Parliament
If Parliament is to be truly effective, committees must become more powerful and independent
The House of Commons has long come under criticism for its fiery, partisan nature, but not many people realise that this point-scoring approach is not limited to the House of Commons chamber, and actually characterises much of its committee work, even when legislative scrutiny is involved. Camilla Hagelund and Jonathan Goddard present research from a new […]
Democracy must evolve with the times if it is to retain the trust of the UK public
The Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy recently produced a report which advocated a number of reforms to the democratic process, including the introduction of online voting. One of the commission’s members, Robert Halfon MP, argues that the report is an important milestone in our democracy, and argues for the introduction of the policies the commission […]
Political motivation is crucial for parliamentary behaviour in the EU’s Early Warning System
Since the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, national parliaments have had the right to intervene early on in the decision making process of European Union. Katjana Gatterman and Claudia Hefftler share research which shows that parliamentary activity in what is called the Early Warning System is particularly triggered by party political contestation over EU integration and […]
A written British constitution would do much to enhance Britain’s democracy and the wellbeing of its citizens
Britain famously has no written constitution, opting instead to govern itself with reference to a set of conventions, laws, and traditions without formal codification. Vittorio Trevitt argues that this system has past its sell-by date, and should be replaced by a written constitution. Similar PostsFive minutes with Graham Allen: “unlike most democracies, the UK lacks […]
National parliaments focus too much on subsidiarity and not enough on the actual content of EU proposals
The Lisbon Treaty granted national parliaments competences in EU affairs as one of the remedies to the alleged “democratic deficit”. The new powers not only redefined domestic parliamentary procedures but also affected the relationship between MPs, parliamentary staff and committees dealing with EU affairs. However in practice, argues Alexander Strelkov in a recent article, the effect has […]
20 things we learned about democracy in February 2015
February is the shortest month of the year, but with May’s General Election waddling ever closer, democracy factoids are never far away. Here, Democratic Audit UK’s Sean Kippin rounds up 20 more inane, amusing, and occasionally interesting bits of trivia and research for your amusement. Similar Posts20 things we learned about democracy in March 201520 […]
Four options for configuring the British constitution
With the SNP surging in Scotland and the break up of the union as plausible as it has ever been. What are the different options for configuring the UK state? In this article, Andrew Blick writes about what the constitutional future might look like. Similar PostsThe Smith Commission Report is short, but packs a big […]
Enough is enough: Time to regulate prime ministerial appointments to the Lords
This week the Constitution Unit publishes a new report arguing that the time has come to regulate prime ministerial appointments to the House of Lords – to prevent the chamber’s size escalating further, and prevent government manipulating its membership. The report argues that, despite large-scale Lords reform being awaited, this step is urgent ahead of […]
Building long-term relations of trust between civil society, voters and female politicians is essential to gender quotas’ success
Over recent decades, more than 100 countries have introduced gender quotas worldwide. The international community has championed quota policies as a fast track to increase women’s presence in national parliaments. This, argues Anouk Lloren, has greatly contributed to their adoption, sometimes in countries exhibiting a long patriarchal tradition. But are gender quotas effective? Similar PostsTo enhance women’s […]
The House of Commons is the most vulnerable to lobbying of any of the UK’s legislatures
How concerned should we be about lobbying? Very, according to the campaign organisation Transparency International in this blog by their director Robert Barrington. Their new report argues that lobbying is a serious problem, that it cannot be tackled in isolation from other related issues, that the system is beset by loopholes, and that the House […]
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