Category: politics

The Future Is Now: An Introduction to Prefigurative Politics – review

The Future Is Now: An Introduction to Prefigurative Politics explores how prefigurative politics can help us to reimagine how we live in the face of climate change and ecosystems’ collapse. This stimulating volume, masterfully edited by Lara Monticelli…

MPs with both an educational and occupational background in STEM are the most likely to demonstrate engagement with STEM issues in Parliament

Joshua Myers and Hilde Coffé investigate the effect of having a STEM background on both the likelihood of MPs proposing a STEM Private Members’ Bill and the proportion of proposals an MP dedicates to such bills. They find that having a STEM background …

American Expat? You can vote today in Dem Primary!

  Are you an American who is living temporarily or permanently outside the USA?  You can vote in the Democratic Primary!  Even better, it is fast and easy, and you can do it today! It’s this easy: Join Democrats Abroad to get an ID number:  https://www.democratsabroad.org/join Download your ballot: https://www.democratsabroad.org/primary Fill in and email the PDF […]

Party political conferences – A key site for research impact

Party political conferences provide a unique opportunity for academics to engage with politicians and the policymaking process, as well as a variety of different stakeholders in any given policy issue. In this post, Dr Grace Lordan, Professor Tony Travers, Dr Anna Valero and Megan Marsh describe how academics and the public affairs team at LSE have used party political conferences […]

Evidence matters, but ideas shape policy in more fundamental ways than we might realise

Evidence-based policy-making can be problematic in practice, especially if the evidence is uncertain. Based on a case study concerning the formation of a national-level policy position in Ireland in response to an EU initiative, Niamh Hardiman and Saliha Metinsoy suggest that policy makers’ decisions may well be guided by beliefs that go beyond the direct evidence available. Ideas can be so deep-rooted that they […]