Author Archive: Democratic Audit UK
Charismatic and power-driven Prime Ministers are perceived as the most effective by voters
The field of political psychology has demonstrated that there are quantifiable psychological traits that impact the perceived efficacy of political leaders in the US, Russia and specific case studies of individual British Prime Ministers. In a recent study, Sam Rohrer drew on this literature to analyse psychological traits linked to great leadership for 20th century […]
The killing of British citizens without democratic oversight raises questions over the government’s use of drones
In August two British citizens were killed by British drones in Syria. The government has managed to avoid tough questions about the precise level of threat posed by the men to UK by conflating the right of an individual to self-defence with a state’s capacity to pre-emptive action. But Humeira Iqtidar writes that it remains […]
Transparency in the private sector is likely to evolve gradually through law, politics and experiment
Transparency discussions invariably focus on the public sector, leaving a significant gap when it comes to the private contractors and companies. In this article, Ben Worthy explores the laws, regulations and technological innovations which are gradually increasing transparency in the private sector. The focus of transparency is almost always on government and public bodies. However, […]
Prisoner voting rights are another intractable struggle over Europe’s architecture for protecting human rights
Last week, an appeal by a French prisoner to the EU’s top court against his voting ban revived the debate about prisoner voting rights in the UK. Colin Murray writes that although the appeal was unsuccessful, the ruling did not foreclose the possibility of future successful challenges to bans on prisoner voting. He suggests that it is highly likely […]
Understanding democracy as a product of citizen performances reduces the need for a defined ‘people’
In a paper recently presented at the 2015 APSA Annual Meeting, Liron Lavi addresses the conflict between the understanding of democracy as ‘the rule of the people’ and the fact that ‘the people’ will always be a heterogeneous, open, and dynamic concept. She writes that if democracy is understood as an effect produced by repetitive […]
The election of an ‘outsider’ as Labour leader is linked to new selection rules and the ideological alternative on offer
Conventional wisdom has it that rank outsiders do not become leaders of ‘mainstream’ British parties, yet Jeremy Corbyn now presides over the Labour Party. Pete Dorey and Andrew Denham reflect on the criteria which have fed into leadership selection before now and argue it was changes to the selection rules and the offer of a […]
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