Dramas at Westminster

Select Committees and the Quest for Accountability

Marc Geddes

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English

Manchester University Press
28 September 2021

Constitution: government & the state; Parliamentary & legislative practice

Series: Political Ethnography

Based on unprecedented access to the UK Parliament, this book challenges how we understand and think about accountability between government and Parliament.

Drawing on three months of research in Westminster, and over forty-five interviews, this book focuses on the everyday practices of Members of Parliament and officials to reveal how parliamentarians perform their scrutiny roles. Some MPs become specialists while others act as lone wolves; some are there to try to defend their party while others want to learn about policy. Amongst these different styles, chairs of committees have to try to reconcile these interpretations and either act as committee-orientated catalysts or attempt to impose order as leadership-orientated chieftains. All of this pushes and pulls scrutiny in competing directions, and tells us that accountability depends on individual beliefs, everyday practices and the negotiation of dilemmas. In this way, MPs and officials create a drama or spectacle of accountability and use their performance on the parliamentary stage to hold government to account. Dramas at Westminster: Select committees and the quest for accountability offers the most up-to-date and detailed research on committee practices in the House of Commons, following a range of reforms since 2010. -- .

By: Marc Geddes
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 10mm
Weight: 281g
ISBN: 9781526160423
ISBN 10: 1526160420
Series: Political Ethnography
Pages: 192
Publication Date: 28 September 2021
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

1 The quest for accountability 2 Perspectives on Parliament 3 Performing scrutiny 4 Catalysts versus chieftains 5 Hidden servants 6 Scenes of scrutiny 7 Building webs of scrutiny 8 Dramas at Westminster Annex: Methodological reflections References Index -- .

Marc Geddes is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Edinburgh

Reviews for Dramas at Westminster: Select Committees and the Quest for Accountability

‘Dramas at Westminster tells us a great deal about the public and hidden power of select committees at a time when scrutiny is more vital than it has ever been.’ LSE Review of Books 'Geddes’s research stands in a line of powerful and important works that have begun to change our understanding of how Westminster works, what MPs do, how they behave and, most importantly, the kind of ‘roles’ they perform. ' Democratic Audit UK 'A lively and empathetic book.' Parliaments, Estates and Representation -- .