The slow death of Hungarian popular sovereignty
By 23/01/2019 0 Comments Read More →

The slow death of Hungarian popular sovereignty

Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, is often accused of promoting a form of ‘illiberal democracy’, where governance is rooted in the popular support of a majority of the country’s citizens, but without a strong guarantee of minority rights and the rule of law. Lise Esther Herman argues that this criticism, which has been put forward by many of Orbán’s opponents, overlooks that it is not only liberal principles that are being trampled on in Hungary, but also the notion of popular sovereignty itself.

Posted in: EU politics, Populism
Party preferences and prior expectations moderate voters’ perceptions of winning and losing an election
By 22/01/2019 0 Comments Read More →

Party preferences and prior expectations moderate voters’ perceptions of winning and losing an election

What is the relationship between who you vote for in an election and satisfaction with the outcome? Looking at evidence from four countries, which span both majoritarian and proportional systems, Carolina Plescia finds that, beyond objective measures of party outcome, public opinion on which party has won or lost is affected by a party’s change in vote share, voters’ expectations, existing party preferences and the electoral system under which it is contested.

Posted in: Elections and electoral systems
Book Review | Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
By 19/01/2019 0 Comments Read More →

Book Review | Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild

In Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, Arlie Russell Hochschild explores the ‘deep story’ behind the rise of the Tea Party and Donald Trump in the USA, drawing on close contact with her research subjects over a five-year period of living in Louisiana. While the book may struggle to ultimately explain the origins of this phenomenon, writes Tim Winzler, Hochschild’s intense immersion in the field and her use of interconnected research methods make it a valuable contribution to sociological understanding of this topic. 

Posted in: Book reviews
Labour’s political calculations: explaining the party’s muddled policy on Brexit
By 18/01/2019 5 Comments Read More →

Labour’s political calculations: explaining the party’s muddled policy on Brexit

Why is Jeremy Corbyn ignoring calls for a second referendum, despite these being backed by a substantial part of his party’s membership, as well as by non-members? Eric Shaw explains the factors affecting Labour’s inability to agree on a clear and feasible Brexit policy, and warns that inevitably divisive decisions will have to be taken.

Posted in: political parties
Election petitions remain important to the integrity of UK elections, but reforms are urgently needed
By 16/01/2019 0 Comments Read More →

Election petitions remain important to the integrity of UK elections, but reforms are urgently needed

Until recently, widespread confidence about the integrity of UK elections meant that almost no information was available about election petitions, the only legal mechanism through which a UK election result can be challenged. Stuart Wilks-Heeg and Caroline Morris present significant new data about elections petitions from 1900 to 2016. Their findings fill an important gap in our historical knowledge about electoral integrity and inform current debates about the need to reform the petition mechanism.

Posted in: Elections and electoral systems
The House of Commons and the Brexit deal: A veto player or a driver of policy?
By 15/01/2019 0 Comments Read More →

The House of Commons and the Brexit deal: A veto player or a driver of policy?

If, as expected, the House of Commons rejects Theresa May’s EU Withdrawal Agreement, could it step in to determine what happens next? The House of Commons has not had to run anything directly since the Civil War in the 17th century, writes Andrew Kennon, and so could not long term: our political system depends on a government taking responsibility.

Posted in: Achieving accountable government, Parliament
‘Conceived in Harlesden’: When do candidates emphasise their local connections in UK general elections?
By 14/01/2019 0 Comments Read More →

‘Conceived in Harlesden’: When do candidates emphasise their local connections in UK general elections?

The personal characteristics of election candidates matter to voters. With election leaflets representing the most common form of contact voters have with Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPCs), when do leaflets emphasise a candidate’s personal traits and/or local connections? Caitlin Milazzo and Joshua Townsley use a dataset of more than 3,700 leaflets distributed during the 2015 and 2017 general elections to explore the conditions under which the personal characteristics of candidates appear in election communications.

Posted in: Elections and electoral systems
Book Review | The British General Election of 2017 by Philip Cowley and Dennis Kavanagh
By 12/01/2019 0 Comments Read More →

Book Review | The British General Election of 2017 by Philip Cowley and Dennis Kavanagh

In The British General Election of 2017, the latest in the venerable Nuffield series on British elections since 1945, Philip Cowley and Dennis Kavanagh explore one of the most extraordinary political events of the young century in the UK: the British general election of 2017. While not able to produce a fully coherent explanation of the results, the volume achieves the same skillful blend of narrative and analysis that we have come to expect from the series, with the help of excellent sourcing and well-chosen specialist contributors, writes Lawrence McKay.

Posted in: Book reviews, General Election 2017
When do central governments decentralise? When it benefits the party in power
By 11/01/2019 1 Comments Read More →

When do central governments decentralise? When it benefits the party in power

Though many European countries have increasingly decentralised power to regional governments, the trend is not necessarily uniform between regions within one country. In a comparative study of this heterogeneous decentralisation, Sofia Collignon finds that the desire of a central party to retain power in its regional strongholds is a significant factor in explaining regional variation.

Posted in: Building sub-national government
Social media can play a key role in campaigns against paramilitary-style assaults in Northern Ireland
By 09/01/2019 0 Comments Read More →

Social media can play a key role in campaigns against paramilitary-style assaults in Northern Ireland

Assaults on young people in Northern Ireland by paramilitary groups remain prevalent, though under-reported. Paul Reilly and Faith Gordon detail how social media has been used both by such paramilitary groups to ‘police’ young people and how it can also become a tool for organising campaigns against such violence in the long term.

Posted in: Northern Ireland
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