In Australia, as in the UK, the voting system is at breaking pointIn 2010 Australia delivered its first hung parliament since 1940. A seemingly freak one-off, the election followed a period of unrest in the incumbent Labor Party (ALP) who had replaced their Prime Minister Kevin Rudd after just...Posted 04 Jul 2016
A Mayor for the Bucharest of UsBucharest, Romania’s largest city and capital, has had a rocky four years since the 2012 local elections. The city is governed by a city-wide mayor and general council, and divided into six pizza-slice shaped sectors...Posted 07 Jun 2016
What is the plural of referendum? Political disengagement…Switzerland. A land of chocolate, neutrality and a surprisingly well-armed population. Switzerland is also home to a unique democratic system, the closest to direct democracy in the world. Citizens have the ability to force two types...Posted 15 Oct 2015
The Canadian Senate – A second-rate second chamberIn the current debate about Lords reform it can often be tempting to look for easy solutions which broadly keep the structure of the Lords as it is, but deal with some of its defects....Posted 03 Aug 2015
The Lottery Election639 Votes Are All That Would Be Needed to Change the Result of the 2015 election The 2015 election was won by only six seats. If six constituencies had voted differently then Britain would have...Posted 20 May 2015
Friends, Romanians, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Votes…Turnout has been in the news once again, with a report from the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee advocating bank holidays on election days, votes at 16 and other structural changes to increase turnout. Structural and institutional...Posted 17 Nov 2014
North Korean elections: The veneer of democracyThis weekend the North Korean ‘election’ took place. Of course, it wasn’t exactly democratic; it wasn’t really even an election. Each seat had only one candidate, and voters had the choice of voting either for...Posted 10 Mar 2014
February 1974 – The election everything changed for the British party system“Power of the British Voter in Terminal Decline.” So read the headline in Saturday’s Guardian, which gave us an exclusive first glimpse at the latest edition of the Democratic Audit. The picture the report paints...Posted 09 Jul 2012
Electoral Reform for Eurovision?Eurovision is upon us once again with everyone’s favourite celebration of Europe’s questionable musical talent. Certain traditions will no doubt hold: certain acts will be flamboyantly silly, Britain will score badly and after it is...Posted 24 May 2012