Chapter 3 Web links to data sets

Chapter three: Debating politics and making laws

  1. Votes in parliament

This data set is easy to use and clear. It details the votes made on Bills, amendments and other political decisions, in both the Commons and the Lords. This links to the policy making process and the idea of ping-pong legislation. Each vote shows clearly whether government was defeated, and thus links to the debate about the power of Parliament.

https://votes.parliament.uk/

  1. The representation in parliament

This data set from the World Bank shows the progress within UK parliament over the years in regard to its recruitment of women. This data set also allows you to see the percentage of women in legislatures across the world and thus is a good source of comparative reference to see just how much progress the UK has really made. This links to the chapter’s discussion on descriptive representation within parliament.

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SG.GEN.PARL.ZS?locations=GB

  1. Descriptive representation overview

This House of Commons report contains data concerning the characteristic make-up of parliament. In describing the social background of MPs from 1979 to 2019, this report presents data and graphs regarding gender, LGBT+, age, ethnicity, occupation, parliamentary experience and education. This links to the section of this chapter on the representation of parliament, specifically descriptive representation which we know effects substantive and symbolic representation in turn.

https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7483/CBP-7483.pdf

  1. Passing legislation – various data sets

The institute of government offers a wide range of resources on the process of passing legislation. The link below leads you to the exploration page. Despite being published in 2014, the article titled ‘Zombie Parliament? Some dead good legislation data’ might be a useful read, as well as the 2017 article titled ‘Legislation rushed through with little scrutiny’. Both articles contribute to the debate on the power of parliament, nicely tying into the stages of the policy process also discussed within this chapter.

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/passing-legislation

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