Informing and engaging citizens
Incumbency advantage is not restricted to established majoritarian systems
To date, most scholarly works have focused on incumbency advantage in the US and consider how it operates in majoritarian contexts. In a recent paper, Mert Moral, H. Ege Ozen and Efe Tokdemir drew on the case of Turkey to explore whether the incumbency operates in multi member district systems. They found that although it […]
Citizen assessment of the political system is fostered by rational considerations rather than virtuousness
Scholars have often assumed that citizens value fairness with respect to the inclusion and representation of different groups in the electoral process, and therefore are likely to favour proportional over majoritarian systems. However, in a recent study Benjamin Ferland found that citizens actually prefer their party to be advantaged at the expense of others, indicating […]
The trouble with unequal partnerships? How UK governments’ views on representation in the EU have changed over time
This spring the EU is reconsidering, debating and reformulating its future foreign policy agenda. Drawing on her recent research, Rinna Kullaa outlines the role successive British governments have played in formulating common EU foreign and security policies in the past. She writes that if the UK votes to remain in the Union it can continue […]
Boris Johnson’s influence over the outcome of the EU referendum is highly overstated
Boris Johnson, the Conservative Mayor of London and MP for Uxbridge, recently announced that he would campaign for a vote to Leave the European Union in the forthcoming referendum on UK membership of that body. Here, Ben Worthy argues that Boris’s views aren’t as influential as his media admirers may suggest. Similar PostsA great or […]
Still united in diversity? The longer a country is part of the EU, the stronger its citizens support liberal democratic values
What effect does EU membership have on the values of citizens? Drawing on recent research, Odelia Oshri, Tamir Sheafer and Shaul Shenhav assess the extent to which the EU has been successful in instilling the democratic values in its own citizens that it claims to promote externally. The research demonstrates a strong connection between a […]
The handling of the junior doctors’ strike reinforces a vision of the NHS where key voices are neither sought nor listened to
Despite the rise of patient and public involvement, evidence from the junior doctor’s strike suggests that little has changed in terms of the power of Westminster and the lack of public accountability for decisions that lie at the heart of how the NHS is organised. Here, Jonathan Tritter and Mio Fredriksson discuss the tensions between […]
Book Review: Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue by Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz
Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue is a transcript of a conversation held between US New Atheist, Sam Harris, and Maajid Nawaz, a British Muslim reformer who runs the counter-extremist Quilliam Foundation. While this dialogue provides a nuanced discussion of how to confront Islamic extremism between two scholars approaching the issue from considerably different […]
The European Commission experienced a ‘subtle disempowerment’ during the Eurozone crisis
How did the Eurozone crisis affect the balance of power between the EU’s institutions? As Eugénia da Conceição-Heldt writes, opinion has been split over whether the crisis strengthened or damaged the European Commission’s role in EU decision-making. She argues that while some authors have highlighted an apparent increase in the Commission’s responsibilities over economic governance during […]
The UK’s uncertainty around sovereignty is likely to get worse as the EU referendum approaches
The negotiations around the UK’s position in the EU have raised questions around the idea of UK sovereignty, which are only likely to get more complicated domestic measures on sovereignty can also be expected in the near future. Mike Gordon unpicks some of the key debates that are currently ongoing, and assesses the potential legal and constitutional implications of […]
A response to Chuka Umunna: The dominant equality issues of today need to be understood in terms of economics, interests and class
Sean Swan recently wrote an article for Democratic Audit in which he argued that the concept of class is absent from contemporary UK political debate, even though inequality in Britain is reaching new heights. Chuka Umunna, who was quoted in the piece, responded. Here, Sean continues the debate, and argues that the dominant equality issues of today […]
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