Informing and engaging citizens
European Union policy would change in a number of areas if the UK were to vote to leave
How will the direction of EU policies change if the UK leaves? Doru Frantescu, director and co-founder of VoteWatch Europe, predicts five likely changes if the European Parliament loses its British members. Similar PostsThe UK’s renegotiation: What a fair deal between London and its European partners might look likeIt would be a democratic travesty for Brexit not to be […]
Parties in coalitions find themselves caught between the need to cooperate and differentiate
The UK’s first coalition government during peacetime since 1945 ended with the electoral decimation of the Liberal Democrats at the 2015 election, with the party seemingly punished for its inability to create a compelling justification for its 2010 voters to back them again in the post-Coalition UK political landscape. Here, Inaki Sagarzazu and Heike Kluever […]
The gendered dimensions of constitutional change: Women and the independence referendums in Scotland and Catalonia
Constitutional debates around independence claims present various gendered dimensions and implications for women and gender equality policy issues more broadly. In this article, Tània Verge and Alba Alonso challenge the idea that differences between women and men’s voting patterns can be simply reduced to risk aversion, and write that the public debates largely suffered in […]
The records of Tory women’s organisation provide a crucial insight into gender and conservatism in the twentieth century
Drawing of evidence from the Conservative Party archive David Swift sheds light on the active and changing role that women have played in the the Party since the 1920s. His research reveals a story which is far more complex than standard narratives which centre heavily on Margaret Thatcher as the ‘female Conservative’ par excellence. Similar PostsThis May be Tory feminism: […]
Select Committees are engaging better than ever before, but while much as been accomplished, much more remains possible
Select Committees in the UK Parliament have become more powerful over the last five years or so since the implementation of the Wright Commission reforms, which allowed for – amongst other things – the election by the whole House of Commons of members and chairs. Here, Ian Marsh looks at the outreach of the committees […]
Economic solutions are unlikely to ease immigration concerns
Immigration is a huge element of contemporary political debate, and it continues to divide and polarise opinion, while fuelling the rise of UKIP and other radical parties across Europe. Here, Craig Johnson and Sunil Rodger argue that while hostility to immigration may be in part to do with economics, a sunny economic outlook is unlikely […]
Politicians are more likely to forward constituent inquiries to the appropriate level if they are of the same party as the recipient
The UK has enjoyed a significant degree of multi-tiered governance since the introduction of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, with recent events suggesting this dynamic will intensify further. Here, Audrey André, Jonathan Bradbury, and Sam Depauw look at constituent correspondence patterns, and find that politicians are much more likely to forward correspondence to the appropriate […]
Governments who push popular climate policies can be punished at the ballot box by local and vocal minorities
While the majority of the public typically supports environmental policies, if the costs fall on local groups with projects in their backyards, they often resist. In new research that uses Ontario, Canada as a case study, Leah C. Stokes examines how small groups are able to mobilise politically to oppose the location of new wind […]
Enfranchising 16 and 17 year olds won’t create a new politics, but a more inclusive version of politics as usual
We need an intelligent debate on whether 16- and 17-year-olds should vote in the EU referendum, says Richard Berry – not least because the notion that different age groups have very different policy priorities is misguided, at best. Similar PostsThe purdah controversy – setting the rules of the referendum gameSwitching off E4 on election day is a bold […]
Income inequality and party polarisation proceed together in some countries, but not in others
Income and wealth inequality have become increasingly important drivers of political activity over recent years, following the 2008 financial crisis. But what impact does economic polarisation have on political polarisation? Han Sung Min argues that in some cases income inequality and party polarisation proceed together, but not in others – with electoral systems providing a key explainer […]
Democratic Audit's core funding is provided by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Additional funding is provided by the London School of Economics.