Conferences

The Centre runs two major conferences to bring together leading practitioners, eminent scholars and political tutors.

Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians

The first workshop was held in Berlin in 1994, where legislative scholars discussed practical research findings with members of parliaments from around the world. Since then, workshops have been held every two years at Wroxton College in Oxfordshire - a magnificent Jacobean mansion set in fifty acres of landscaped grounds, yet accessible from the M40 motorway, London and airports at Birimingham, Heathrow and Gatwick. Workshops are co-sponsored by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Research Committee of Legislative Specialists of the International Political Science Association.

The seventh workshop was held in July 2006, when scholars and parliamentarians from 29 countries gathered for a stimulating set of panels. Papers were presented for discussion on topics such as legislatures in developing nations, party dissent in parliament, legislatures and the Internet, parliament and the public, regulation and transparency, the role of presiding officers, the effect of different mandates, and meeting the needs of legislatures. In-depth comparson between a host of different Legislatures was possible with participants drawn from Algeria, Australia, Bahrain, Benin, Burundi, Canada, the East African Legislative Assembly, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Ghana, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, the UK, the USA, Vietnam, Yemen and Zambia.

Politics Association Annual Conference

The Centre organises the annual conference of the Politics Association, which represents teachers of politics in schools and colleges in the UK and runs an active programme of sixth-form conferences, publications and a quarterly journal - 'Talking Politics'. The annual conference alternates between venues in the north and south of the country, presently Manchester and Oxford.

Leading speakers at recent conferences have included Rt. Hon. David Blunkett MP, Rt. Hon. Lord Hurd of Westwell, Rt Hon. Lord Patten of Barnes, former Cabinet Secretary Lord Butler of Brockwell, Rt Hon. Lord Wakeham, Rt Rev Richard Harries (Bishop of Oxford), Lord Tyler CBE and George Osborne MP. Academics addressing the conference have included Professors Peter Hennessy, Stephen Coleman, Vernon Bogdanor, Andrew Gamble, Elizabeth Meehan, Charlie Jeffery, Jon Tonge, David Denver, David Butler CBE and Gillian Peele.

Contact

For more details on attending or presenting at either conference, please select the correct option on the Contact page above.