Before the 2014 local elections I produced the first ever estimate of how many were potentially disenfranchised because of registration rules that penalise people for moving house. Published on Politics.co.uk (16 May 2014).
My article for The Conversation (14 May 2014) on the votes at 16 debate in Australia. I was responding to a journal article from Ian McAllister, who reproduced a common flaw among political scientists, to ignore the reality of young people’s lives when commenting on whether the voting age should be lowered.
My post for Democratic Audit (7 July 2014) on the decision by the Labour Party to use an all-women shortlist to select its candidate to replace Ann Clywd MP in Cynon Valley, with echoes of a similar controversy in the Welsh valleys ahead of the 2005 election.
I’m British, I’m a football fan, and I want to see a British football team entering international tournaments. This is my biennial lament and I have been at it again during the World Cup. This time for the Huffington Post (20 June 2014).
My article for Open Democracy (16 April 2014), about my research into the low levels of participation in NHS Foundation Trust elections. I recommended radical ways to improve democratic legitimacy.
My post for The Conversation with Craig Berry (14 May 2014) on the impact of differential election turnout by age group. We challenged the simplistic notion that older people get the most out of public policy because they vote more. Although older people have had more protection from austerity measures in recent years, evidence suggests this is in line with the policy preferences of young people.
My article on The Huffington Post (16 June 2014) at the start of the World Cup. I queried why the British press were so obsessed with FIFA corruption when our own clubs had an equally, if not more dubious ethical record.
I reviewed ‘Yes: The Radical Case for Scottish Independence’ by James Foley and Pete Ramand for the LSE Review of Books (28 April 2014). A very interesting read, but ultimately it persuaded me that there was no evidence that Scotland was on course for a radical future post-independence.
My article with Sean Kippin for The Spectator’s Coffee House blog (15 April 2014), ahead of the 2014 European elections. We discussed the relatively high defection rate among UKIP MEPs over the past decade compared to other parties.
Following the tedious draw for the World Cup, and inspired the appalling human rights record of global football, I decided to play the tournament as if it were based on the democratic credential of each competitor. This was published on the Huffington Post (10 December 2013).
