Insights
Its time to reimagine parliaments—not simply as arenas of political struggle, but as institutions designed to learn. This shift in perspective is not cosmetic; it is essential. Only by recognising and investing in parliamentary learning can we begin to fortify these institutions against the mounting pressures they face. At a time of deep democratic uncertainty, both parliamentarians and citizens must understand what parliaments is truly for—and why they are worth protecting.
Why Parliaments Learn
Most people—citizens and politicians alike—tend to view parliaments with a mix of frustration and disappointment. We assume their dysfunction is a moral failure, or worse, that it reflects some deeper flaw in democracy itself. The truth is: being a parliamentarian is one of the hardest jobs in the world. There’s no training manual. No required qualifications. No clear job description. MPs are elected to represent the people—but what that actually means in practice is open to constant interpretation. The confusion, the chaos, the steep learning curve—it’s all part of the design.
How parliaments Learn
Unlike other professions, parliaments have no single channel capable of meeting their diverse and ongoing learning needs. Beyond basic socialisation and party-led training, they are largely left to their own devices. In the best cases, professionalisation programmes offer structured onboarding to help new MPs situate themselves within the wider governance system—but such initiatives remain the exception, not the norm. As a result, parliaments often outsource learning to a patchwork of external actors: other legislatures, regional networks, or legislative strengthening programmes. These efforts, while well-meaning, are typically fragmented, policy-driven, and time-intensive—offering limited support for the full range of institutional, organisational, and informational demands MPs face. It’s time to move beyond this ad hoc approach. Parliaments must reflect on how they learn if they are to build more coherent, intentional, and fit-for-purpose modes of learning.
What parliaments learn
Because parliaments have no fixed function, no job description, and no formal entry requirements for MPs, they are learning institutions by design. What they must learn falls into three distinct domains. Institutional learning is about identity—how a parliament understands what it stands for, how it reflects the values of society, and how it re-presents the public across time. This kind of learning is philosophical, cultural, and symbolic. Organisational learning is more operational. It involves the internal systems, processes, and roles that allow a parliament to function—to translate debate into action. And informational learning addresses the constant demand for substantive knowledge across every policy domain. Together, these three learning domains shape not only what parliaments do, but who they become.