Author Archive: Democratic Audit UK
Improving verbal learning in schools can increase political engagement and encourage voting later in life
Can education policymakers close achievements gaps in core subjects, and at the same time improve civic education and participation? In new research, Meghan Condon argues that they can; students who gain greater verbal skills in school, and who then do better academically, are also more likely to vote and volunteer as adults. She argues that […]
Answers to the Western democratic malaise may come from unexpected places
Tamas Wells writes that most of the solutions proposed to the current malaise of liberal democracy are drawn from the Western canon of political thought and questions whether the very nature of ‘established’ democracies challenges their ability to innovate. In this light, he suggests there could be lessons for the West from places like Myanmar […]
Government and ‘independent expertise’: think tanks represent a blind spot for critical analysis
Drawing on recent research about UK think tanks, austerity and social policy, Hartwig Pautz and Elke Heins examine the relationship between government and the world of ‘independent expertise’. Focusing on one example, the Centre for Social Justice’s influence over Conservative ministers’ social policies, they find that some relationships are often very close. The public commentary provided by non-independent think tanks […]
Book Review: Taking Power Back: Putting People in Charge of Politics by Simon Parker
In Taking Power Back: Putting People in Charge of Politics, Simon Parker argues for urgent reform of the UK’s centralised democracy. Tony Travers welcomes this book as a well-researched account that both outlines the historical decline of local government in the UK and proposes innovations through which citizens can gain more direct control over their […]
Whether Britain stays in the EU or not, there’s a democratic deficit that must be addressed
With a New Year and the holiday season coming to an end, the EU referendum campaign is heating up. Josiah Mortimer writes that since our membership of European Union is a crucial constitutional issue, there’s one issue that can’t be ignored: democracy. Similar PostsBook review: Slippery Slope: Europe’s Troubled Future, by Giles MerrittOpen Letter to […]
The Vote at 16 in 2016: Three things campaigners must do now
Hopes that 16 and 17-year olds might be allowed to vote in the EU referendum were quickly quashed by the government at the end of 2015. Benjamin Bowman considers where those pushing for the extension of suffrage should go from here. He argues that campaigners need to refocus on the core issues in the new year and […]
Distorting Discourse: Transparent debate needs sincerity, not soundbites
‘Big Society’ and ‘green government’ disappeared, tax credits policy U-turned twice while still imposing cuts, and ‘economically responsible’ austerity ignored economists’ criticisms and evidence of exacerbated poverty. Liam Anderson argues that, while certainly not unique to this cabinet, the disconnect between rhetoric and action characterises their communications with the public generally. This lacks sincerity and […]
Five minutes with Charles Taylor: “In order to make ourselves safe we need to resist stigmatising sections of the population”
In December, the Canadian philosopher Professor Charles Taylor gave a lecture at LSE entitled Democracy, Diversity, Religion. During his visit, Democratic Audit’s Sonali Campion spoke to him about democracy’s inbuilt weaknesses, and how European governments need to resist veering towards exclusion in responding to the challenges posed by the Paris attacks and ISIS. Professor Charles Taylor speaking at […]
The nonreligious are a hidden majority in Britain
Filling out all sorts of forms often and increasingly includes the disclosure of faith, under which the option ‘none’ frequently appears. Yet it is unclear how homogenous the beliefs of those who comprise the category are, while the term ‘nonreligious’ is often equated with established atheist views. Lois Lee explains that this lack of understanding […]
The best of Democratic Audit’s 2015 Devolution coverage
In the wake of the Scottish referendum, the debate around devolution in the UK, and in England more narrowly, has intensified. This post features some of Democratic Audit’s best 2015 analysis of national, regional and sub-regional devolution. Similar PostsEngland’s local elections 2018: the unusual case of Sheffield City Region’s mayoral contestThe current talks in Northern Ireland exemplify […]
Democratic Audit's core funding is provided by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Additional funding is provided by the London School of Economics.