Digital Transformation and Parliamentary Functioning: Redefining Roles, Power Dynamics, and Legislative Processes

Over the past 30 years, the impact of digital technologies on parliamentary functioning has intermittently captured the attention of legislative specialists. As early as the turn of the century, when email was becoming more and more commonplace, the potentially disruptive effects of digital transformation on democratic legislative assemblies were already apparent. Campbell et al. (1999) presciently observed, “Technologies are not just means for doing existing jobs better: they present opportunities for redefining the very way MPs act out their roles.” Since then, the rise of social media, the adoption of remote participation for representatives and parliamentary staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the quick advancement of artificial intelligence have all underscored the urgency for legislative scholars to explore how parliaments are adapting to these technological shifts.
This panel aims to investigate how digital transformation is reshaping parliamentary functions and altering the political balance between the legislative and executive branches, as well as within parliamentary groups between elites and backbenchers. Furthermore, tools such as digital platforms have the potential to facilitate dialogue between ruling parties and the opposition, yet they also risk fostering polarisation and instability. Finally, opposition parties can leverage digital tools to enhance their oversight activities, thereby strengthening accountability and promoting greater transparency in legislative processes. Recognising that digital technologies are seldom politically neutral, the panel encourages submissions that go beyond examining how parliaments have leveraged or should leverage these innovations to rationalise their performance to question how they have fundamentally transformed the internal political dynamics within legislative bodies.
We invite contributions from scholars at all career stages that offer both single-case studies and comparative analyses and welcome a diversity of methodological approaches. The panel is open to submissions that focus on different political systems, ranging from established democracies to emerging ones, as well as hybrid and authoritarian regimes. This global perspective is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing parliaments in the digital era.