Extending human and civic rights
The ‘Je suis Charlie’ movement is indeed polarising and divisive, but the division it creates is necessary for the enjoyment of liberal freedoms
In the wake of the attack in Paris on the satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, discussion has centred around freedo of speech and whether Charlie Hebdo had gone too far in offending others. Paula Zoido-Oses writes that being offended is the small and unavoidable fee we all have to pay in order to enjoy liberal freedoms. Far from being […]
The tyranny of the short-term: why democracy struggles with issues like climate change
Climate scientists are almost united on the reality of climate change, and the dangers its possesses. But democratic governemnts worldwide seem to be falling short of the challenge of halting it, or at least mitigating its worst effects. Jørgen Randers argues that the tyranny of the short term is preventing democracy from bringing forward the necessary […]
The Counter Terrorism and Security Bill: a potential further erosion of citizenship rights in the United Kingdom
Hayley J. Hooper assesses the notion of ‘temporary exclusion orders’ proposed in new anti-terrorism legislation. She highlights the orders can be made without judicial oversight and argues that passing the Bill risks giving parliamentary legitimacy to a policy adverse to human rights. Similar PostsHave changes in counterterrorism legislation before and after 9/11 curtailed civil rights?How […]
Book Review: Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions since World War II, Updated Edition, by William Blum
William Blum aims to provide a comprehensive account of America’s covert and overt military actions in the world, all the way from China in the 1940s to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and – in this updated edition – beyond, with obvious democratic and human rights implications. Julia Muravska is disappointed by some shallow characterisations and […]
Selective cuts are not the way to achieve social policy goals
In this article, Ruth Lupton draws on a suite of reports on the Coalition’s social policy record, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Nuffield Foundation and Trust for London, to draw some conclusions about the strategic choices facing whichever government is elected in May. Similar PostsCovid-19 is increasing the divide in life chances between rich and poorCan […]
20 things we learned about democracy in January 2015
Christmas is over, 2015 is here, and the General Election we are constantly being told is only a matter of (tens of) days away. As the locomotive that is British democracy chugs back into gear after its winter break, we are left, as ever, questioning whether we actually learned anything new. Fortunately, Democratic Audit UK’s Sean […]
The evolution of gender and poverty in Britain: solo-living men are emerging as a new poor group
Esther Dermott examines the relationship between gender, age and living arrangements in Britain over the period of 1999-2012. Her analysis finds that older women have gone from being one of the poorest groups to being relatively advantaged. Meanwhile, men living alone are an emerging poor group in Britain. Similar PostsBook Review: Unequal Britain at Work edited by […]
There is far more to free speech than the right to be offensive
The first edition of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to be published since the attack on the magazine’s headquarters will go on sale today. Davina Cooper writes that while the attack raised fundamental questions over the nature of free speech, there was comparatively little said about the victims of the related attack on a Jewish […]
EU elites will regret their self-serving dismissals of the demand for genuine popular control
Piketty and Habermas argue that the EU and the eurozone can be democratized by strengthening electoral-representative institutions. Such powers would only make popular control over EU political decisions even weaker than it already is, argue Lorenzo del Savio and Mateo Mameli in this essay. Similar PostsAnti-politics and the 1%
In remembering the Charlie Hebdo attack we must not forget the responsibility that goes with free speech
On 11 January, unity marches were held across France following terrorist attacks which killed 17 people in Paris, including an attack on the headquarters of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. One of the key debates to have taken place since the attacks has focused on the issue of free speech, given the controversial nature of […]
Democratic Audit's core funding is provided by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Additional funding is provided by the London School of Economics.