Why the SNP are Scotland’s new predominant partyOn Wednesday, ERS Scotland launched a major new report, One Party To Rule Them All: Does Scotland Have A Predominant-Party Problem?. That concept of a “predominant-party system” – popularised by the political scientist Giovanni Sartori –...Posted 20 Apr 2016
Call me maybe – why the Scottish Lobbying Bill gets it wrong on digital commsThis is a guest blog, originally published by the Scottish Alliance for Lobbying Transparency. The opinions expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Electoral Reform Society. By Pete Mills, Unlock Democracy...Posted 15 Feb 2016
Charities have nothing to fear from the Scottish Lobbying BillThis is a guest blog – the opinions expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Electoral Reform Society. MSc student Megan Elliot, who is conducting research on lobbying...Posted 12 Feb 2016
5 Myths About the Scottish Lobbying BillThis is a guest post by Pete Mills from Unlock Democracy In the first week back after Christmas, MSPs debated a Bill to introduce a lobbying register designed to let ordinary people know who is...Posted 25 Jan 2016
Scotland needs a stronger Lobbying BillRemember the phone-hacking scandal? It seems long ago, but we shouldn’t forget how much we learned about the ways big private interests try to influence policy. The Leveson Inquiry dug up all sorts of stories...Posted 07 Jan 2016
The Scottish people should be involved in the devolution debateYesterday (Wednesday 16th September) the Scottish Parliament debated ‘Scotland’s Future: Democracy and Devolution’. One year on from the independence referendum, and with the Scotland Bill due to go to report stage in the next few...Posted 17 Sep 2015
What is the Scotland Bill?The Scotland Bill was no surprise when it was announced in the Queens Speech. In the lead up to the Scottish independence referendum vote last September and following a particular cliff-edge poll, unionist parties became very...Posted 12 Jun 2015
What’s happening in Scotland?If the polls are to be believed, next Thursday Scotland will vote to send more SNP MPs to the House of Commons than ever before. Why is what used to be a stable voting pattern...Posted 29 Apr 2015
Something in the airScotland is shrouded in a muggy haar today, and it feels as if we’ve been cut off from the rest of the world in order to concentrate and exercise our democratic right to vote: for...Posted 18 Sep 2014
A new ScotlandAs a politically active individual and an elections geek you’d think I would be excited beyond reason about the independence referendum. In actual fact, I have found the debate to be depressingly repetitive, providing few...Posted 05 Sep 2014