Informing and engaging citizens
How the major parties will face the EU referendum
Kenneth Bunker looks at the state of the major parties as they head into the EU referendum campaign, and assesses what different results might mean for each of them. Similar PostsLearning the lessons: What other referendums can teach us about the EU voteEuropean elections 2019: what will happen in England’s South East?European elections 2019: what […]
Staying loyal or leaving the party? How open and extrovert personality traits help explain vote switching
Why are some citizens more likely to change their vote choice? Bert Bakker, Robert Klemmensen, Asbjørn Sonne Nørgaard and Gijs Schumacher show that vote switching is associated with citizen’s personality traits. Looking at UK and Denmark, they find that openness helps explain vote switching in both countries. In Denmark having a more extrovert personality is associated with party loyalty, but this […]
The right kind of performance feedback narrows the gender gap in political engagement
Research shows that statistically women involve themselves less in politics than do men. But why is this the case, and what can we do about it? Here, Jessica Robinson Preece argues that the kind of feedback that women receive from their attempts to engage in politics is important in determining whether they will continue to participate. […]
Beyond the nation state: How European cities and regions responded to the financial crisis
The financial crisis affected European countries in radically different ways, with some countries emerging relatively unscathed, while others suffered extreme economic problems that still persist today. But as Riccardo Crescenzi, Davide Luca and Simona Milio outline, the effects were also substantially different between individual cities and regions. Based on recent research, they demonstrate which regions […]
Swamped by facts, voters are still going into the EU referendum with an information deficit
The best feature of referendums can be the ability to expand public knowledge and bring new groups or issues into the public sphere. But Andrew Glencross writes there is a very real danger that the current debate is not enhancing citizens’ understanding of the costs and constraints of EU membership. He argues if this referendum is to have […]
Democracy always sparks discontent, but discontent can also spark change.
At a recent lecture at Christ’s College Cambridge, John Shattuck spoke about democracy and its discontents. Here, it is published in a slightly modified format, and explores the development of ‘illiberal democracy’ and explains why such a concept could never truly work in practice. Similar PostsThe handling of the Eurozone crisis has undermined confidence in […]
Book Review: Uninformed: Why People Know So Little About Politics and What We Can Do About It by Arthur Lupia
Are citizens fundamentally uninformed – or even misinformed – when it comes to questions of politics and government? In Uninformed: Why People Knows So Little About Politics and What We Can Do About It, Arthur Lupia tackles the issue of political ignorance by arguing that rather than simply seeking to provide greater information to the […]
The contemporary Queen’s Speech is more of a wish list than a legislative programme
The Queen’s Speech marks the opening of Parliament, and sees the monarch read our a pre-prepared speech stating the government’s legislative plans. Here, Philip Catney argues that these days, the speech represents more a representation of the government’s aspirations rather than their concrete plans. Similar PostsHow Private Members’ legislation improved local government social valueBook Review […]
The 2016 Queen’s Speech and the Constitution
Mark Elliott looks in detail at the at the constitutional proposals in the latest Queen’s Speech. He writes that although they have the potential to be highly significant it is unclear whether they will amount to much as the Government’s thinking appears to be underdeveloped. Similar PostsTheresa May’s case for withdrawal from the ECHR: Politically […]
Bland, predictable, and unrealistically positive: the Twitter use of candidates during the Scottish Parliament election
Graeme Baxter, Flora Barton and Caroline Hood give their initial impressions of how the parties and candidates used social media during the 2016 Scottish Parliament election campaign. Similar PostsJust how much do voters trust Scottish parties’ social media posts?Faced with an ‘infodemic’ of fake news about Covid-19, most people are checking their facts – but […]
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