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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

If you work on (or in) parliaments, please consider joining us for the @psa-parliaments.bsky.social annual conference on Monday 2nd November in Manchester (details below).

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History, Politics & IR at the University of Leicester @hypirleicester.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

We're on Bluesky! To get the ball rolling, here are some great books published recently by our historians 🍾

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Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 03/08/2026

NEW from @govandopp.bsky.social - When Do Shadow Ministers Become ‘Realities’? Evidence from the UK, 1964–2024 - cup.org/4hQrIxA - @profnjallen.bsky.social & John Bartle #OpenAccess

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Just out in @govandopp.bsky.social, a review article assessing research on transnational authoritarianism, by @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social and @alexdukalskis.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Great discussion of (among many other things) written parliamentary questions and the considerable increase in their use in the very recent past, in this podcast.

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European Consortium for Political Research @ecpr.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

📣 Applications are open for the Summer School of the Standing Group on Parliaments! 🗓️ 27 Jul–6 Aug, Goethe University Frankfurt @sgparliaments.bsky.social proudly presents its Summer School which offers a platform to: ✔️ Explore recent advancements ✔️ Present research ✔️ Receive career advice ⌛️7 May

buff.ly

Find out more and apply

Deadline: Thursday 7 May 2026

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Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

NEW PAPER ALERT! My paper, with @bjornhoyland.bsky.social , on how “policy loss” shapes support for the EU has just been published in @cpsjournal.bsky.social. Check it out! 1/

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Ruxandra Serban @ruxandrasrbn.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

📣 We are very excited for this year’s @psa-parliaments.bsky.social annual conference taking place at the University of York! 📝 More details and registration: psaparliaments.org/annual-confe...

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Does anyone in the UK Parliament or legislative studies world know what is happening with The Public Whip website? It doesn't seem to have been updated with new divisions since May. #thepublicwhip #ukparliament www.publicwhip.org.uk

publicwhip.org.uk

The Public Whip — Counting votes on your behalf

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Marco Giugni & Maria Grasso review literature on political participation in a new review article for @govandopp.bsky.social. They argue for the benefits of linking work in this area from political science, (political) sociology and social movement studies: tinyurl.com/cbe34v3w.

tinyurl.com

United in Diversity: Building Bridges in the Study of Political Participation | Government and Opposition | Cambridge Core

United in Diversity: Building Bridges in the Study of Political Participation

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PSA Early Career Network @psaecn.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

🚨 Internship alert! 🚨 Are you an ECN member currently studying your PhD? Don’t miss out on this fantastic career development opportunity to work at the House of Commons! 🙌🏻 🗓️ Apply by 28 September 2025 More details below ⬇️

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

I managed to see the outside of the Maltese Parliament while on holiday last week. #parliaments #stv

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Looking forward to presenting research with @philiplynch.bsky.social on votes in select committees at #sgop25 in Barcelona tomorrow.

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Great evening. Thanks for arranging this!

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

We had the most brilliant launch of Exploring Parliament this evening at the Institute for Government! Thank you to all the panellists, all the guests, and most of all to @instituteforgovernment.org.uk for hosting us, truly appreciated 🙏😊. V special also to have our own students attending 😊1/2:

Panel at the launch of the book Exploring Parliament, hosted by the Institute for Government - from left to right: Chloe Mawson (House of Lords, Clerk Assistant), Dr Sean Haughey (Liverpool University), Dr Hannah White (Institute for Government) and Professor Meg Russell (Constitution Unit, UCL).

Panel at the launch of the book Exploring Parliament, hosted by the Institute for Government - from left to right: Margaret McKinnon (House of Commons, Director, People and Culture Team), Professor Nick Allen (Royal Holloway University), Dr Hannah White (Institute for Government) and Dr Rebecca McKee (Institute for Government).

Students attending the launch of the book Exploring Parliament, hosted by the Institute for Government - from left to right: Emily Carter, Isabella Elie, Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira, Lewis Rantell, Soleen Ali and Dr Alexandra Meakin.

Guests enjoying the launch of the book Exploring Parliament, hosted by the Institute for Government.

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Many congratulations to you both!

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PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Kicking us off with his and @philiplynch.bsky.social‘s very recent work on committee divisions in the House of Commons is @rickwhitaker.bsky.social

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

Heading to Birmingham for #PSA25 to present some research conducted with @philiplynch.bsky.social on select committee divisions in the House of Commons.

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Over time, centrist party MEPs have become more pro-EU compared to their groups’ voters.

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Looking at median MEP and voter positions by party group at 4 time points shows they are closer in more cases on left-right than on EU integration dimension. Most EP groups’ voters are more clustered around the middle of the EU integration scale than are their groups’ MEPs.

Graphs showing median voters and MEPs by party group at four time points.

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

We find that the median voter tends to be more Eurosceptic than the median MEP.

Graph showing positions of median MEPs and voters in 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014.

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

In a new article in @jcms-eu.bsky.social with @kgattermann.bsky.social & @sofiavasilopoulou.bsky.social we look at how close MEPs are to their voters on the left-right and EU integration scales using MEP survey data & European Election Study data onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... A brief🧵.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

A new edition of Exploring Parliament is out! It includes a chapter by Lucinda Maer and me on how the UK Parliament went about scrutinising government during Brexit and the Covid pandemic.

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Publication day! The 2nd edition of Exploring Parliament is out. Thank you to the 73 authors who brought academic and parliamentary practice expertise to the book; special thanks to my fab co-editors @ameakin.bsky.social and @louisevthompson.bsky.social 😊👇:

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

We have reached 200 institutions in 34 countries from whom researchers have requested our MEP survey data, collected by @simonhix.bsky.social, @davidfarrell-ucd.bsky.social, @rogerawanscully.bsky.social, Galina Zapryanova and me! You can find out more about the data here mepsurvey.eu/users-of-the...

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

On my way home from Edinburgh after giving evidence to the @scotparl.bsky.social Delegated Powers committee’s inquiry on framework legislation and Henry VIII powers. Thanks to the committee and panel for a fascinating discussion. Written evidence here: yourviews.parliament.scot/dplr/framewo....

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Should you be so inclined, you can find out my preferences for the order in which jam and cream should be added to a scone and various other more parliamentary-type things, via the PSA Parliament group's website here psaparliaments.org/urgent_quest....

psaparliaments.org

Urgent Questions – PSA Parliaments

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

I hope you weren't rudely awoken by the dustmen.

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

In light of the today's agenda in the House of Commons, you can read about the legislative process for private members' bills in this House of Commons Library Briefing commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri....

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

Private Members' Bills

This briefing describes the stages a bill goes through when it is introduced to the House of Commons as a private member's bill.

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PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

@rickwhitaker.bsky.social (University of Leicester) presents his commissioned research on what skeleton bills are, why they are used in the UK Parliament, Senedd & Scottish Parliament, and what the implications of delegated powers are You can read more about it here: blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Heading to Cardiff for the @psa-parliaments.bsky.social ECR event and then annual conference where I’ll be presenting some research on skeleton bills. psaparliaments.org/annual-confe...

psaparliaments.org

Annual Conference – PSA Parliaments

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Hansard Society @hansardsociety.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

You can now follow the Hansard Society's starter pack below. The pack includes academics, researchers, and practitioners with insights about parliaments and legislatures and the issues we discuss each week on our Parliament Matters Podcast. go.bsky.app/TzkXFzP

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Really enjoying the @histparl.bsky.social podcasts, 'Tales from the Green Benches' shows.acast.com/tales-from-t.... Would highly recommend if you are interested in the experiences and motivations of MPs.

shows.acast.com

Tales from the Green Benches: Trailer | Tales from the Green Benches: An Oral History of Parliament

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Adam Tucker @adam.publiclaw.space · 16/10/2024

This is a superb short critical explainer on the constitutional risks of skeleton/framework bills. (Rick is very relaxed about choosing "individual parliamentarians being able to claim personal credit for legislation/policy" as a reason Parliament might delegate rather than legislate though!)

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

Thank you for this. I co-wrote a Commons Library Briefing on this topic commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri... which may be of interest. There is also a longer paper I wrote for the Senedd's Legislation, Justice and Constitution committee here: tinyurl.com/mr3snry5 which may also be of use.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

Delegated powers and framework legislation

Not all laws are made directly by Parliament. Some are made by ministers, known as delegated powers. These have been used more frequently, and with important constitutional consequences, in recent yea...

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Rick Whitaker @rickwhitaker.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

Thank you Adam! That argument comes from the US literature on levels of delegation by legislators where, I suppose, much more discussion is given to constituency-specific benefits that legislators might seek.

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