The 76th Conference of the International Commission for the History of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions was held in Toledo in the first week of September. The event was hosted by the University of Castile-La Mancha, the Junta of Communities of Castilla‐La Mancha, the Cortes of Castile-La Mancha and the Toledo City Council. Representatives of all the institutions involved attended the opening ceremony to greet the participants. During their speeches they stressed the importance of the study of parliamentary democracy for the present day.
Members of our team presented their papers during the third and fourth conference days. In the session on Central European parliamentarism, Martin Klečacký gave a presentation entitled Mayors to Deputies? Self-Government Bodies and Political Representation in Bohemia 1861‒1913. Věra Slováková spoke on the topic of Changes in the socio-professional structure of Bohemian deputies in the Austrian Imperial Council. In the following panel with predominantly Hungarian themes, Judith Pál presented her research on Parliamentary representation of the Transylvanian towns during the dualism (1867‒1918).
Other members of our team spoke during the last conference day. It was opened by Ovidiu-Emil Iudean with his paper University professorship, a "reward" for political loyalty? The Romanian pro-governmental representatives in the Parliament of dualist Hungary who headed the department of Romanian language and literature at the University of Budapest. This was followed by Daniela Marza and her presentation named A Prosopographical Analysis of Parliamentarians in Interwar Transylvania (1919-1937). Alice Velková and Vlad Popovici compared Bohemia and Transylvania in their paper New states, rising elites? Local politicians and parliamentary elections in Bohemia and Transylvania (1919‒1920). Andrei Florin Sora presented his research on Too Many 'Regățeni'? The Regional Origin of the MPs from Transylvania in the Romanian Parliament (1919-1926).
During the discussions that followed at the end of each session, experts offered thought-provoking questions and inspiring comments. Participants had the unique chance to see several buildings associated with local government and parliamentary representation. In particular, the Parliament of Castile-La Mancha and the Fuensalida Palace, where the President of the Junta of Communities resides. The organisers also offered a guided tour of the city, during which it was possible to learn more about Toledo's rich history. For our team members, the event was also one of the last opportunities to see each other in person and discuss the completion of project tasks, especially publications.
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