Achieving accountable government
Book review: The Ways of the World by David Harvey
The Ways of the World offers an intellectual journey through the work of David Harvey over the past five decades, compiling chapters and article excerpts from different periods in his career accompanied by retrospective commentary and insight from Harvey himself. Taken together, this collection serves as an excellent introduction to the theorist’s influential body of thought […]
Reforming Australia’s Senate means ensuring Indigenous people are represented
Before the 2016 federal election in July, Australia’s coalition government demonstrated a rare degree of collaboration with the Greens and passed changes to reform the electoral process for the Senate. Richard Reid explains the reform and its intentions – and its complete failure in the wake of Australia’s double dissolution election. He argues the debate about Senate reform should go […]
Justice outsourced: why Concentrix’s tax credit mistakes matter
Administrative justice issues rarely attract the attention they deserve. However, the recent revelations about the tax credit checks undertaken by Concentrix on behalf of HMRC – and the poor service inflicted upon people – highlights a fundamental challenge to administrative justice posed by outsourcing and privatisation. Robert Thomas and Joe Tomlinson argue that the episode highlights […]
The Danish effect: when citizens agree with public policy, they’re satisfied with democracy too
Inevitably, most of the people who didn’t vote for the party or parties in power will be less happy with the policies they implement. But in a survey of European countries, Christian Stecker and Markus Tausendpfund found this dissatisfaction extends to their opinion of the state of democracy in general, particularly when the government’s policies on […]
Now give us our own referendum: how Brexit could energise Europe’s insurgent parties
The Brexit vote could be an early sign of a European political tsunami, as upstart “insurgent” political parties across the continent use referendums as their weapon of choice to challenge the traditional political elites, write Suzi Dennison and Dina Pardijs. Their research for the European Council on Foreign Relations found that these parties are calling for […]
Does terrorism work? Why we need to answer the question – however difficult it is
In his new book, Richard English attempts to answer a question many would prefer not to contemplate: does terrorism work? Are its perpetrators right to judge that the only way to achieve the changes they want is through violence? English goes on focus on four of the most significant terrorist organisations of the last half-century: al-Qaida, the […]
Now Indonesia has a sovereign wealth fund – and it won’t be the last
Little noticed by the wider world, Indonesia’s government recently announced details of the creation of one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the region. Juergen Braunstein and Arianne Caoili argue the coming years will see a new wave of sovereign wealth funds, especially in countries with large state-owned enterprises. The Fountain of Wealth, SunTec […]
Why Boris Johnson must support continued criminal investigations into the use of chemical weapons in Syria
The recent video showing a young Syrian boy rescued from rubble after airstrikes in Aleppo has again highlighted the scale of violence in the Syrian civil war. Here, Brett Edwards and Mattia Cacciatori outline the current state of affairs regarding chemical weapons attacks in the country, and the best way that UK Foreign Secretary Boris […]
The UK’s referendum and post-fact politics: How can campaigners be held accountable for their claims?
Both sides of the UK’s EU referendum campaign were criticised for presenting misleading information to the public. Alan Renwick, Matthew Flinders and Will Jennings write that the referendum highlighted the inability of the British political system to enforce standards of factual accuracy in how politicians campaign. They argue that while legal or regulatory changes could alter […]
How transparency can be improved in the way EU laws are negotiated and agreed
The EU’s legislative process has often been criticised from the perspective that it lacks transparency. Aidan O’Sullivan outlines the findings of a recent inquiry by the European Ombudsman on the transparency of so called ‘Trilogue’ negotiations, where representatives of the European Parliament and national Ministers meet to negotiate and agree on a common final text […]
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