Building sub-national government
The Smith Commission, federalism, or independence: Can the Union survive the election?
Not only could federalism work for Britain, it may be the only constitutional system which can now hold the country together. The real obstacle is that such a solution does not appear to be in the political interests of either of the two solitudes which ‘won’ the election, writes Stephen Tierney. Similar PostsThe Scottish Government’s […]
The next step for local government should be the right to pass primary legislation
Councillors are currently limited in how much influence they are able to have over their local area, locked in local governance networks in which they feature but don’t control. Assessing these networks and their democratic credentials, Colin Copus concludes that the right to pass primary legislation, over for example the legal drinking age or fox hunting, […]
Austerity is in serious danger of sending the role of councillor into a slide towards irrelevance
The local government sector has seen unprecedented cuts since the 2010 General Election. With the Conservatives back in power again following 2015, austerity can be expected to continue. Neil Barnett argues that these cuts, as well as other long-term trends such as managerialism and de-politicisation have combined to gradually undermine the role of the councillor. Similar PostsThe […]
Five political problems with ‘Full Fiscal Autonomy’ for Scotland
The SNP have turned the Scottish political map yellow, routing Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives in winning nearly all of Scotland’s seats. The scale of the next transfer of power from Westminster to Holyrood has been up for debate, with ‘full fiscal autonomy’ (FFA) being suggested. Paul Cairney argues that there are at […]
The First-Past-the-Post electoral system is breaking up the UK
The First Past The Post electoral system exacerbates divisions between the different parts of Britain, adding to pressures that could break the union, with Thursday’s General Election potentially hastening this process. Tim Oliver discusses whether it is too late to change course. Similar PostsEuropean elections 2019: what will happen in Scotland?Nationalist parties face new challenges after the ‘Super […]
From Devo-max to West Lothian-Max: The implications of the SNP surge for UK democracy
The changes to Westminster politics in Scotland in 2015 are likely to be without historical precedent. In this post, James Dennison discusses the implications of these changes in the context of the “West Lothian” question. He argues that the election of a large number of SNP MPs is likely to greatly exacerbate tensions that were […]
Candidate selection in Northern Ireland: A cold house for women?
Across the UK, there is likely to be an increase in the number of women elected as MPs. However, this does not appear to be the case in Northern Ireland. In this post, Neil Matthews argues that formal candidate selection mechanisms are not to blame for the dearth of women competing in Westminster election. Rather, a […]
Rigid statutory demands, budget cuts, and lack of political choice are strangling local government innovation
Local Authorities have been having a difficult ride since the formation of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition in May 2010. As it potentially draws to a close, Cllr Tim Cheetham argues that the rigidity of statutoury guidance from the Department for Communities and Local Government, cuts to Local Authority budgets, and a stifling lack of political […]
The SNP’s exponential rise is throwing the British system of government into turmoil
The General Election of 2015 looks set to be an exceptionally good one for the SNP, who look set to not only supplant Labour as the largest party north of the border, but to rout it. Sean Swan argues that this could see considerable change in the way British politics is conducted in future, particularly […]
20 things we learned about democracy in March 2015
The General Election is (nearly) here! And here at Democratic Audit UK, we’ve been ferreting away trying to find the most interesting clumps of information, conjecture, opinion and miscellaneous. Collating it all for your pleasure, as ever, is Sean Kippin, who has been helped enormously by the launch of the Democratic Dashboard – a new voter resource bringing […]
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