Workshop Parliaments in the Global South:  Challenges and Transformations 

09:00-09:50

Inauguration

Auditorio Pablo González Casanova IIS-UNAM.

Khemvirg Puente, Workshop Organizing Committee
Irina Khmelko, Chair IPSA RC08
Azul Aguiar Aguilar, President Mexican Political Science Association
Alejandro Chanona Burguete, Director UNAM-FCPyS
Marcela Amaro Rosales, Director UNAM-IIS
Miguel Armando López Leyva, UNAM-Coordinator of Humanities

10:00-11:45

Keynote Panel “Parliaments in the Global South: Challenges and Transformations”
Auditorio Pablo González Casanova IIS-UNAM

Professor Irina Khmelko [In person], University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, United States.
Professor Shirin M. Rai [Online], SOAS University of London
Chair: Mónica Lara Escalante, UNAM-IIS.

12:00-13:30

Panel 1. Representation and Executive Power
Auditorio Pablo González Casanova IIS-UNAM

G.K.A. Chaminda Kumara Kularatne and Sanath Wijesinghe (Sri Lanka) [In person] — “Executive Dominance and Legislative Constraints: The Transformation of Parliamentary Law-Making in Sri Lanka”
Sylvia Katua (Kenya) [Online] — “Primary and Secondary Oversight in Devolved Governance: Rethinking Legislative Accountability through Kenya’s County Assemblies and Senate”
Héctor Manuel Villarreal Beltrán (Mexico) [In person] — “Thirty Years of Proportional Representation in Mexico: Legislative Expertise or Party Leadership in the Chamber of Deputies?”
Mónica Lara Escalante (Mexico) [In person] — “Deferred Aggrandizement: Executive Legislative Strategy under Extreme Minority in Costa Rica, 2018–2026”
Elizabeth Kemigisha (Uganda) [Online] — “Citizen Participation and Public Confidence in Parliament: Reflections from Uganda”
Chair/Discussant [In person]: Francisco Valdés Ugalde, UNAM-IIS.

Panel 2. Parliamentary Oversight, Constraints and Disinformation
Sala 2 del Auditorio Pablo González Casanova IIS-UNAM

Pedro Antonio Valdez Lizarraga and Yadira del Carmen Coronado Toto (Mexico) [In person] — “Legislating the Cost of Exclusion: Structural Friction, Social Metrology, and Inclusive Law-Making in Sinaloa, Mexico”
Abdiqani Abdullahi Ahmed (Somalia) [Online] — “Countering Asymmetric Disinformation: Building Digital Verification Frameworks within State Media Under Resource Constraints”
Daira Arana Aguilar and Edgar Alejandro García Villaseñor (Mexico) [In person] — “Parliamentary Oversight of the Armed Forces in Mexico: Mechanisms of Legislative Control during the Peña Nieto Administration (2012-2018)”
Adela Santos (Switzerland) and Khemvirg Puente (Mexico) [In person] — “When polarization goes unchecked: legislative oversight and the domestic anchoring of global health governance”
Shahriar Khonsari (Iran) [Online] — “Guardianship and Constraint: Parliamentary Politics in Iran under Hybrid Authority”
Chair/Discussant [In person]: Gerardo Bonilla Alguera, Instituto Mora

Panel 2BIS. Parliaments, Democratic Erosion and Authoritarianism
(Virtual Room 1)

Osnat Akirav (Israel) — “Measuring Parliamentary Democratic Erosion”.
Emilia Simison (United Kingdom) and Alejandro Bonvecchi (Argentina) — “Budgetary policy in an authoritarian congress”
Ayan Das (India) — “Restoring Institutional Trust: Left-Populist Discourse and Re democratization in 1970s West Bengal, India”
Akhila Gangadhar Basalalli (India) — “International Human Rights Instruments: Indian Parliament’s Selective Compliance”
Ainara Mancebo (South Africa) — “Strengthening and weakening of parliamentary oversight in South Africa: The role of a multiparty system versus a one-party dominance system in a reactive legislative type”
Chair/Discussant [Online]: Sven T. Siefken, German Federal University of Applied Administrative Sciences, Germany

13:30–16:00 Lunch break

16:00-17:30

Panel 3. Parliamentary Oversight and Mechanisms of Accountability
(Virtual Room 1)

Omme Habiba (United States) — “Institutional Continuity and the Timing of Human Security: How Legislative Oversight and Coercive Inertia Shape Post-Transition Repression in South Asia”
Rut Bermejo-Casado (Spain) — “Executive Decree‑Making and Migration Governance in the Global South: Parliaments, Urgency and Democratic Accountability”
Maria del Rocio Tapia López (Mexico) — “Informal practices in open parliament in Mexico (2018-2024)”
Chair/Discussant: Anahi Gutierrez Luna, UNAM-FCPyS

Panel 4. Alternative Paths to Accountability
(Virtual Room 2)

Abeer Mohammed Alahmari (Saudi Arabia) — “Courtrooms as Parallel Legislative Corridors: The Role of Litigation Attorneys in Identifying Regulatory Gaps and Guiding Legislative Reform”
James Alabi (United Kingdom) — “Hostage or Zombies? Legislature and Collusion of Deference in Democratic Backsliding in Nigeria”
Donnet Rose Adhiambo Odhiambo (Germany) — “From Critique to Reform: Comparing the Institutional Evolution of the ECOWAS Parliament, the East African Legislative Assembly, and the European Parliament”
Aliyu Muhammadsunusi Ubangida (Brazil) — “Between Elections: Citizen Contact, Perceived Responsiveness and Legislative Legitimacy in Nigeria”
Chair/Discussant: Edwin Atilano, UNAM-FES Acatlán

Panel 5. Legislative Autonomy and Executive Power
(Virtual Room 3)

Alonso Barandiarán Argote (Peru) — “The Parliamentarization of Presidentialism in Peru: Crisis, Legislative Expansion, and Bicameral Reform.”
René Rejón (Australia) and Sergio Bárcena Juárez (Mexico) — “’Al diablo las instituciones’? Democratic backsliding and illiberal language in Mexico”
André Leite Araujo and Beatriz Walid de Magalhães (Brazil) — “Beyond the Rubber Stamp: Time, Bargaining, and Legislative Autonomy in Brazilian Foreign Policy”
Carlos Vázquez Ferrel (Mexico) — “Knowledge in Legislative Foreign Policy Making: The Mexican Congress and the U.S.–Mexico Bilateral Relationship”
Chair/Discussant: Raúl Zepeda Gil, UNAM-FES Acatlán

Panel 6. Fiscal Oversight, Parties and Coalitions
(Virtual Room 4)

João Vitor Bezerra de Souza and Marconi Aurélio e Silva (Brazil) — “Nacionalização Partidária e políticos populistas no Brasil (2010-2022)”
Eliana Mabel Logwiniuk Villalba (Paraguay) — “Rubber-Stamp Legislatures? Parliamentary Oversight of Public Procurement Reform in Paraguay, Kenya, and the Philippines”
José Said Sánchez Martínez (Mexico) — “The Risks of Partisan Dominance in Mexico’s Subnational Legislatures”
Ana Beatriz Bexiga Dutra (Brazil) — “The Politics of Legislative Amendment in Presidential Coalitions”
Ellen Ying-Shiou Kao and James Kan (Taiwan) — “Measuring What Parliaments Cannot or Will Not Disclose: Indicator Negotiation as a Diagnostic of Legislative Constraint in Southeast and South Asia”
Chair/Discussant: Jose Antonio Sevilla, UNAM-FCPyS

18:00-19:30

Panel 7. When Oversight Fails
(Virtual Room 1)

Elkanah Oluyori (Nigeria) — “When Parliaments Withdraw: Civil Society Substitution Accountability and Legislative Failure in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria”
Yolani Fernando (Sri Lanka) — “The Accountability Deficit”
Nwaogu Gideon Chimeremeze Ogbonna (Nigeria) — “Legislative Oversight and National Development in Nigeria: A Comparative Analysis of the 8th and 9th National Assemblies”
Victoria Boniface Makulilo and Ibrahim Roman Kavula (Tanzania) — “Citizen Engagement in the Digital Era: Prospects and Constraints for Parliamentary Trust and Legitimacy in Tanzania”
Chair/Discussant: Carlos Torrealba, UNAM-IIS

Panel 8. Executive Dominance in South Asia
(Virtual Room 2)

Komal Karwa (India) — “Drafting Accountability: Legislative Oversight, Executive Dominance, and the Politics of Parliamentary Questions in India’s Lok Sabha”
Anshul Dalmia (India) — “Time, Courts and the Constitution: Analysing the Relationship of India’s Parliament with Democratic Backsliding”
Sovik Mukherjee (India) — “The Political Economy of Parliamentary Transformation: Executive Dominance and Democratic Accountability in Contemporary India”
Abhradeep Shill (India) — “The Loyalty Trap: Anti-Defection Laws and Parliamentary Dissent in South Asia”
Chair/Discussant: Josafat Cortéz, UNAM-FCPyS

Panel 9. Silence, Dissent and Decree
(Virtual Room 3)

Milagros Campos (Perú) — “Peru: Changes in Congress or Changes in the System of Government?”
Chofor Che Christian Aime (Cameroon) — “Reflexive Constitutionalism and the Echoes of the Executive: Comparing the Silent Halls of the Cameroonian Parliament and the Resonant Chambers of the Mexican Congress”
Dipak Kumar Biswas and Erik S. Herron (United States) — “Dissent or Silence? Loss Aversion, Omission Bias, and Parliamentary Questioning in Bangladesh’s Energy Sector”
Anagh (India) — “The Indian Parliament in an Age of Democratic Backsliding: Legislative Transformation under Contemporary Authoritarianism”
Chair/Discussant: Camilo Saavedra, UNAM-IIJ

Panel 10. Backsliding and Autocratization
(Virtual Room 4)

Amar Kumar (India) — “Parliamentary Decline in Indian Democracy: Executive Dominance and the Crisis of Legislative Accountability”
Sajad Ali (United Kingdom) — “Political Polarization: A threat to governance and Democracy in Pakistan”
Debajit Goswami and Ayan Das (India) — “Constitutional Resilience versus Institutional Erosion: A Comparative Study of Parliamentary Trajectories in India and Bangladesh (2025–2026)”
Sabhapandit Swarati (India) — “Sediments of Decline: Institutional Default, Majoritarian Mandate, and the Erosion of Parliamentary Deliberation in India”
Chair/Discussant: Isaac Cisneros, Colmex

09:00-09:50

Panel 11. Representation and Democratic Erosion
Aula Reforma Política de 1977 del Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas de la UNAM

Srijita Barui and Debajit Goswani (India) — “A comparative evaluation of legislative dominance between the BJP and the PTI (India and Pakistan)”
Washik Muhammod Istiaq Ezaz (Bangladesh) [Online] — “Numbers Without Voice: Reserved Seats, Party Discipline, and Women’s Representation in the Bangladesh Parliament”
Daniel Tacher Contreras (Mexico) [In person] — “Legislatures as Vehicles and Protagonists of Autocratic Legalism in Latin America”
Francisco Brandao and Lucas Pavelski (Brazil) [In person] — “Parliamentary Norm Erosion under Democratic Backsliding: Explaining the Rise of Uncivil Parliamentary Discourse in Brazil”
Chair/Discussant [In person]: Daira Arana, UNAM-IIS

10:30-12:00

Keynote Panel “Parliaments in the Global South: Decolonizing Parliamentary Studies”
Aula Reforma Política de 1977 del Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas de la UNAM

Professor Emma Crewe [In person], SOAS University of London, United Kingdom.
Chair: Guadalupe Salmorán [In person], UNAM-IIJ.

12:00-13:30

Panel 12. Monitoring, AI and Clientelism
Aula Reforma Política de 1977 del Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas de la UNAM

Mohammad Afzaal Rashid (India) [Online]— “Performance-Based Legitimacy and Consultative Governance in China: Reassessing Citizen Trust in the National People’s Congress”
Chemonges. M. Timothy and Tahunduka Joseph (Uganda) [Online] — “Parliamentary Monitoring Organisations and Legislative Accountability in the Global South: Practice Based Lessons from Parliament Watch Uganda”
Telma Hoyler, Gabriela Rosa and Angelica Colombo (Brazil) [In person] — “Brokers as Representatives: Rethinking Clientelism, Constituency-Making, and the Production of Trust in São Paulo’s City Council”
Carlos Eduardo Martinez Miranda (Mexico) [In person] — “Legislative Programmatic Agenda Strategies Among Mexican Ruling Parties”
Erik Roberto Cardona Gómez (United Kingdom), Fotis Fitsilis (Greece) and Sergio Bárcena (Mexico) [In person] — “Shadow AI and the Adoption-Rules Gap in the Congress of Mexico City”
Chair/Discussant [In person]: Joy Langston, Colmex

13:30–16:00 Lunch break

16:00-17:30

Panel 13. AI, Data and Discourse
(Virtual Room 1)

Muhammad Junaid Shah Bukhari (Pakistan) — “Legislative Priorities and Political Discourse in Pakistan: A Computational Social Science Analysis of National Assembly Debates (2008–2023)”
Fatema Mahmuda (Bangladesh) — “Responsible AI Governance (RAIG) for Legislatures: An Institutional Application of the RAIG Framework to Parliaments in the Global South”
Sonu Kumar and Sonu Kumar Jha (India) — “Constitutional Democracy and Women’s Leadership in India: Emerging Trends after the 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023”
Arijit Ghosh and Debajit Goswami (India) — “Manufactured Majorities: Digitally Mediated Populism and Algorithmic Representation in the BJP and PTI”
Apoorv Katoch and Abhinav Kumar (India) — “Parliamentary Debates, Unparliamentary Humour: Performative Representation, and Informality in the Indian Parliament”
Chair/Discussant: Sergio Bárcena Juárez, TEC Monterrey CCM

Panel 14. The AI Governance Gap
(Virtual Room 2)

Mohamed Hussien Abdelaziz (Egypt) — “Parliamentary Readiness for AI Governance in Emerging Economies: Institutional Capacity, Regulatory Fragmentation, and Governance Challenges in the Global South”
Esma Yağmur Sönmez (Türkiye) — “When Politics Moves Elsewhere: Parliaments and Policy-Making in the Global South”
Mohammad Shekaib Alam, Tajudeen Sanni and Asna Ahmed (Maldives) — “Legislating without Capacity: Parliaments in the Global South and the Artificial Intelligence Governance Gap — Evidence from India, Nigeria and the Maldives”
Dora Papadopoulou (Greece) — “AI Governance in Technocratic Authoritarianism: The Case of China’s NPC”
Chair/Discussant: Stephany Echeverría, UNAM-FCPyS

Panel 15. Gender, Rights and Selection
(Virtual Room 3)

Valerie Patricia Marchena Montalvo (France) — “Historical recognition or pragmatism?: The approval of parity and alternation in Peru (2019-2020)”
Alena Gribanova (Italy) — “Rights Without Bearers: Parliament, Migrant Healthcare and the Limits of Legislative Responsiveness in South Africa, 2019–2026”
Adeola Ogundotun (Germany) — “Speaking for Women, Competing for Selection: Legislative Advocacy and Candidate Re-Selection in Sub-Saharan African Legislatures”
Carlos Shenga (Mozambique) — “Legislators’ Qualities and Legislative Performance in the Mozambique One-Dominant-Party System”
Chair/Discussant: Karolina Gilas, UNAM-FCPyS

Panel 16. Representation and Gender
(Virtual Room 4)

Jannatul Ferdous (Bangladesh) — “Beyond Representation: Gender, Power, and Parliamentary Transformation in South Asia”
Rajshree Dewal (India) — “Beyond Descriptive Representation: Parliamentary Inclusion and Minority Voices in the Global South”
Devanshi Mehta (India) — “The Exception That Remains: Performative Decolonization, Legislative Silence, and Colonial Legal Continuity in South Asian Parliaments”
Gautam Tiwari (India) — “Does Women’s Presence Change Parliament? Examining Women MPs and Gender‑Related Legislation in India”
Mudada Gaudencia (Zimbabwe) – “Algorithmic Welfare Targeting and Ethnicised Distributive Injustice in Zimbabwe: A Justice-First Theory of Parliamentary Oversight”
Chair/Discussant: Alejandra Gutiérrez Luna, UNAM-FES Acatlán

18:00-19:30

Panel 17. Trust, Contact and Rule of Law
(Virtual Room 1)

Yuki Okabe (Japan) — “Beyond Parliamentary Paralysis: Executive Substitution and Legislative Authority in Lebanon, 1950–2021”
Ebuwa Chimere Osarenren (Taiwan) — “Legislative Contingency and Public Distrust in Nigeria”
Adeboboye Taofeeq Adekunle (Nigeria) — “Rule of Law and Democratic Sustainability in Nigeria: An Analytical Assessment”
Akilan S. and Rekuna Joseph (India) — “Anti-Defection Law and the Merger Exception in India: A Constitutional and Comparative Analysis”
Chair/Discussant: Jonathan Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, UABC

Panel 18. Legislative Institutions and Lawmaking
(Virtual Room 2)

Soumya Sur (India) — “The Threats That Loom Over: Should India Reconstitute the Rajya Sabha Along the Lines of the U.S. Senate before Delimitation?”
Victor Odubah (Kenya) — “Parliamentarization of Regional Integration: A Critical Review of the Lawmaking Processes in the East Africa Community”
Vijay K. Tyagi and Himanshu Khanna (India) — “Private Members’ Bills and the Decline of Legislative Autonomy in India: Rethinking Parliamentarism under Executive Dominance and Party Discipline”
Omer Faruk Genckaya and Fahri Bakirci (Türkiye) — “Is the legislative process being expedited, or is it being bypassed? The Omnibus Law Practice in Turkey”
Chair/Discussant: Mariana Aparicio, UNAM-FCPyS

Panel 19. Parliamentary Capacity and Institutional Change
(Virtual Room 3)

Quency Otieno (Kenya) — “Functional Bicameralism Under Stress: The Concurrence Process and Parliamentary Transformation in Kenya”
Nádia Teresa dos Santos Loureiro (Portugal) — “International Parliamentary Organizations and Parliamentary Capacity in the Global South: Assessing Twenty Years of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean”
Álvaro Jesús Carbajal Rosas and Marianna Elvira Guzmán Sebastián (Peru) — “The crisis of Peruvian presidentialism: the interim administrations of Francisco Sagasti, José Jerí, and José Balcázar”
Raj Rajakulendran and Nishan de Mel (Sri Lanka) — “Do IMF Programme Negotiations Entrench Executive Dominance? Parliament and Public Finance”
Chair/Discussant: Vladimir Márquez Romero, UAM-I