The Brexit Referendum reveals that Britain’s electoral machinery needs reform
Despite widespread fears to the contrary, the EU referendum passed off without major problems. But the vote revealed underlying problems with Britain’s electoral system – most notably the difficulty of registering to vote. Toby S James and Alistair Clark, authors of a new report by the Electoral Commission on the…
Long before Trump rolled in the deep, music and politics were entwined
Take three apparently trivial events: Ukraine wins the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, a rock star cancels a concert and a political rally features the song Rolling in the Deep by Adele. None of these moments might strike anyone as significant, and certainly not worthy of the attention of those interested…
The 8 Million Missing from the Proposed UK Electoral Boundaries
The Boundary Commission for England and Wales are today publishing initial proposals for new Parliamentary constituencies. After a consultation, Parliament could approve them to be in place for the 2020 UK general election. Claims of 'Gerrymandering' are often made when electoral boundaries are changed. The good news is that independent…
Not Alright Now: Music and Political campaigning
The controversy engendered by Donald Trump's music choices during his political campaigning sheds light on the issue of copyright's moral rights which this piece will address in order to assess what rights, if any, artists have over their work being used for such purposes, argues Nick Scharf. The recent controversy…
Anjem Choudary, ISIS and UK counterterrorism
Lee Jarvis explores what Anjem Choudary's conviction for inviting support for Islamic State tells us about UK counterterrorism today We learned on Tuesday (16 August) that Anjem Choudary – frequently described as a ‘radical cleric’ or ‘hate preacher’ – has been convicted under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000…
Parliamentary representation in three graphs
Legislative Studies Quarterly has just published an article written by Dr Chris Hanretty together with Ben Lauderdale (LSE) and Nick Vivyan. In this post, Chris summarizes the article's claims about how MPs represent their constituent's views. Imagine a world very much like our own, where MPs are elected to the…
My experience of the MA in International Relations at UEA
Camille Borrett reflects on her experience of the MA course in International Security at UEA I studied International Relations as an undergraduate and became so passionate about the topic that I decided to continue and study for an MA also in International Relations. To me, International Relations is the perfect…
The UK is reaping what the British Media has been sowing for a long time
Maria Kyriakidou argues that the British media played an important role in the Brexit vote, which has to be seen to be beyond the specific period of the referendum. The result of the EU referendum and the now imminent Brexit have been met with shock and disbelief both globally and…
Who won the referendum?
Alan Finlayson argues that Brexit should be seen as a series of different responses to globalisation. As always, once the people have spoken, the people has to work out what they were saying, to whom, how and why. Consequently, there are hundreds of interpretations out there including a confusing array…
UEA experts react to the EU Referendum result
Staff from UEA react to the result of the EU Referendum based on their expertise. This page will be updated as more reactions come in. Please share your thoughts using the comments below. Marina Prentoulis on the future of Europe: "This vote opens up a world of uncertainty, uncertainty that…