Recent Articles

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Playing pass the parcel on turnout

On May 3 2012 Scotland went to the polls. We’d like to tell you precisely how many Scots actually went to vote, but the honest answer is we can’t. And that’s because no one knows...

Posted 26 Jul 2012

A bold step forward for women’s representation

Ireland currently ranks 87 in the world for gender representation in politics with just 15.1% of Irish parliamentarians being women. This means in the world league tables Ireland lags behind Iraq, Burkina Faso and Turkmenistan...

Posted 23 Jul 2012

Scots are ready for real, meaningful constitutional debate

Since the launch of Yes Scotland and Better Together, the campaigns in support of independence and the Union respectively, the constitutional debate has entered a phase of relative quiet. While partisans and activists continue to fight the campaigns...

Posted 17 Jul 2012

Super majority in the Commons on Lords reform

There was progress on the rocky road to reform of the House of Lords this week when the bill to introduce some members to the second chamber received huge support from MPs. But party politics...

Posted 12 Jul 2012

House of Lords

Where have all the working class MPs gone?

The relationship between an individual’s social background and the way they vote has become much weaker in recent times with class no longer acting as a relatively accurate predictor of party preference. Voters are now...

Posted 03 Jul 2012

A People’s Gathering on the Scottish Constitution

Maybe our democracy never really worked that well. Maybe increased transparency and developments in technology mean that ordinary people are able to appreciate the realities of power and its misuse. Maybe the modern age has...

Posted 02 Jun 2012