Is remote work adapted to MPs’ activities?

VSLike many French, MPs discovered teleworking during the first confinement: from March 17 to April 27, 2020, only three elected officials per group could access the half-cycle of the Palais-Bourbon. Activities outside the National Assembly have also been disrupted due to the Covid-19 crisis.

for several months “ Video conference has occupied itself in almost all aspects of parliamentary work”to anthropologist Jonathan Chiboys, in a study by the Social Science Foundation. It has become a rule in relations with political groups, Cabinets of Ministers, prefectures and socio-economic, associative or political partners, as well as in individual standing committees of the Assembly.

What is the opinion of the deputies regarding this unprecedented moment? their activity According to them, does it open up to new communication technologies? Jonathan Chiboys interviewed them at length about this experience in the summer of 2022. And their answers are very contrasting.

Although they all recognize that remote work has brought flexibility to their daily lives, they are happy that in exceptional cases it has been possible to continue parliamentary tasks, confirming that this has increased the autonomy of the participants of the National Assembly. They come to different conclusions: some consider it a threat to parliamentary work, while others consider it an opportunity.

“Strong” vs. “Excluded”

for “strong” The physical presence of the Assembly (most deputies, as well as elected representatives of urban districts, rich and close to the capital) is in Paris “critical importance”, notes Jonathan Chiboys. Because they conduct their political struggle, not only in the committees and hemicycle, but above. “Through Strategies of Influence in Paris Circles: Ministerial Workshops and Informal Exchanges Around Committee Work or Social Events” –Telecommuting is very bad news for them: it robs them of valuable relays within the executive branch.

Opposition MPs who “They really don’t have the opportunity to speak on an equal footing with their colleagues from the majority”, Also elected representatives of districts far from Paris, plebiscite, on the other hand, remote work.