Who runs elections and how can they be improved? Independence, resources and workforce conditions are essential for electoral integrity
In new research published about how elections are run around the world, Toby S. James, Leontine Loeber, Holly Ann Garnett and Carolien van Hamfind that organisational independence matters for well-run elections, and that election management could be improved with more resources, improved working conditions for election employees – and a better gender balance in…
#DeniedMyVote – why many EU citizens were unable to vote in the European Parliament elections
On Thursday 23 May, the UK participated in European Parliament elections. Citizens of all EU countries should be able to vote in these elections in the country they live, but many non-UK EU citizens found they had been excluded from the electoral register and were unable to vote. Toby James explains how…
Wittgenstein on Logic as the Method of Philosophy: An Interview with Oskari Kuusela
Oskari Kuusela is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia. He very kindly found some time in his diary to talk to us about his new book – Wittgenstein on Logic as the Method of Philosophy: Re-examining the Roots and Development of Analytic Philosophy. The book has…
The Potential of Community Participation in Politics
UEA students Samuel Woolford and Arthur Buttimore look at how political participation could be rejuvenated. As a part of the Future Leaders Project, we were given the opportunity to take part in and event organised by Model Westminster at City Hall in London. The event focused on aspects of Youth…
What on earth is going on with Brexit?
Listen to the next installment in the Politics at the Edge Series. A panel of the University of East Anglia's politics experts try to answer that question - and work out what the Brexit crisis means for our country and our politics. With Clare Precey, Prof Alan Finlayson, Prof Hussein Kassim and Dr Pierre Bocquillon.…
Brexit delay: what it would take for the EU to agree article 50 extension
How much longer were you thinking? Stephanie Lecocq/EPA For the first time – 23 months after the UK triggered the article 50 negotiations to begin the process of leaving the European Union – Theresa May acknowledged that it might be necessary to delay Brexit day. Reportedly under pressure from a number of the…
Hezbollah ban is partly a performance of British national identity
Three organisations, including the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, were banned as terrorist organisations by the British government on March 1. This means membership of, and support for, the organisations is a criminal offence. The proscription of the three groups, which also include the organisations Ansaroul Islam and Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (JNIM) that operate…
Necessary Travel: An Interview with Susan Hodgett
Professor Susan Hodgett Susan Hodgett is the founding Professor of Area Studies at the University of East Anglia. She very kindly found some time in her diary to talk to us about her new book – Necessary Travel: New Area Studies and Canada in Comparative Perspective– co-edited with Patrick James…
Shamima Begum: History and politics matters
Lee Jarvis (UEA) and Tim Legrand (University of Adelaide) It's been a little difficult to avoid the story of teenager Shamima Begum over the last couple of days. Here we have a nineteen year old British citizen who, four years ago (as a child), left her home in London and…
Academic setbacks and rejections Some brief reflections
LEE JARVIS In the past couple of months I’ve had two opportunities to reflect on the process of building an academic career, and to think about some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way. In November 2018, I delivered my inaugural lecture: a public-facing talk typically delivered by new…