Informing and engaging citizens
Book Review: Unequal Britain at Work edited by Alan Felstead, Duncan Gallie and Francis Green
In Unequal Britain at Work, Alan Felstead, Duncan Gallie and Francis Green examine inequalities in job quality in Britain. The authors look beyond income to explore wider changes to working lives, drawing on data procured through six national Skills and Employment Surveys that asked individuals about their jobs between 1986 and 2012. Dan McArthur welcomes this book […]
The EU’s renegotiation plan represents a watering down of some of Britain’s demands
After months of touring European capitals and several long days holed up in Downing Street, David Cameron, the UK prime minister, can finally reveal the fruits of his labour. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, has published a draft plan on renegotiating the UK’s place in the EU. This much-anticipated document, which makes it more […]
Britain can block migrant benefits – no one in Europe actually cares
Despite the Prime Minister being in search of an emergency break, the debate over in-work benefits is symbolic, writes Clara Sandelind. Welfare is not the main reason people choose to come to the UK while EU migrants do not claim more such benefits than the British. Even those who will be affected by a possible […]
Moulded in the right way, Labour’s competing intellectual currents could form a vibrant and appealing vision
Labour’s political identity is currently in a state of flux, with Jeremy Corbyn’s politics departing significant from his predecessors Ed Miliband, Gordon Brown, and Tony Blair. Here, Ben Jackson looks at Labour’s ideological currents, arguing that between them there is the potential for a vibrant Labour vision of society which could appeal to voters. Similar PostsCorbyn’s […]
Do ethnic minority candidates mobilise ethnic minority voters? Mostly not.
All major political parties in the UK have made efforts to increase the number of ethnic minority candidates that stand under their label for election, with Labour’s Sadiq Khan aiming to be become the first Muslim Mayor of London after May of this year. Here, Nicole Martin argues that the idea that ethnic minority candidates […]
‘There is no point having a token woman’: Gender and representation in the ‘new’ Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland continues to lag behind the rest of the UK when it comes to female representation in political life. However, in the elevation of Arlene Foster to First Minister, Northern Ireland joins Scotland in having a female First Minister. Here, Sophie Whiting and Maire Braniff try to explain the low number of female Northern Irish politicians, and […]
Is public sector broadcasting in Scotland under threat?
In Scotland, the debate on the future of the BBC, and Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) more generally, has taken a specific form shaped by a longstanding demands for greater autonomy. Philip Schlesinger argues that the Scottish debate about the future of the BBC, has been – and will be – shaped by wider constitutional questions, current politics and changes […]
In the 2015 General Election campaign, politicians used social media to broadcast to voters rather than converse with them
Social media has become an important feature of general elections across the world, and played a prominent role in the recent UK General Election which took place last May. Here, Michael J. Jensen analyses Twitter campaign activity, and finds that rather than facilitating conversations between campaigns and prospective voters, it was used to ‘broadcast’ the […]
Corbyn’s election was an organisational phenomenon that raises profound questions about political party ownership
Changes to the way the Labour leader is elected were an essential factor in Jeremy Corbyn’s victory. Meg Russell explains how the switch to a ‘one member one vote’ system was a fundamental change for the party – and for British politics – with last summer’s events raising profound questions about party democracy. This text is adapted […]
The revolving door between the public and private sector is a corruption time-bomb at the heart of British politics
The new year has brought yet more comment about the exploitation of loopholes in the ethical oversight of British politics, long flagged as a key corruption risk for the UK by Transparency International. It is, of course, arguable which cases are corrupt, which represent poor judgement, and which are ethical failures – but from the granting of […]
Democratic Audit's core funding is provided by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Additional funding is provided by the London School of Economics.