Parliaments are central to representative democracy, yet parliamentary politics is often poorly understood by citizens (Leston-Bandeira and Siefken 2023). How people learn about these institutions may therefore have important consequences for political knowledge, engagement, and perceptions of representative democracy. At the same time, new digital technologies are creating new possibilities—and new challenges—for explaining, experiencing, and communicating parliamentary politics.
This open panel invites papers on how parliaments and parliamentary politics can be taught and communicated to students and broader publics. We welcome contributions on curricula, simulations, civic education, parliamentary outreach, public-engagement initiatives, digital tools, games, and other forms of learning, including initiatives developed by parliaments themselves.
The panel asks how parliaments can be made more intelligible to different audiences, which approaches may work in different contexts, and what consequences different forms of learning and communication may have for knowledge, efficacy, participation, trust, or institutional legitimacy. It also welcomes reflection on the limitations and unintended effects of different teaching and communication strategies.
We welcome papers describing, analysing, or critically reflecting on both innovative and established practices. Single-classroom, institutional, and single-country cases are as welcome as comparative studies, whether or not they include systematic evaluation of their effects.