Measuring Committee Impact

Abstract

The debates and votes that take place in parliaments on a daily basis are by far the most visible feature of these institutions to those observing their work from outside. This decisional function of parliaments (Packenham 1970, p. 531) is therefore often cited as being the most important (Norton 2013, p. 7). Law making, or more accurately, law assenting is what parliaments are seen to be ‘doing’. When they prevent the government from passing the bill it wishes to pass, or when there is a sizeable rebellion among MPs, it is well reported. The decision of 91 Conservative MPs to rebel at the second reading of the House of Lords Reform Bill in July 2012 was reported by the broadsheet and tabloid press (Watt 2012; Chapman 2012), as well as by BBC News (2012).