Tag: Richard Berry
Scots living overseas or elsewhere in the UK should have been given the right to vote in the independence referendum
Record numbers of voters have registered to take part in the Scottish independence referendum this month, and a very high turnout is expected. But the franchise for the election does not include Scottish citizens overseas or those living in the rest of the UK. In this post Craig Berry and Richard Berry argue that the exclusion of these voters […]
Parish councils can empower local communities, but we need more of them in cities
Parish councils, the lowest level of local government in the UK, tend to be synonymous with rural communities. But the government has taken steps to make it easier to create new councils, which have been seized upon by campaigners in a number of urban areas. In this post, Richard Berry discusses the trend and considers the […]
Votes at 16: Seeking a more enlightened debate on youth disengagement from politics
Democratic Audit recently produced an collection of pieces which addressed the question of whether it is right to re-examine the UK’s minimum voting age. The aim of the publication was to heighten the level of debate around the issue, an aim which one of the contributors, Andrew Mycock, shares. Here, he argues that one of […]
New Democratic Audit e-collection: Should the UK lower the voting age to 16?
Today Democratic Audit releases a new e-collection of pieces which debate the merits of whether to lower the UK’s age of enfranchisement from 18 to 16. Featuring expert contributions from campaigners, academics, and politicians, our aim is to heighten the level debate on this proposal. In introducing the report, the co-editors of the report, Richard […]
Everything you need to know about the regional contests in the European Parliament elections across the UK
The Democratic Audit team have been running a series of posts previewing the European Parliament elections in the UK on a seat-by-seat basis. Here, the team summarise these previews, while providing additional information about the electoral systems in use for the contest, and a set of simplified ballot papers which show each candidates actual chances of being […]
Euro elections – what will happen in London?
This week London will choose eight representatives in the European Parliament, with Labour expected to top the polls, overturning the Conservatives lead in 2009 despite recent signs of economic revival. Opinion polls suggest that London is the most pro-European region of the country, and its population is also quite multi-ethnic, more diverse and younger than […]
Book Review: Yes: The Radical Case for Scottish Independence by James Foley and Pete Ramand
Scottish voters will decide on 18 September 2014 whether to remain in the United Kingdom or to become an independent country. James Foley and Pete Ramand argue in Yes: The Radical Case for Scottish Independence that Scotland must go its own way, but that this should only be the first step in a more radical transformation of Scotland. Democratic Audit’s Richard Berry applauds […]
10 years after NHS Foundation Trusts were created, their democratic processes are failing
The first Foundation Trusts were launched ten years ago this week, in April 2004. This new model was designed to increase the autonomy of NHS organisations and make them democratically accountable to local communities. The model may have succeeded on the former objective but on the latter they have fallen far short of expectations, argues Democratic Audit’s Richard […]
Highly educated young people are less likely to vote than older people with much lower levels of attainment
Older people are more likely to vote and highly educated people are more likely to vote: these are electoral phenomena common in advanced democracies across the world. The UK stands out from its counterparts in some ways: we have a much wider gap in turnout between young and old, while the gap in turnout based […]
We should enfranchise young people at 16 while they are still living at home in a settled community
Young voters are less likely to participate in elections than older generations. In this extract from Democratic Audit’s new report, Richard Berry and Patrick Dunleavy show how this is linked to the high levels of mobility among young people above the age of 18, who tend to live in rented accommodation and to move home […]
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