how the key constituent parts of Britain’s system of Parliamentary discipline developed, and also to show how that historical knowledge can help to enrich and improve our appreciation not only of contemporary British politics, but also of broader international debates relating to how we want our political institutions to be run.
