A new special issue of Policy Issues is out, focussing on Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration. As the world is going through an era of 'democratic backsliding', there has been an increased focus on the relationship between democracy and public administration (see: Bauer et al. 2021; Lotta et al. 2024). However, much of the existing…Read more Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration
What is Electoral Integrity? Conceptualising Election Quality in an Age of Complexity
What is Electoral Integrity? Conceptualising Election Quality in an Age of Complexity, with Cambridge University PressI’m delighted to share that a new book with Holly Ann Garnett is now available — and, amazingly, it is FREE to download until 14 July 2026 (thereafter £18.00 for the ebook).The book redefines the concept of electoral integrity around…Read more What is Electoral Integrity? Conceptualising Election Quality in an Age of Complexity
The Governance of Football: special issue call for papers
Football (‘soccer’) is the world’s largest sport. World cups mark major international mega events, which can trigger economic development, and have wider cultural and political consequences. The size of the global industry has exceeded €38 billion in Europe alone. Around the world, over 200 national associations, 130,00 professional players, and 4,000 professional teams. At the everyday level,…Read more The Governance of Football: special issue call for papers
How the Representation of the People Bill can be amended to strengthen democracy
The UK Government’s new Representation of the People Bill is set to transform the way the UK votes. Toby S. James draws attention to a move towards automatic voter registration and puts forward recommendations for how those proposals could be improved and strengthen democracy. Major Bills to change how elections are important moments in the evolution of…Read more How the Representation of the People Bill can be amended to strengthen democracy
Voting in supermarkets, bank cards as ID and £500,000 fines for breaking the rules – how British elections could be about to change
Originally published on The Conversation Elections need periodic reform to ensure that they have integrity and fulfil their role in line with the times, and the British government has unveiled its proposals for doing just that. Britain was widely regarded as one of the pioneers of such democratic electoral reforms. In the late 19th and…Read more Voting in supermarkets, bank cards as ID and £500,000 fines for breaking the rules – how British elections could be about to change
How to reform elections democratically
How do we reform elections, democratically?There is a lot of research on the pro and cons of specific electoral laws - but much less on the *process* of undertaking electoral reform. Who should be involved in electoral reform, when should reforms take place, and what practices help build trust among stakeholders and the public?To address…Read more How to reform elections democratically
The State of Political Leadership in Britain
By which benchmarks should we assess political leaders? How are Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage performing, and why?Watch our expert book launch from this week, including: Charles Clarke, Tim Bale, Patrick Diamond and Emmanuel Avril.It provides an overview of the conceptual and political landscape - useful for scholars, students, the media and the…Read more The State of Political Leadership in Britain
Overseas voting in Canada
The Canadian House of Commons is examining how overseas voting works in Canadian elections. At present, special ballots can be issued to electors overseas. However, there are concerns inside Canada about whether this system enables everyone to vote. Drawing from various studies of UK electoral administration, it was a great honour to give evidence to…Read more Overseas voting in Canada
What is an electoral integrity research methodology?
How do different scholars do research on electoral integrity? How should they? Prior to making a decision about the choice of methods (e.g. surveys, interviews...) there is a decisions about *methodology*. This involves making assumptions about the nature of the social scientific enquiry. In this new chapter for the Oxford Handbook of Electoral Integrity I…Read more What is an electoral integrity research methodology?
The case for residence based voting
Universal suffrage is often said to be a defining feature of democracy, but is not the reality for many elections around the world.In this new piece for Political Quarterly with Jamie Underwood, we map the arguments for enfranchising all residents - and then the number of unenfranchised adults in the UK.The conversations that take place…Read more The case for residence based voting
Toby S. James 