A Visit to the Houses of Parliament

London is calling! CSI offers a great variety of side-experiences that enrich the academic life with a practical perspective.

CBL International organised a day trip to companies, political institutions and museums in London. Students could visit BBC, the Bank of England Museum and the Houses of Parliaments.

My work in the German Parliament includes Presentations and Tours about the democratic development of the German Parliament. During the tour through the political centre in Westminster I felt at home. The political work in both centres – Berlin and London – has a comparable framework. Debating, voting and work in committees. Germany and most other nations in Europe are based on this tree-step. The great advantage the Houses of Parliament has is that they have a human, not a technical approach. For instance a electronic, only a written vote of the deputies is possible. I was as well surprised that despite many other nations Great Britain has not a written, but unwritten constitution. The constitution is shaped by experience and decades of great political practice. It is a flexible approach that comes with the drawback of being too adaptive.

The key values of the Germany parliament, which are transparency, growth and stability, differ from what is important in the house of parliaments. Even though the German Parliament has transparency as its core concept it is only possible in the house of parliaments to enter plenum and experience how it is to sit on the historic seats of the deputies.

In my future tour guiding as a political advisor I will from now on include a comparison to the British Parliament Style.

I am thankful for CSI for expanding my view on a democratic inner life of a nation.
The tour through London and the houses of parliament was a moving experience for every human that creates a willingness to engage in political change.

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