The latest news and commentary from the Electoral Reform Society.
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As we geared up for a big round of local elections in England and Northern Ireland, we’ve been putting reform of Britain’s out-dated politics firmly on the agenda. Fair votes now As the Brexit process...
Posted 01 May 2019
On Sunday at SNP spring conference, delegates showed their interest in a deliberative and local democracy by packing out 2 events hosted by ERS Scotland. The first, a discussion around the merits of citizens’ assemblies,...
Posted 01 May 2019
Brexit might be dominating the news, but the rolling constitutional crisis that we call Westminster is still up to its usual tricks. We’ve spent the last month getting press attention for some of our biggest...
Posted 29 Mar 2019
Last summer, ministers announced genuinely exciting plans for piloting ‘deliberative democracy’ across the UK. The plan was to use a series of citizens’ assemblies to engage people with politics, to tackle complex and contested topics,...
Posted 22 Mar 2019
Can you remember a time you were talking with someone and the response you got back meant that it was blatantly obvious that they hadn’t understood what you were saying? You try again, but again...
Posted 27 Feb 2019
Citizens’ Assemblies are often in the news, from the assemblies that led to the referendums on equal marriage and abortion in Ireland, to the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland and local council climate assemblies. While the...
Posted 24 Jan 2019
If there was once a connection between elected councillors in Scotland and the communities they supposedly represent, this has long since fallen away. City halls are often worlds apart from the communities within their apparent...
Posted 01 Jan 2019
This is a time of high political anxiety. No one seems to be very sure of much anymore. Not that long ago it all seemed so different. The twentieth century was a time of tremendous...
Posted 14 Aug 2018
Last weekend – a rare sunny Saturday in Glasgow – around 500 people gathered not to drink cocktails in the shade – but to discuss the future of Scottish democracy: a new vision for ‘taking...
Posted 26 Jun 2018
Levels of local representation in Scotland are the lowest in Europe – leaving many feeling powerless. But now campaigners are hoping to change that. Back in 2016, research for Electoral Reform Society Scotland revealed 76...
Posted 05 Jun 2018
