Parliamentary Research Services in New Zealand, Australia and Canada: Parliamentary Party Research Units, Parliamentary Library Research Services and Personal Research Assistants

Abstract

Research support for parliamentarians in Westminster legislatures is an under researched but important area of study. The subject area matters because expectations of both legislatures and Members in increasingly specialised and pluralist societies require that Members be able to call upon a diverse range of high quality research providers. Studies to date have tended to focus exclusively on single country examinations of one of the three 'first tier' research providers: parliamentary party research units, parliamentary library research services or personal research assistants. Building upon an understanding of the specific roles of legislatures and Members, the thesis sets out the ideal characteristics of research arrangements within a Westminster parliament. The evolution, structure, role and impact of first tier parliamentary research services in New Zealand, Australia and Canada are analysed in detail. Also considered in the wider research environment are 'second tier' research providers such as parliamentary committee research services and extra-parliamentary party research departments. Asking basic questions about why and how research services have developed and about their place in the political system fills a gap in the literature on the functioning of legislatures and allows for a normative approach to identifying what services are required and how they should be organised. Specifically, the comparative dimension of the project provides a context for assessing whether the needs of the New Zealand legislature and its Members are met by the existing range and quality of research providers. The thesis finds that existing arrangements fail to meet those needs.