ModParl: New Year, New Home, New Vision for 2025
ModParl debuts on Substack with a renewed focus on global legislative modernization, covering reforms, elections, and innovations from Bangladesh to Jamaica and beyond.
Welcome to the first ModParl of 2025! We’re thrilled to announce that ModParl has found a new home on Substack. This move marks the beginning of an exciting chapter — one where we aim to bring you richer, more engaging content focused on legislative modernization across the globe.
Why the move to Substack? Substack allows us to embrace a more open and accessible format, fostering conversations around the ever-evolving world of legislative politics. Here, we can better connect with our readers, encourage dialogue, and share insights that cut through the noise of daily headlines.
Our revamped newsletter will:
Contextualize Legislative News: Beyond reporting, we’ll dive into the historical, cultural, and political contexts that shape the key reforms and debates.
Spotlight Innovation: From digital transformation to inclusive governance, we’ll continue to highlight groundbreaking initiatives reshaping parliaments worldwide.
Foster Global Cross-Learning: Legislative modernization doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We’ll also continue to explore how different systems learn from one another, creating pathways for collaboration.
Whether you’re a policymaker, researcher, or curious observer, ModParl is your go-to resource for understanding how legislative politics are adapting to the challenges of today and tomorrow.
News we are following:
Canada’s Parliament has been prorogued until March 24, 2025, following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement that he would step down. This eleven-week suspension is the longest in modern Canadian history. A court hearing on the prorogation’s constitutionality is set for February.
In the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros, the ruling party secured 28 of 33 parliamentary seats in a recent election, despite opposition parties rejecting the results over alleged fraud. The election follows a 2023 law that expanded the parliament, where the ruling party previously held 22 of 24 seats.
Amid Samoa's political crisis, the Prime Minister stated that if a vote of no confidence is tabled against her, she will advise the Head of State to dissolve Parliament.
Thank you for joining us on this journey!
Beatriz Rey, Ph.D.
Harnessing AI for Public Engagement: Key Insights and Innovations
At an Inter-Parliamentary Union webinar on January 22, Andy Williamson, senior researcher at the IPU’s Center for Innovation in Parliament (CIP), emphasized the critical role of the human element in ensuring that parliaments use AI effectively for public engagement. “We matter, guys. We’ve got to get it right,” he stated, underscoring the necessity of human oversight and involvement in integrating AI to enhance citizen connections.
Fotis Fitsilis, head of the Department for Scientific Documentation and Supervision at the Hellenic Parliament, highlighted that AI encompasses multiple technologies, and the real challenge lies in integrating them to engage MPs, citizens, and practitioners in the legislative process. “The challenges, including privacy and cybersecurity concerns, are significant, but manageable. The opportunities far outweigh the potential risks,” he stated.
Williamson provided an example of AI’s potential for public engagement, noting its ability to directly gather information and input from citizens. “I don’t think we’ll lose our jobs; we’ll lose the boring ones, freeing up time to focus on what really matters. That creates opportunities,” he added.
Another innovative example is the project Speculative Visions, which combines art and AI as a participatory research and public engagement tool to inspire grassroots-driven visions of the future. Piloted in New Delhi, India, the project aims to empower marginalized communities to articulate and share their visions for the future. A potential application could involve integrating these envisioned futures into legislative decision-making processes.
The 119th US Congress Starts with a Mandate to Continue Legislative AI Efforts
New Members of the US Congress were sworn in on January 3, 2025; and with the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, Republicans hold a trifecta. One of the first actions of the US House was to adopt a new rules package for the 119th Congress, which included language calling for officials to “continue efforts to integrate artificial intelligence technologies into the operations and functions of the House.”
Related: our colleague, Anne Meeker, explored how Congressional offices are using AI in constituent engagement processes and whether AI-enabled constituent correspondence was significantly increasing volume. She concludes that “[d]espite GenAI’s clear potential to change how Members and constituents communicate at scale, its impact so far has been minimal.”
More on Modernization
An Indian MP is calling for a fixed parliamentary calendar, with at least 100 sitting days annually to improve legislative efficiency and ensure better accountability. He notes that many other democracies, including the UK and the US, follow fixed parliamentary schedules, allowing lawmakers to plan legislative and constituency responsibilities.
Vietnam’s National Assembly passed a resolution establishing a plan to fully digitize by 2026 — ”100 per cent of processes and operations are performed in the digital environment” and integrating AI for operations including the legislative processes, security and voter interactions.
The UK government is deploying several AI-enabled policy tools, including: “Parlex” to predict parliamentary reactions to proposed policies and “Consult,” which it expects will “save £80 million a year by summarising themes of public consultations automatically rather than relying on dozens of junior civil servants.”
Bangladesh Explores Constitutional Reforms: Bicameral Legislature and Extended Tenures Proposed
Bangladesh’s interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus established a constitutional reform commission, which recently proposed several significant changes, including transitioning to a bicameral legislature and extending legislators’ tenure to five (instead of four) years.
According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), 41% of the world's parliaments are bicameral, with 78 out of 190 legislatures having two chambers. The length of legislative tenures vary worldwide. In the United States, House members serve two years and senators six. In the United Kingdom, House of Commons members serve up to five years, while Lords can serve for life. In India, Lok Sabha members serve five years, and Rajya Sabha members serve six, with staggered retirements. Studies on length of tenure reveal:
Longer tenures are often linked to greater opportunities for developing expertise, which can enhance legislative effectiveness.
In Chile, tenure length has been shown to affect the likelihood of a bill passing one chamber.
A study examining Belgium, Canada, and Switzerland found that longer tenures improve politicians’ ability to accurately gauge the opinions of their party electorate.
Key Developments to Watch
The UK Parliament released a guide for the use of AI for members of both houses and their staff. The Scottish Parliament (House of the Poreachtas) also published a document with an overview of the current regulatory AI landscape in Ireland and the EU.
The International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN) launched an initiative inviting their members to create Quick Guides and Case Studies, designed to share expertise and provide practical insights into parliamentary engagement.
Christina Leston-Bandeira and Louise Thompson highlight how the Westminster Hall, a great hall that is part of the Palace of Westminster, facilitates in-depth conversations among MPs in the UK.
The AFRIPAL Scientific Committee has extended the deadline for paper abstract submissions to February 15, 2025, for the Inaugural Africa Regional Conference on Parliament and Legislation, taking place June 18–20, 2025, in Kampala, Uganda.
“Parliaments, 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)” is a subtheme of the AfriPaul 2025 Conference
Events
January 31: Progress and Opportunities for Legislative Openness (ParlAmericas, Panama City, Panama)
February 13: IPU Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations (IPU, New York, United States)June 13: 4th Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies (Hellenic OCR Team, Athens, Greece). See call for papers.
Call for Papers
4th Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies
Athens, Greece | Friday, 13 June 2025
This is an opportunity for academics, researchers and practitioners to explore "Reinventing Democracy for the 21st Century". Set in the birthplace of democracy, this unique gathering invites thought leaders to address the challenges and opportunities of our time, where technology, media and geopolitical shifts intersect with democratic governance. The conference is jointly organized by the Hellenic OCR Team and Széchenyi István University and takes place in the Athens University History Museum.
Key topics include:
Digital transformation and evolution in parliaments
Artificial Intelligence and policymaking
Disinformation and social media
Inter-parliamentary cooperation and parliamentary diplomacy
Democratic stability amid global changes
Submit your abstract and learn more about the event: https://hellenicocrteam.gr/4gcpc-cfp/
Abstract submission deadline: 28 February 2025
June 18-20: Inaugural Africa Regional Conference on Parliament and Legislation (AFRIPAL) (Kampala)
June 30: International Day of Parliamentarism/World Parliament Day (Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Worldwide)
September 15: International Day of Democracy (Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Worldwide)
October 19-23: 151st IPU Assembly and Related Meetings (IPU, Geneva, Switzerland)
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