The History of Parliament (United Kingdom) is planning a series of major conferences and workshops. We very much hope that EuParl partners will be closely involved in both events, all of which aim to draw comparative lessons across Europe and beyond. Funding is being sought for these events from a number of sources. Further details will be posted as they are available.

In June 2013 it will present a workshop on 'Parliaments and Mass Politics: European Lessons, 1789-2010'. Parliaments in Britain and elsewhere were originally assemblies of political elites, elected by elites, which deliberately tried to retain political control within a narrow circle.

This workshop is designed to explore the impact on Parliaments and their practices of the widening of formal participation in the political process from the late eighteenth century to the present day, as well as the rapid development of the mass media, and the growth of regulation of society and the economy. One key aim of the workshop is to understand how each country watched and drew on the experience of its neighbours in learning how to react to the new age, and how to adapt their legislatures to it.

In June 2014, the History is aiming to hold a workshop on the representation and politics of minorities in Parliaments, drawing comparative lessons from Europe about how minorities were (or were not) effectively integrated into national political systems.

In June 2015 the History will present a major conference on 'The Origins and Development of Constitutional Traditions', to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta and the 750th anniversary of the De Montfort Parliament. The conference will be linked to the annual conference of the International Commission for the History of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions.

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