The Wave That Could Carry Trump to Re-election

… Brexit, Election Day 2016, the collapse of the center-left in France, Germany and Italy, the so-called yellow vest protests, the losses by centrist parties in the recent European elections and a political upset in Australia have been categorized as examples of “populism” or “nationalism.” They are labeled a reaction […] Read more »

The myth of the citizens’ assembly

Put 100 ordinary citizens in a room and together they will solve the most intractable political problems of our time and save democracy in the process. If only things were so simple. Citizens’ assemblies, in which ordinary people are entrusted to carefully consider evidence on an issue and deliver policy […] Read more »

Democracy in Crisis

ILL WINDS: Saving Democracy From Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency By Larry Diamond … Larry Diamond, a respected political scientist at Stanford, has spent 40 years circumnavigating the globe promoting democracy in Nigeria, Venezuela and some 70 other countries. Yet today he is aghast: “After three decades in […] Read more »

The Reuters Institute’s eighth annual Digital News Report

This year’s report comes against the backdrop of rising populism, political and economic instability, along with intensifying concerns about giant tech companies and their impact on society. News organisations have taken the lead in reporting these trends, but also find themselves challenged by them – further depressing an industry reeling […] Read more »

British public opinion and UK-US relations: ‘We like you a lot but we don’t much like your president’

The Trump presidency and its promotion of the ‘America First’ agenda, as well as the prospect of Britain leaving the EU, has generated renewed debate over the nature of political, military, and economic relations between the US and UK. Trump’s visit to the UK in 2018 engendered large-scale protests while […] Read more »