Parliament
There has been a substantial drop in EU legislative output since 2010
A common argument made against the European Union by Eurosceptic politicians is that the EU creates a burden on citizens and businesses by producing too much legislation. But how much legislation does the EU actually produce? Renaud Dehousse and Olivier Rozenberg present data on both the raw number of EU acts adopted since 1996, and […]
The arguments against proportional representation have melted away
First Past the Post was designed for a previous era, when the two main parties polled in excess of 40% each. But while the way our votes are translated into political power is just one of the defects in our political system, it is the voting system which needs to be addressed first, argues Neal Lawson. […]
20 things we learned about democracy in January 2015
Christmas is over, 2015 is here, and the General Election we are constantly being told is only a matter of (tens of) days away. As the locomotive that is British democracy chugs back into gear after its winter break, we are left, as ever, questioning whether we actually learned anything new. Fortunately, Democratic Audit UK’s Sean […]
Why the European Parliament has a better gender balance than national parliaments
Across Europe there is a wide variation in the percentage of female representatives in national parliaments, with the gender balance typically skewed toward male representatives. But what can the European Parliament tell us about mechanisms for ensuring a better gender balance? Jessica Fortin-Rittberger and Berthold Rittberger write that there is a clear ‘gender gap’ between […]
The cohesion of committees is key in determining their legislative effectiveness
The role played by legislative committees in parliamentary democracies is a rather underestimated topic. After all, legislative standing committees exist in almost all parliamentary democracies. Still, they can have an impact on our understanding of how a democracy works. Luigi Curini explains what exactly it encompasses, and argues that the similarity of committee members’ preferences represents […]
‘Harperism’: Undermining Canadian democracy since 2006
Progressives face a tough fight in next year’s Canadian election, currently scheduled for October. Claudia Chwalisz writes that even as the support for the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party outstrips the Conservatives’, the Government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s (an ideological ally of David Cameron) changes to the electoral rules will likely suppress voter turnout and […]
English Votes for English Laws is the start of a longer process that will change how we think about the territories of the UK
The announcement by William Hague of a range of options for English Votes for English Laws should be seen as the start of a wider process, says Charlie Jeffery. That process is likely to include, at least, a clearer separation of England and Wales as jurisdictions and reform of how Westminster and Whitehall – not […]
The best of Democratic Audit’s 2014 coverage of Parliamentary reform
The UK’s archaic Parliamentary system remains in dire need of reform and renewal. Recent events resulting from the Scottish independence referendum – particularly the Prime Minister’s plans to exclude Scottish MPs from voting in English domestic legislation – threaten to elevate our constitutional incoherence to hitherto unprecedented levels. The Democratic Audit blog has kept a close eye […]
The Mexican ‘Propietario’ and ‘Suplente’ system shows the degree to which quotas can empower women in politics
How do gender quotas interact with women’s empowerment? Looking at evidence from Mexico, Fernanda Vidal shows that the system of candidate nomination for the Congress, the ‘Propietario’ and ‘Suplente’ system has overcome early difficulties to be an effective tool for ensuring a degree of gender representation. Federalism can expand the range of powers available to sub-national […]
Expert voices: is it time to lower the voting age to 16?
The question of whether the UK should lower the minimum voting age from 18 to 16 has been on the agenda recently, with Ed Miliband making it explicit Labour policy, and the SNP enfranchising 16 and 17 year olds to good effect during the Scottish independence referendum. As part of the LSE’s ‘Expert Voices’ series, […]
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