We’re starting a semi-regular slot where Demsockers (our staff) review books they’ve recently read. To start, Andrew Brightwell talks about How Democracy Ends, by David Runciman. If you’re looking for a light spot of summer/autumn reading, this book by the Director of POLIS at Cambridge University might not make it to the top of your […]
Category archives: Uncategorised
Citizens’ Convention sets out vision for citizens to shape the future of UK democracy
Plans for a two-year national deliberation, in which citizens are asked to shape the UK’s democratic future, have been announced. Advocated by Graham Allen, led by the Centre for British Politics and Government, King’s College London, and backed by a high-profile group of MPs, The Citizens’ Convention aims to deliver a new ‘partnership between elected […]
Demsoc joins Chatham House’s Conversation on the Future of Democracy and Tech
As part of our digital and data work, we’re excited to announce that we’re working with Chatham House on its Commission on Technology in Europe to explore how technological change is influencing democratic governance. Technology and democracy Launched in early 2019, the Commission is putting forward three research questions: What effect is technology having on […]
Demsoc helps to deliver first-ever climate change citizens’ assembly for a local authority in the UK
Camden Council’s Citizens’ Assembly on “how the council and the people of Camden can help limit the impact of climate change whilst protecting and enhancing our natural environment” was completed last week. Kelly McBride and Mel Stevens were lead facilitators for the event on 20th July which was run by Involve, and has now sent […]
How voting works in the European Parliament elections for England, Scotland and Wales
Tomorrow, voters in the UK will go to the polls to elect new members of the European Parliament. Unlike most other votes held in England, Wales and Scotland, these elections will use a system called D’Hondt to decide how seats are won. Developed by a Belgian lawyer and mathematician, Victor D’Hondt, it’s one way of […]
Online PB in Reykjavik: making democracy easier and more fun
As part of our work developing the use of digital participatory budgeting (PB) in Scotland, Demsoc has been sharing inspiring examples of how digital tools have been used for PB around the world. This time we’re looking at Reykjavik’s long-standing PB process. This blog was written with the help of Róbert Bjarnason, who gave us […]
Corra Foundation’s Change Convention
On 28th March 2019, we attended Corra Foundation’s Change Convention at Murrayfield stadium in Edinburgh, which over 300 people attended and it was so great that we decided to write all about it! The day was focussed on exploring how to create positive change in uncertain times. This is fundamental to our work in the […]
Weighing Digital, An Experts Guide
This week we published our new podcast series Weighing Digital, An Experts Guide. We spoke to three digital participatory budgeting experts across the globe who have designed, developed and are actively running participatory budgeting & citizen engagement digital platforms, with an aim to create a better and more democratic world. In this first episode we […]
Open Government Week 2019
This year, Open Government Week has focused on “increasing the number and diversity of partners taking part in events and conversations”. Countries, citizens, governments and civil society all over the world are taking part, running online and offline events and sharing the work they have been doing to promote open government. There have been webinars, […]
The Greater Manchester Democracy Hub: Helping people connect
We recently helped co-host a Greater Manchester Democracy Hub event with The Politics Project. These hubs were started by The Politics Project in London to break down silos and bring together people who are trying to improve democracy from a range of angles. We had a really interesting mix of people take part. You can […]