Political commentators often make fun of other political commentators when they complain that the public is stupid. Yet, maybe we all do something similar – assume that most people make quick, emotional and habitual decisions to turn a complex world into a series of simple actions. In that sense, the ‘realistic’ political campaigns (and some […]
With the General Election now firmly behind us, we are beginning to gain a better sense of what it was that proved decisive when the votes were counted on the night of Thursday May 5th, and the Conservatives gained their first majority government since 1992. Rafael Malek shares research from BritainThinks which shows that national […]
Voting for Jeremy Corbyn as leader is a gut reaction to Labour’s electoral defeat. Corbyn does point to some real economic problems facing Britain but his policies are based largely on the kind of wishful thinking that is endemic in UK politics and both blights Labour’s past. His popularity lies in Labour’s failure to defend […]
Contemporary democracy is often thought to have its roots in ancient Greece and the renaissance, with the long march to truly represented in some parts of the world still incomplete. Here, Jørgen Møller explores democracy’s medieval roots, as well as the history of state building during this period. Similar Posts
In his latest offering, The Lure of Technocracy, Jüregen Habermas argues for Europe to continue working towards a closer political union based upon a discourse-theoretical model of politics. Elizabeth Folan O’Connor writes that this model can help the continent reach a ‘place where the all the nations of Europe stand alongside each other as equals in a democratically legitimate political union as […]
The SNP swept the board at the 2015 General Election, with the party winning all but two parliamentary seats (al beit in an unrepresentative First Past the Post election). One of their number Stephen Gethins argues that Westminster has much to learn from the way Holyrood has worked in recent years, and that his party […]
At the 2015 General Election in May, the Conservative Party won a majority in the House of Commons. However, they are far from having one in the House of Lords, which has a very different composition. Here, Hannah White considers the significance of recent defeats in the House of Lords at the start of the new […]
Since the global financial and Eurozone crises hit Western economies, a process of change has been underway which has seen a new model of technocratic financial and economic governance take hold across Europe. Alexander Ruser argues that these reforms – born of a desire to save the Euro “at all costs” could see democracy eventually […]
Jeremy Corbyn has become the unlikely frontrunner in the Labour leadership contest, leapfrogging the previous favourites Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham, and leaving the right-wing Liz Kendall a distant fourth favourite. Few expected this outcome, but while there is obviously an appetite for something ‘different’ in the Labour Party following a second consecutive election loss, Tom […]
The North East Combined Authority has had a quiet start to its life, in stark contrast to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority which was launched last year to great fanfare. The North East differs from Greater Manchester is the comparitive lack of unity between the constituent councils and council regions, and as John Fenwick argues, […]
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