Tonight in Belfast, we’re running the second in what I hope will become the annual ‘Slugger Awards‘. These awards – previewed here on the Amnesty blog – are something of a departure for political weblogs. It would be fair to say that politicians are – for the most part – less than thrilled by the [...]
Posts from ‘November, 2009’
Local democracy and the strange case of speed humps and 20 mph zones
Speed humps: love ‘em or hate ‘em, here in the UK they’ve become a symbol of the traffic calming zeitgeist. Speed humps also pose a major challenge for local democracy. That’s because local authorities are legally hampered from taking full account of the commonly held view that whilst speed reduction is good, speed humps are bad. [...]
Democratic, decentralised and difficult
I attended an interesting seminar yesterday afternoon, hosted by the 2020 Public Services Trust. The topic was the future of citizen-centred public services. The two principal speakers both brought innovative ideas and a real vision, which is more than can be said for a lot of these public policy seminars. Ben Jupp, from the Cabinet [...]
Active citizens, subjective well-being and Clarksonism
If you were to add one blog to your RSS reader at my request, please make it Chris Dillow’s Stumbling and Mumbling. It’s about ‘Clarksonism.’ Why tedious self-pitying rich white blokes on the telly the question of ‘subjective well-being’ is an important one to understand and why politicians often end up being forced to expend [...]
Visualising public spending
Further to the occasional series here looking at ways that people are using open data and visualisation tools to help clarify complex issues, here is the ‘where does my money go‘ application: The authors say that it’s not finished yet and you can look at their underlying data – they’re looking for feedback. In terms of the [...]
The myth of easy engagement: Evans’ Law?
Just a quick response to Tim Davies’ verygood post about ‘The Myth of Easy Engagement’. There is one argument that supports his general position that, I think, he misses. I’m sure that sooner or later, some will come up with a frivolous law (like ‘Godwin’s Law‘ or ‘Muphry’s Law‘) but if they don’t, let me [...]
Poppies and public consent
Not directly related to local democracy, I know, but I’ve written a post here on Slugger O’Toole responding to an Irish republican about how far the wearing of a poppy can be seen as an endorsement for the actions of the British state. It raises important questions about the legitimacy of democracy and I hope [...]
Should local authorities subsidise independent local newspapers?
In today’s Guardian, (and here with footnotes) George Monbiot asks: “I can think of only two local newspapers that consistently hold power to account: the West Highland Free Press and the Salford Star. Are any others worth saving? If so, please let me know.” His observation …. “Most local papers exist to amplify the voices [...]
Transparency for lobbyists
Like a minority of people who have watched what will surely be 2009′s official leitmotif – the demand for full disclosure from MPs – play out, I’ve wondered when similar demands will be applied to those who rival MPs for power. This phrase of Larry Elliot’s – explaining the roots of the current economic crisis [...]
