Open AccessAssessing Parliament’s Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Gabor Hellyer
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
policy quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2324-1101
pISSN - 2324-1098
DOI - 10.26686/pq.v17i1.6726
Subject(s) - parliament , legislature , pandemic , political science , covid-19 , government (linguistics) , public administration , law , medicine , politics , virology , linguistics , philosophy , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , outbreak
Parliament had to discharge its constitutional role in unprecedented conditions following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. How did it fare? This article assesses Parliament’s response to the pandemic across its core constitutional functions of legislating, scrutinising, financing, representing and providing a government. It argues that Parliament’s response was remarkably effective and resulted in meaningful permanent changes to the legislature’s operation. Nonetheless, the response also highlighted opportunities for further institutional strengthening regarding Parliament’s role in a national emergency.