Informing and engaging citizens
Book Review: Networked Publics and Digital Contention: The Politics of Everyday Life in Tunisia by Mohamed Zayani
How has ‘the networked public’ contributed to the development of new social movements, strategies of resistance and an evolving relationship between the state and society in the realm of the everyday? In Networked Publics and Digital Contention: The Politics of Everyday Life in Tunisia, Mohamed Zayani takes Tunisia as a case study, drawing upon fieldwork, […]
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 […]
Although it has been largely ignored, soft security matters in the EU referendum debate
People fear the extreme and demand their governments be tough on security, but in truth our safety comes largely through control of the mundane. Matt Wood and Rita Hordósy write that the current Brexit debates links security to concerns about immigration and the danger of a terrorist attack. However, if we see long-term economic and social stability as related […]
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 – […]
Political parties which operate in a direct democratic context tend to have a higher number of members
Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party has seen him crowdsource questions for his weekly parliamentary question time with David Cameron, with many praising both this and his other attempts to democratise the Labour Party’s operations. Here, Yvette Peters looks at the impact of direct democracy on party membership, finding that political parties which operate […]
It is surprisingly difficult to convince voters of partisan conspiracy theories
The United States is the place to go for conspiracy theories, with older controversies surrounding the assasination of John F. Kennedy and the mood landing giving way to the ‘9/11 was an inside job’ tendency and more recently the supposed deception around Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Here, Joseph Uscinski takes a look at ‘partisan’ conspiracy […]
Fidesz and electoral reform: How to safeguard Hungarian democracy
The Hungarian government, led by Viktor Orbán, has been criticised by some international observers for undermining the country’s democracy, but how accurate is this view? Andrea Fumarola presents a comprehensive look at the effect of electoral reforms recently undertaken in Hungary. He writes that the current voting system seriously limits not only the fair representation […]
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 […]
The ‘othering’ of ‘Red Ed’, or how the Daily Mail ‘framed’ the British Labour leader
The ‘Red Ed’ campaign was a classic example of the media process of framing. However, despite the ferocity and intensity of the ‘othering’ campaign by the country’s two most popular newspapers, what is perhaps most noticeable is its lack of success. In this article, Ivor Gaber explores why the campaign failed to capture the public’s imagination. Similar PostsThe Sun […]
Public consultations do not currently enable all stakeholders to effectively contribute to the legislative process
In a recent study, Helen Taylor and Axel Kaehne looked at responses to the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Bill to consider how effective the public consultation process is at incorporating wider expertise into the legislative process. The findings highlighted a number of issues relating to both the nature of responses and the way in […]
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