Achieving accountable government
Far from being a meritocratic and equalising device, the Family Migration Visa racialises certain migrant-citizen families
Joseph Turner argues that we need to see recent changes which mean that British citizens can only live with non-EU spouses/partners if they earn over £18,600 p/a, as part of a broader history of strategies which have managed the intimate relations of citizens. He suggests that the visa retains a familiar function to the colonial practices of […]
Book Review: The Rise of the Right to Know: Politics and the Culture of Transparency, 1945-1975 by Michael Schudson
How has governmental and corporate transparency become a fundamental element of political culture? In The Rise of the Right to Know: Politics and the Culture of Transparency, 1945-1975, Michael Schudson provides a historical account of how information disclosure by governments and corporations has emerged as an integral part of public life in the second half of […]
The junior doctors’ new contracts reveal the redundancy of equality assessments when policy goals are already determined
The government recently released its Equality Analysis of the contract it intends to impose on junior doctors. Its ‘tortured logic’ reveals much about what the government really thinks about gender equality and work and family life issues, argues Jill Rubery. Similar PostsAudit 2017: How effectively is gender equality achieved in the political and public life of […]
‘Citizens’ Assemblies’ show that we can do politics differently in the UK
Over the past twelve months the Democracy Matters research team, consisting of academics and campaigners, has been conducting a project on the use of citizens’ assemblies to explore complex elements of constitutional policymaking in the United Kingdom. Here, one of those campaigners, Katie Ghose, discusses the findings of the project and to act upon them. Similar […]
What does the new Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act mean for the voluntary sector?
The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 was passed this year, and introduced a range of measures including the empowerment of the Charities Commission to ‘crack down’ on potential abuses of the sector from financial abuses. Here, Nicole Bolleyer and Anika Gauja look at the practical impact of the legislation, and ask what the […]
Open Up or Shut Up? David Cameron’s three transparency problems
Politicians who guarantee greater transparency frequently find their promises coming back to haunt them. Ben Worthy writes that although the Prime Minister has done nothing against the law, his high profile bid to tackle tax evasion and castigation of tax dodgers in the past left him open to charges of hypocrisy when his own tax affairs came under the spotlight […]
The government must stop the UK being used as a haven for illicit wealth if it wants to lead on tackling global corruption
Steve Goodrich assesses the significance of the Panama papers leak for the UK and writes that evidence so far raises serious questions over the role of British intermediaries and the UK property market in facilitating global corruption. He outlines several recommendations for steps the government can and should take if it is serious about preventing […]
David Cameron and the Tax Havens: Transparency is only a partial answer to a much bigger question
Since 2011 David Cameron has been pushing for a public ‘Beneficial Ownership’ list to increase transparency around assets and business interests. In this post, Ben Worthy considers how effective such a register will be at opening up tax havens or tackling avoidance of the kind seen in the Panama papers leak. He writes that – […]
The media’s language of obesity may have made the sugar tax inevitable
The government’s decision to impose a ‘sugar tax’, announced in the 2016 Budget, should have come as no surprise, writes Dimitrinka Atanasova. Rather it was anticipated based on longer term trends in obesity news reporting – reporting on what has (even) been called a ‘national emergency’. Similar PostsThe Danish effect: when citizens agree with public […]
Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation was the most confusing since Gladstone left the (Conservative) government of 1845
Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative Party leader, recently resigned as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. His decision was controversial, with many suggesting that it had more to do with the European Union than it does with his stated reason of cuts to Personal Independence Payments. Here, Alun Wyburn-Powell takes a look at […]
Democratic Audit's core funding is provided by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Additional funding is provided by the London School of Economics.