Parliament in the Making was a programme of events organised by the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

to commemorate a series of anniversaries in 2015 including: * the sealing of

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

, on 15 June 1215, 800 years earlier * the first representative parliament, Simon de Montfort's Parliament, on 20 January 1265, 750 years earlier * the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected victory of the vastly outnumbered English troops agains ...

on 25 October 1415, 600 years earlier * the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

on 18 June 1815, 200 years earlier * the death of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

on 24 January 1965, 50 years earlier * the first Race Relations Act on 8 December 1965, 50 years earlier

Programme of events

The Houses of Parliament organised several events during 2015 as part of the "Parliament in the Making" programme. These included exhibitions and talks about Winston Churchill that covered his involvement with the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which from 1801 to 1922 represented Great Britain and Ireland. A broader exhibition looked at the development of

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and representation in the British Isles. The impact of Magna Carta on Parliament over the last 800 years was the subject of another exhibition. Furthermore, on Sunday 14 June 2015 at 3pm, Parliament encouraged everyone to "sit down to tea to celebrate, debate or reflect on their liberties" as part of an event called "LiberTeas".

Democracy Day

The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

broadcast a "Democracy Day" on 20 January 2015 to coincide with the 750th anniversary of Montfort's Parliament. It was broadcast in partnership with the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

and the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, including broadcasts from inside the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

. Montfort's parliament of 1265 was the first time that representatives of towns and shires were summoned together with nobles and bishops to discuss matters of national concern, something which ultimately paved the way for the emergence of the House of Commons. During the day, live discussions were held about

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

and

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

, which were participated in by people across the world. The first event was a discussion in the Speaker's House, led by

Michael Sandel Michael Joseph Sandel (; born March 5, 1953) is an American political philosopher and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, where his course ''Justice'' was the university's first course to be made fre ...

, professor of government at Harvard University, about democracy's "many facets, inherent tensions". Other discussions addressed open data and transparency in government; how the UK Parliament works;

women in government In many countries, women have been Political representation, underrepresented in the government and different institutions. , women were still underrepresented, but were increasingly being List of elected and appointed female heads of state, elec ...

; Islam and democracy; Africa and democracy; democracy and technology; and the influence of television dramas, in particular whether dramas such as The West Wing, Borgen or This House contribute to the public's understanding of the way politicians and government represent them or whether they adversely affect perceptions about this. BBC Radio hosted a discussion with the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom and the Ambassador of France to the United Kingdom. BBC News opened up its internal editorial meetings to live broadcasts. Articles published during the day include a review of memorable speeches from 750 years of Parliament, and a timeline of the development of democracy in the United Kingdom from 1215 to today.

Concurrent events

Taking place concurrently with the Parliament in the Making programme, there were other events celebrating the same themes and anniversaries. In particular, the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta was celebrated throughout the United Kingdom as well as in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and other countries. The BBC organised a season of programmes under the title "Taking Liberties". Consisting of television and radio broadcasts, as well as online content, these programmes addressed the history and influence of Magna Carta since its sealing eight centuries earlier. Programmes during the season also looked critically at contemporary democracy in the UK and worldwide. The

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

hosted an extensive exhibition under the title "Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy". The British Library described the exhibition as exploring "the history and significance of this globally-recognised document" which has become "a potent symbol of liberty and the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

". The exhibitions featured other celebrated international documents including Thomas Jefferson's handwritten copy of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

and an original copy of the

United States Bill of Rights The United States Bill of Rights comprises the first ten list of amendments to the United States Constitution, amendments to the United States Constitution. It was proposed following the often bitter 1787–88 debate over the Timeline of dr ...

. Furthermore, the four surviving original copies of the 1215 Magna Carta held by the British Library and the cathedrals of Lincoln and

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

were located in the same place for the first time ever at an event at the British Library on 3 February and displayed together again in Parliament on 5 February 2015.

Historical events in the development of Parliament

The Parliament in the Making programme was intended to "raise awareness of our democratic heritage with Parliament at the heart of the story". The following table summarises some of the main events in the development of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. During his May 2011

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of state, head of a sovereign state, sovereign country (or Governor-general, representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or ...

to the United Kingdom, United States President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

gave a speech to both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall which made reference to the role of Parliament in developing democracy, rights and liberties.

References

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External links