The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 was passed this year, and introduced a range of measures including the empowerment of the Charities Commission to ‘crack down’ on potential abuses of the sector from financial abuses. Here, Nicole Bolleyer and Anika Gauja look at the practical impact of the legislation, and ask what the […]
We are surrounded by simple online participatory processes asking for our opinions through one-click online petitions, content sharing, and social buttons. Max Halupka discusses his article Clicktivism: A Systematic Heuristic, which emphasises that this so-called “clicktivism” is a legitimate political act. However, he argues that these acts have been largely marginalised in the mainstream political science […]
Less than a year after the election, average polls suggest that Labour continue to poll at about the same level or worse than the 2015 result. Anthony McDonnell writes that this is worrying for the Left, as previous trends indicate their poll numbers usually rise significantly relative to the Conservatives’ within months of the Tories […]
Voter Advice Applications have been on the rise in recent years. These websites and apps match users to a particular political party based on a set of questions about their attitudes to different policies and political statements. Verto, launched last year, has been rebooted for the London Mayoral election. Here, Oliver Sidorczuk, Emily Rainsford, and […]
Politicians who guarantee greater transparency frequently find their promises coming back to haunt them. Ben Worthy writes that although the Prime Minister has done nothing against the law, his high profile bid to tackle tax evasion and castigation of tax dodgers in the past left him open to charges of hypocrisy when his own tax affairs came under the spotlight […]
Many of the important political parties in European democracies today (including the UK Liberal Democrats) resulted from the permanent unification of smaller parties. Such mergers can have major consequences on party competition, electoral outcomes and government formation. Raimondas Ibenskas discusses the results of a recent comparative study on party mergers in 24 European democracies by […]
How has ‘the networked public’ contributed to the development of new social movements, strategies of resistance and an evolving relationship between the state and society in the realm of the everyday? In Networked Publics and Digital Contention: The Politics of Everyday Life in Tunisia, Mohamed Zayani takes Tunisia as a case study, drawing upon fieldwork, […]
Opponents of the UK’s continued membership of the European Union have been known to invoke the Commonwealth as an alternative political and economic union based on Britain’s former empire. Here, Andrew Dilley argues that it is a mistake to do so, with this notion resting on misguided thinking. Similar PostsThe UK’s renegotiation: What a fair […]
Opinion polls on the UK’s upcoming referendum have consistently shown a clear generational divide, with younger voters more likely to support staying in the EU than older citizens. Using recent survey data, James Sloam assesses the factors underpinning this split, noting that if young people have such a distinct position on the EU, it is […]
Steve Goodrich assesses the significance of the Panama papers leak for the UK and writes that evidence so far raises serious questions over the role of British intermediaries and the UK property market in facilitating global corruption. He outlines several recommendations for steps the government can and should take if it is serious about preventing […]
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