The Lucky Left - why America grows faster with Democrat presidents
This superb Economist videographic explores an interesting piece of political economy - the fact that the US economy has experienced higher rates of economic growth under Democrat presidents. So,...
Half-term movies
Students (or indeed teachers!) may not want to do much written work or paperwork over the upcoming half-term break. As an alternative to traditional "work", here is my top 30 list of political...
Select Committee chair elections - suddenly interesting!
I don't think I can ever remember reading a prominent journalistic piece about upcoming elections to the roles of Select Committee chairs. But there is an excellent analysis this week by Mark...
Prime Minister's Questions - political theatre or effective scrutiny?
Jeremy Corbyn's fresh, less confrontational approach to PMQs has, in my mind, done something to move the session back in the direction of effective scrutiny rather than further down the line of...
Politics topical quiz - Eliminator style!
Here's this week's topical Politics news quiz in the format of our ever-popular resource called 'The Eliminator'.There are 6 questions based upon Politics news stories from this week for you to...
McCarthy out, Boehner in?
Last night Kevin McCarthy, the current House Majority Leader, and favourite to be the next Speaker, dropped out of the race. His campaign had experience a number of gaffes including the suggestion...
How much does your MP cost?
If you happen to live in Kettering, then you should be pleased to know that your MP, Philip Hollobone, only claimed £4852 in expenses last year, compared with the highest claiming MP, £264 778 by...
UK Prisoners and the Voting Ban
The issue of UK prisoners being unable to vote in the UK keeps on surfacing, but it looks as though an end to this on-going saga might well be in sight following a ruling today by the European...
Tracking Terrorism
There are some fabulous infographics and interactive data sources available online that highlight how terrorist activity has changed over time in terms of deadliness, location and general impact....
Here's a topical Government and Politics quiz for your students, using news stories from the past week. Hopefully, your students are regularly keeping up to date with what is going on in the real...
Beyond the Bike - conflict minerals and Africa
What causes civil war? There are many theories, but at the heart of many recent African conflicts has been the devastating search for minerals to fuel our purchases of electronic gizmos and our...
What is Trident?
Jeremy Corbyn doesn't want to replace it (and wouldn't push the nuclear button anyway). The SNP share the same view on Trident - something they can agree with parts of Labour on!So - what is...
What's the point of Party Conferences?
It's been said that party conferences are either intended to make politicians look and sound like "normal people" (for once) or that they just a bit pointless. Whilst the nature of conferences has...
Will David Cameron contest the 2020 General Election?
During the run-up to the 2015 General Election, David Cameron assured both friends and foes alike that he would not seek a third term of office. This blog post contests that the context in which...
US Supreme Court Cases to Watch
As the website 'The Hill', has written the US Supreme Court returns today to continue its business after the summer break. Whilst the court is still to finalise its docket, political pundits are...
E-Voting: Does Democracy Need Technology?
Is it time for electronic voting here in the UK? Is a manual system of polling stations and ballot boxes inconsistent with a society that has now fully embraced digital technology? Would you be...
Limitations to Super Political Action Committees
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has bowed out of the 2016 Republican Presidential race after just a 10 week campaign. Whilst the field is crowded, it seems that those candidates who have wealthy...
US Politics Update: John Boehner Resigns as Speaker
US House Speaker, John Boehner has announced he will resign as Speaker and from Congress altogether.
Behind the Scenes with Jeremy Corbyn
A fascinating six-minute behind-the-scenes take on the labour leadership campaign of Jeremy Corbyn here - as recorded by the BBC Newsnight team. It certainly picks up on the unbridled enthusiasm of...
War is Boring - a photojournalist's view on Northern Iraq
I love this collection of photos and blogs from photojournalist Matt Cetti Roberts based in Iraqi-Kurdistan in his War is Boring project.