Parliament as a Workplace: Trends and Changes

The Canadian Study of Parliament Group (CSPG) is issuing a call for contributions to be included in an insightful, bilingual book titled “Parliament as a Workplace: Trends and Changes.” This innovative, peer-reviewed publication seeks to analyze the undeniably unique work environment of parliamentarians and parliamentary staff.

Those working in the legislative sphere face an array of challenges, from working unpredictable hours to managing the stress and uncertainty of politics. The book will examine the often difficult reality of parliamentary work and delve into the partisan, multilingual (including official languages), gendered, racialized and hierarchical nature of Parliament as a workplace. It will discuss the written and unwritten rules at play and provide insight about what it means to work in a unique legal environment.

The CSPG is looking for multidisciplinary contributions based on a variety of methodological approaches (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, descriptive and normative studies) and drawing on different data sources such as archives, interviews and/or case studies. These contributions may also cover topics related to provincial legislatures or the federal Parliament. 

Chapter proposals can be written in English or French, must be no more than 300 words long and must be submitted by September 15, 2023, by email to CSPG-GCEP@parl.gc.ca.

Selected proposals will be announced in October. Authors will then be invited to provide a draft chapter between 4,000 and 6,000 words by the end of February 2024. They will also have the opportunity to present their work at a conference on the same topic in April. This conference will take place in Ottawa, and the CSPG will cover travel and accommodation expenses for all participants. Finally, the chapters will be submitted to a publisher in the fall of 2024. Proposals submitted by both practitioners and people with no institutional affiliation are welcome.

For more information about this project, please contact Emmanuelle Richez at emmanuelle.richez@uwindsor.ca.