The Case for the Full Enfranchisement of Prisoners in the UK
UEA Student Megan Bennett argues that the lack of voting rights for prisoners in the UK is unfair, illogical, and archaic compared with other European countries. The best way to rectify the situation is to allow full enfranchisement of prisoners. Few issues currently being debated return such polarised and emotive…
Mexico’s Historic 2018 Elections
Following a landslide victory on 1 July, Mexico’s president elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, leader of the leftist MORENA coalition, announced that his government will be ‘for the people, of the people and with the people’. UEA's Hazel Marsh, in Mexico with the Red Universitaria y Ciudadana por la Democracia (RUCD),…
Catching the wave: How can democracy re-capture the youth vote?
Electoral participation remains low amongst young people. In this blog, Beth Davies draws from focus groups with young people to reveal what can be done to get the youth vote out. The Oxford Dictionary’s 2017 word of the year was ‘youthquake’, a term previously coined for the 1960s’ British flair…
Why “tough rules” would help referendums settle big issues
In recent years the UK has conducted numerous referendums on major constitutional issues. Most of these referendums have not served their purpose with many issues not being settled after the vote count and implementation or attempted implementation of the result. “Tough rules” such as introducing a minimum turnout, a supermajority…
National Democracy Week on Eastminster
It's National Democracy Week! For the first time, 2-8 July 2018 has been designated as a week-long celebration of democracy. Events are being organised across the country to celebrate democracy and encourage democratic engagement. The week marks the 90th anniversary of the 1928 Equal Franchise Act, which gave women the…
What each of the G7 countries wants, and what they need
The 2018 meeting of the G7 countries is set to take place in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada. With many of the Trump administration’s recent decisions running directly counter to the other members’ interests, the summit promises to be tense. Here’s what each member state hopes to get from it. The…
Pep Guardiola and the long tradition of mixing football with politics
As manager of Manchester City, this season Pep Guardiola has won the Premier League and the Carabao Cup. By wearing a yellow ribbon on his chest, he has also been charged and fined £20,000 by the English Football Association (FA) for “wearing a political message”. Guardiola insists the ribbon does…
Report Internship IUCN
Emilian Berutti, Second year student in IR, talks about his internship at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Every year PPL organises a trip to Geneva, where we students have the possibility to get a very close insight into several international organisations. Being there is also a great…
The real price of legitimate expectations
Dr. Alex Brown draws from his recent book to discuss whether public services should always honour their promises made. In early February 2018, the British Legal Aid Agency (LAA) agreed to provide funds to the families of people killed in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing as they pursue a civil…
British Values and Islam in Contemporary Britain
Lee Jarvis draws on AHRC-funded research with Lee Marsden and Eylem Atakav to discuss contemporary portrayals of Islam, Muslims and British values. There are, according to the Muslim Council of Britain – a non-sectarian umbrella body for over 500 Muslim organisations – around 2.7 million Muslims living in Britain today:…