Archive for February, 2016
The survival of power sharing and devolution through another crisis is an achievement but the Northern Irish settlement remains fragile
The path to political “normalisation” has been a regular feature of debate about Northern Ireland over the past two decades, since the paramilitaries (mostly) laid down their arms and the main republican and unionist parties (mostly) committed to making a success of power-sharing and devolution. Akash Paun looks at the latest developments. Similar PostsAs Scotland […]
Interview: Alon Peled on open data, incentives, and ‘Traversing Digital Babel’
Governments across the world have attempted to improve their capacity for open data, with the UK improving its efforts since the turn of the decade markedly. Last year, Sean Kippin interviewed Alon Peled, an academic and computer software expert who has created an incentive-based system and programme for governmental informational sharing which he claims holds […]
Upbeat and in the margins: the British Trotskyist Left and their exceptionally poor election results
Only eight out of forty-one Trotskyist candidates secured more than one per cent of the vote in the 2010 general election. But how do parties cope with, and explain, such results? John Kelly writes that Trotskyist organisations saw the vote share as not reflecting the actual level of support for their policies. Many would also […]
The concept of class is absent from political debate, even as inequality in Britain reaches new heights
In a recent statement, Labour’s Chuka Umunna seemed to suggest the BAME population form one homogeneous political group in the UK. Sean Swan argues this view is not only inaccurate but it perpetuates the perceived significance of ethnicity and diverts attention from more rational political cleavages. He writes that if Labour is to compete effectively […]
A dignity scale is needed for sustainable governance
Numerous forms of marginalisation or exclusion can exist in liberal democracies as well, and the mere existence of political rights does not guarantee a dignified life. Governments everywhere therefore need to give due attention to dignity as a central focus in policy-making, writes Nayef Al-Rodhan. In this long read he proposes a ‘human dignity framework’ […]
The Government’s plans to water down the release of Cabinet papers to the national archive are bad for democracy
The Government has announced plans to reform the frequency and comprehensiveness of what is released to the national archives. Here, in a Westminster Hall speech, Richard Burgon argues that recent history shows these reforms to be unhealthy for democracy. Similar PostsBook Review: The House of Commons: An Anthropology of MPs at Work by Emma CreweAllowing MPs […]
A two-way street: how to make immigration work
Opponents of immigration have two main concerns: that immigrants are bad for our economy because they force wages down, and bad for our culture for they are at odds with our liberal views. Here, Randall Hansen writes that anti-liberal attitudes need to be challenged whatever their source – minorities who oppose liberal values or Europeans […]
Three things that must happen for devolution to be a success: economic development, revenue generation, and democracy
If devolution is to be a success, argues Rachel Laurence, those who control devolution policy must ensure that it stimulates the kind of economic development that will improve the prosperity of all communities within the devolved areas, generates greater levels and control of revenue and capital for regional government, and creates meaningful democratic structures. Similar […]
The US presidential primary system is no way to run a democracy
Following the drama of last week’s Iowa caucuses, Michael Patrick Cullinane argues the primary system has a deeply insidious effect on America’s democracy and writes that there are obvious changes, such as grouping states in large blocs and standardising ballot processes across states, which could significantly improve the selection process. Similar PostsThe 2016 election is seeing the return of the […]
How democratic are the UK’s political parties and party system?
As part of the 2017 Audit of UK Democracy, Sean Kippin, Patrick Dunleavy and the DA team examine how democratic the UK’s party system and political parties are. Parties often attract criticism from those outside their ranks, but they have multiple, complex roles to play in any liberal democratic society. The UK’s system has many […]
Democratic Audit's core funding is provided by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Additional funding is provided by the London School of Economics.