Media coverage influences the parliamentary agenda. Research in many different European countries has shown that MPs ask parliamentary questions or initiate debate about the news of the day. Julie Sevenans, Stefaan Walgrave and Debby Vos examine why they do so, by investigating whether Belgian politicians’ media responsiveness is influenced by their political goals. They find […]
As the refugee crisis intensifies and pressure mounts for a pan-Europe strategy, Melanie Henwood examines the confused debate and argues that Britain must not stand by as a mere spectator to an unfolding tragedy. Similar PostsBook Review | Refuge Beyond Reach: How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers by David Scott FitzGeraldBook review | Asylum after Empire: […]
London is the United Kingdom’s pre-eminent city, with enormous global economic clout. Here, Richard Brown argues that in order to thrive, more radical thinking than we have seen recently will be needed to ensure that the Capital’s governance structures and range of powers is appropriate for the modern age. Similar PostsAssessing England’s metro-mayors: a mixed […]
Does adopting a constitution lead to better democracy? Not necessarily, write Todd A. Eisenstadt, A Carl LeVan, and Tofigh Maboudi, who studied 138 constitutions from a 37 year-period. They find that in many countries, the constitution-making processes did not incorporate broad public consultation, meaning that the drafters were often able to grab power by codifying benefits […]
The economy was one of the defining issues of the recent General Election, which research suggesting that Labour’s relative reputational weakness was a reason behind their defeat. Here, Mark Kayser and Arndt Leininger show that voters often respond to the ‘reported’ state of the economy, rather than the actual economy – with democratic implications. Similar PostsBook Review […]
The previous Coalition government talked a lot about localism, and the current majority Conservative government has made progress on its ‘northern powerhouse’ agenda. Now, the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill is going through parliament. Laird Ryan casts an eye over the current state of policy and the debate, and asks who’s likely to benefit, […]
Shauneen Furlong was one of the guiding lights of Canada’s transition from paper-based to online government. At the 2015 CeDem conference, she spoke to Democratic Audit’s Sean Kippin. In part two of this interview, she discusses how Canada incentivised its public servants and persuaded the public that digital was the future, and what lay behind their […]
The Northern Powerhouse project has picked up steam, with the Chancellor George Osborne using the policy to give Greater Manchester greater heft. This, and events in Scotland, have put regional and local devolution firmly on the agenda. Here, Ian Martin promotes an event which aims to bring people together in the Yorkshire area to think […]
The radical right has had a good few years, with the economic crisis providing fertile ground for a political discourse centred around immigration and economic injustice. Conrad Ziller and Thomas Schübel share research which shows that one of the key, though overlooked, drivers of the rise of parties like the Finns Party in Finland and the […]
A new book by Emma Crewe explores the day to day lives of Members of Parliament as they cycle through the House of Commons. MPs are pushed and pulled by various interests and allegiances. Marion Koob finds The House of Commons: An Anthropology of MPs at Work insightful, and is a strong case for anthropologists […]
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