Articles by Michela Palese

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Michela Palese, former Research and Policy Officer

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The Netherlands is going to the polls, but how do Dutch elections work?

Dutch voters have started going to the polls to vote in the general election to elect the 150 members of the House of Representatives, with incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte seeking a fourth term in...

Posted 17 Mar 2021

In Amsterdam a drive-through polling station has been set up for the first time

What can we learn from the evolution of English devolution?

There has been considerable discussion about the ‘Union’ and efforts to save it in recent months, given the increasing support for nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales, and growing talk of a border poll in...

Posted 09 Mar 2021

Successful devolution requires genuine public involvement from the bottom-up

Voters in Northern Ireland demand more transparency in politics

New research by the Electoral Commission has shown the public in Northern Ireland wants to see more transparency in politics. The research, conducted by Ipsos Mori through a series of online focus groups, asked people...

Posted 05 Mar 2021

The £500 donation threshold is dangerously outdated

How a landmark bill could enhance democracy in the US

The 2020 US presidential election and down-ballot races were a success for democratic participation. The presidential race saw a record number of people – over 158 million US voters – turn out to vote and...

Posted 16 Feb 2021

HR1 is one of the most comprehensive attempts at reforming federal election law in US history

Why we need more than piecemeal reform of the House of Lords

The House of Lords is back in the spotlight, with former Prime Minister Gordon Brown saying that replacing the House of Lords with an elected senate of the nations and regions should form part of...

Posted 03 Feb 2021

An independent Electoral Commission for Ireland – A step forward for democracy

While in the UK the government has recently threatened our independent elections watchdog with abolition if it cannot be ‘radically overhauled’, across the sea, the Irish government has recently set out plans for establishing an...

Posted 12 Jan 2021

There’s much the UK could adopt from the recent Irish proposals

What is the House of Lords Appointments Commission?

A little-known non-departmental public body, the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC), has recently been thrust into the spotlight, following the Prime Minister’s latest round of appointments to the House of Lords (if you weren’t...

Posted 12 Jan 2021

This is the first time that the Commissions advice has been ignored

Why we need transparency around the political use of personal data

In recent years, we’ve talked a lot about the rise of online political campaigning and the impact this can have on our democratic processes – the ERS has been at the forefront of calling for...

Posted 26 Nov 2020

most voters are in the dark about how parties use their data for political purposes

Tackling online harms to our democracy must be a priority

Last week, the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee criticised the government for its repeated delays in publishing legislation to tackle online harms. In a statement calling for urgent action, committee...

Posted 20 Oct 2020

The white paper makes scant references to online harms to our democracy

Are Guernsey about to hold the strangest election in the world?

On 7 October, voters in Guernsey will head to the polls for what is likely to be the ‘strangest [election] in the world’. For the first time, the vote will be held across one island-wide constituency which will see...

Posted 06 Oct 2020