Achieving accountable government
Regulatory chill? Why TTIP could inhibit governments from regulating in the public interest
On 10 June a key vote was held in the European Parliament on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). As Gabriel Siles-Brügge and Nicolette Butler write, much of the criticism of TTIP has focused on its impact on public healthcare systems and the role of ‘corporate tribunals’. They argue that this overlooks one of […]
National parties have nothing to lose from a better resourced and more democratic Party of European Socialists
At the European Parliament level, political parties divide into ideological – rather than national – blocs. The second largest is the centre-left Party of European Socialists (PES). Here, Julian Priestley, a former adviser to the PES’s Martin Schulz in a piece which originally appeared on the Policy Network website, argues that the PES should become […]
Economic rather than political forces shape the pattern of lobbying at the European level
One argument frequently deployed by proponents of European reform is that the EU is particularly vulnerable to large-scale lobbying by international corporation. But what forces shape the pattern of this lobbying? Joost Berkhout argues that researchers have put too strong an emphasis on ‘political’ rather than ‘economic’ explanations for the structure of the EU business lobby […]
The 2015 General Rejection? Disaffected democrats and democratic drift
Political science and journalistic commentaries are full of woe about the abject state of modern politics and the extent of the gap that has supposedly emerged between the governors and the governed. In this context, the 7 May 2015 might have been expected to deliver a General Rejection of mainstream democratic politics but did this […]
How do European democracies compare when it comes to the length of ministerial careers?
Ministerial careers can be notoriously nasty, brutish, and short, with the doctrine of ministerial accountability leading to numerous prematurely ended political careers. But how do European democracies compare? Looking at evidence from seven countries, Jonathan Bright, Holger Doring, and Conor Little show that younger ministers survive longer, right-wing parties are more likely to dump ministers than […]
The Government’s case against the European Court of Human Rights is a smokescreen
The government has proposed the abolition of the Human Rights Act, and as part of this has – according to Merris Amos – launched a campaign against the European Court of Human Rights. She argues that this is a smokescreen designed to divert attention from the real agenda: escaping the supervision of a supranational court which cannot […]
Localism and decentralisation must be part of a much wider political reform agenda
Decentralisation and localism have become the “motherhood and apple pie” of British politics, with all main parties (to varying degrees) committed to furthering the scope and power of local, municipal and regional government. But how does this link up with change at the national level? John Tizard argues that democracy can be re-invented and renewed if […]
Federalism could be the only means of resolving some of the UK constitution’s fundamental difficultiies
The Queen’s Speech saw the incoming majority Conservative government propose a number of laws with constitutional implications, including the Scotland Bill, the repeal of the Human Rights Act, and the introduction of some variant of “English Votes for English Laws”. Andrew Blick argues that given this range of issues, federalism may be the only holistic […]
Select committees in the 2015 parliament: some change, some continuity
In the aftermath of the election the shape of the select committee system in the new parliament is now beginning to emerge, with the party label of the chairs of the various House of Commons committees being allocated. Hannah White offers some thoughts about what has changed and where we might see more continuity. Limited structural […]
Unless we change the way we think about transparency, open data is unlikely to have a significant political impact at the local level
Open data and transparency have long been heralded as welcome innovations by policymakers and politicians, and the current Government has made it a priority at both a national and local level. But when it comes to the latter, how effective has it been and how much have citizens made use of it? Mark Frank argues that […]
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