Informing and engaging citizens
Evidence from abroad suggests that mixed legislative systems have much to commend them, but close attention must be paid to national contexts
Different countries use different electoral systems, with one key variant being the number of elected representatives in each district or constituency. Timothy S. Rich argues that context is important in assessing the desirability of mixed legislative systems, which on paper have much to commend them to electoral reformers. Most legislative systems in democracies use one […]
First past the post: when you can lose and still win
In this post, Jack Blumenau, Chris Hanretty, Benjamin Lauderdale, and Nick Vivyan aka the electionforecast.co.uk team discuss the likely relationship between seats and votes in the 2015 general election. They show that the geographical distribution of support for smaller parties can lead to large discrepancies in the numbers of votes required to win extra seats. Additionally, they calculate the […]
Populism has been used to describe countless and often conflicting political parties, but it can be defined
There are different area-based bodies of literature on populism, which generally define the concept in slightly different ways. As a result, the term ‘populism’ has been attached to a wide variety of political actors. Is it an unfortunate coincidence that the same word has been used for completely different parties and politicians, or is it […]
Fierce but short-lived: How does economic crisis affect political participation?
The Great Recession that hit Europe in 2008 led to the loss of millions of jobs and soaring levels of unemployment. In a recent study, Anna Kern, Sofie Marien and Marc Hooghe investigate whether the recent crisis depresses or boosts levels of political participation in Europe. They find that economic growth is positively associated with elite […]
Contrary to popular opinion, business actors are less successful than citizen groups at lobbying EU legislators
How powerful are business interests in lobbying for changes to EU legislative proposals? Andreas Dür, Patrick Bernhagen and David Marshall present findings from an analysis of 70 legislative proposals introduced by the European Commission between 2008 and 2010. They note that contrary to popular opinion, business actors proved far less successful than citizen groups at […]
Citizens’ assemblies provide an institutional foothold for republican political practices
Calls for a UK citizens convention to assess and rethink our current political and democratic arrangements have been frequently heard in the wake of the referendum on Scottish independence, held last autumn. John Grant argues that these conventions can be useful in providing an institutional foothold for republican ideas, which have struggled to find a policy […]
‘Hashtag activism’ is not the solution to democratic inequality
The internet offers of swathe of new opportunities for democratic interaction, but how does this affect engagement levels among different groups? In this Policy Network repost, Mark Hooghe, Sofie Marien, and Jennifer Oser argue that what they term ‘hashtag activism’ is an inadequate solution to democratic equality. Similar PostsCan voters influence social policy?How can […]
20 things we learned about democracy in February 2015
February is the shortest month of the year, but with May’s General Election waddling ever closer, democracy factoids are never far away. Here, Democratic Audit UK’s Sean Kippin rounds up 20 more inane, amusing, and occasionally interesting bits of trivia and research for your amusement. Similar Posts20 things we learned about democracy in March 201520 […]
An Athenian solution to democratic discontent
New forms of contact democracy and innovative forums that allow political and economic institutions to deliberate with citizens are important steps in the long-term battle to renew representative democracy for the 21st century. They should not be seen as a threat to formal systems of government but as important add-ons that enrich democracy and give […]
The answer to the crisis of democracy is not to abandon the ritual of voting on election day
Election day is a time when citizens, it could be said, come together to share in their democratic inheritance. Reforms – some old and some new – aimed at increasing electoral participation such as early, postal, and proxy voting, have undermined this, according to Graeme Orr. Similar Posts
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