Current research

The centre leads the world in its production of definitive research, setting the standard in the field of the study of legislatures. Below are some of the most recent projects or work currently nearing completion.

Party voting in the Portuguese Parliament

Very little attention has been given to how members vote in the Portuguese Parliament - a common assumption is that members vote loyally with their parties, but this view warrants meaningful analyis. This study examines the extent to which members are able to dissent from the party line.

Southern European parliaments in democracy

This research analyses the development of the parliaments of Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey since the mid 1980s and how they have adapted to the pressures of a democratic polity. The results of this study have appeared in a special issue of The Journal of Legislative Studies.

E-democracy and parliaments

A comparative study of how parliaments and parliamentarians utilise the Internet, this work was undertaken with support from the University of Hull's Institute of Applied Ethics and focuses on the UK, Sweden, Portugal, and the European Parliament.

Conservative Party in Parliament

This analysis of the Conservative party and its MPs in recent British Parliaments has had its 2001-2005 findings published as 'The Conservative Party: The Politics of Panic' - a chapter in Britain at the Polls 2005, edited by J. Bartle and A. King (CQ Press, 2006).

Parliament in British politics

A new study from Philip Norton, this work was recently completed and published by Palgrave Macmillan and replaces the earlier study, 'Does Parliament Matter?'

Parliament and the courts and human rights

A study of the relationship between the British Parliament and the courts, and how Parliament deals with human rights following the passage of the Human Rights Act 1998. A chapter on Parliament and the courts has already appeared in 'Parliament in the 21st Century' edited by N. D. J. Baldwin. A chapter on Parliament and human rights will be published later in 2006 and was the subject of a paper at a conference in Poland in 2005.

The meaning of second chambers

This work has formed the basis of a short study, resulting in a paper delivered at the Centre's Graduate Workshop in Legislative Studies and an article in The Journal of Legislative Studies.