Category
In the News
Every Student Succeeds replaces No Child Left Behind in a bipartisan success story
For a Republican President nominally opposed to "Big Government", George W. Bush managed to radically increase the reach of the Federal Government in a number of areas, including his No Child Left...
US gerrymandering and representation - in the hands of the Supreme Court
An important but little-reported case is being deliberated by the US Supreme Court at the moment. Back in 1964, the Supreme Court ruled in the Reynolds v Sims case that the principle of "one person...
The rise of far-right parties in Europe
Many in France breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as the results of the second round of voting in France's regional elections were announced. The French National Front, led by Marine le Pen, had...
Calling all Political Pundits
Opinion polling is a difficult art to master as the UK proved in the run up to the 2015 General Election, however with that in mind it would be excellent fun to predict how the US Presidential Race...
Should Jeremy Corbyn leave 'Stop the War'
The pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to resign his members of the Stop the War coalition shows what happens when pressure groups and political parties collide.
David Cameron's EU negotiation talks in Poland
As mentioned in a previous blog post today, David Cameron's place at PMQs this week was taken by George Osborne, because Mr Cameron is in Poland conducting talks with the Polish Prime...
The UK's response to Donald Trump and the role of social media
Earlier this week, US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump called for a ban on all Muslims entering the US following a shooting in San Bernadino, California, that has been described as a terrorist...
Is Prime Minister's Questions a good way to scrutinise the executive?
PMQs is often criticised as being merely a "theatrical" performance that merely shows off oratory and wisecracking skills, rather than the effective source of scrutiny of the executive that it is...
Party Factions - the rise of Momentum
Reports out today suggest that the Labour Party Faction known as Momentum is attempting to tone down its association with far-left organisations by restricting the power of non-Labour Party members...
Obama's Oval Office Address
For only the third time in his tenure as President of the USA, Barack Obama delivered a prime-time speech directly from the Oval Office, the ultimate symbol of executive power in the US. You can...
A look back at David Cameron's 10 years of leadership
David Cameron has been leader of the Conservative Party for ten years. I actually spoke to him the night before he launched his leadership campaign when he was giving a school lecture, and there...
The history of secret ballots for voting
In the UK, and in many other countries, we take it as given that when we turn up to vote we are able to do so in private, using private polling booths and then posting our marked ballot paper into...
The Washington Post's Fact Checker - juicy untruths from US Politics
I always try to check out the Washington Post's Fact Checker at the end of each month - the November issue is full of claims by 2016 Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. You can...
Syrian refugees in the US - federalism and states' rights
Over 20% of US states have said that they will no longer welcome refugees from Syria following the attacks in Paris. Individual states are allowed to determine their own policy under the concept of...
Hilary Benn's Speech on Syria
If you've not seen it yet, then I highly recommend spending 15 minutes watching Hilary Benn's speech during the Syria debate yesterday. It is being widely praised, by people on both sides of the...
Wales organ donor opt-out - Federalism in the UK
AS Government and Politics students will know that the word 'federalism' is often used when discussing the changes to UK government and constitutional reform. The devolution of powers to Wales,...
Corbyn's leadership - a sea change in UK Politics?
Love him or loathe him, there is no doubting that Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party is having a significant impact on UK politics.
What is COP21?
This BBC 60 second Espresso video provides a handy introduction to the Climate Change talks taking place in Paris.
Bombing Syria - free votes
The Tories have reportedly spent the weekend scrabbling around trying to persuade enough Opposition MPs to back them in a Commons vote on whether the UK should engage in bombing Syria, following...
Oldham by-election - will Labour win?
The by-election in Oldham takes place this week (December 3rd) following the death of the long-standing Labour MP for the constituency, Michael Meacher (see here for an excellent obituary that also...