What is a Citizens’ Assembly? 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
Long Read: What’s gone wrong with our democracy – and how do we fix it? 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
From rule-breakers to foreign influencers, our democracy is under threat The Electoral Commission has fined Vote Leave, the official pro-Brexit campaign, £61,000 for breaking electoral law during the 2016 EU referendum. This could be a game-changer. Its long-awaited report, published on Tuesday, states that there... Posted 17 Jul 2018
The Irish abortion referendum: How a Citizens’ Assembly helped to break years of political deadlock In a historic referendum on Friday, the Irish electorate voted with a resounding Yes in favour of removing the Eighth Amendment (article 40.3.3) from the Constitution. Citizens were asked whether or not to replace the... Posted 29 May 2018
Referendum spending is a murky world – when it should be crystal clear Negotiations on the UK’s exit from the European Union will dominate much of the political agenda this year. But 18 months on from the Brexit referendum, questions are still being asked about whether campaigners played by... Posted 08 Jan 2018
The Brexit deficit If there was a ‘word cloud’ of popular news topics over the last twelve months then ‘Brexit’ would be front, centre and in bold. Since last June’s referendum the topic has dominated headlines, been the... Posted 27 Mar 2017
Referendums are in vogue – so let’s get them right Referendums are becoming increasingly popular, internationally and domestically. Since the first UK referendum in 1975, the UK has held three nationally, and 11 in UK countries or English regions, with even more at a local... Posted 05 Sep 2016
Doing referendums differently There’s no denying it: referendums have become a central feature of our politics. So it’s about time we started thinking seriously about how we should run them. Since 2011 we have had two UK-wide referendums... Posted 01 Sep 2016
5 things this EU vote has taught us about referendums Whichever way you feel about the result, most people are glad the EU referendum campaign is over. To put it diplomatically, it wasn’t the highest quality debate in the world. Particularly for those on the... Posted 05 Jul 2016
Brexit and our broken electoral system This is a guest blog, originally published by Noel Longhurst. The opinions expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Electoral Reform Society. Ever since the result of the EU... Posted 01 Jul 2016