Quantitative methods to measure the participation to parliamentary debate and discourse of elected Members of Parliament (MPs) and the parties they belong to are lacking. This is an exploratory study in which we propose the development of a new approach for a quantitative analysis of such participation. We utilize the New Zealand government’s digital Hansard database to construct a topic model ...

tary Working Group on Pensions published a “sketch” containing almost all the essential elements of the reform. The working group was formed at the end of 1991 as the new nonsocialist government took office, following the publication, debate, and official comments on a parliamentary pension commission’s final report on the problems of the old pension system that was published in 1990. The refor...

Seven mathematicians and one political scientist met at the Cambridge Apportionment Meeting in January 2011. They agreed a unanimous recommendation to the European Parliament for its future apportionments between the EUMember States. This is a short factual account of the reasons that led to the Meeting, of its debates and report, and of some of the ensuing Parliamentary debate. 1. Background a...

SYNOPSIS This report seeks to inform policy makers on the nature and the merit of the arguments for and against the concerns associated with a potential technological singularity. Part I describes the lessons learned from our investigation of the subject, separating the arguments of merit from the fallacies and misconceptions that confuse the debate and undermine its rational resolution.

Industry lobbying remains an obstacle to effective health-oriented alcohol policy. In 2013, an increase in excise tax on spirits was announced by the Polish government. This article presents a qualitative analysis of the public debate that ensued on the potential economic, health and social effects of the policy. It focuses on how competing groups, including industry actors, framed their positi...