Making sure that citizens have a voice through strong and vibrant local institutions.
This briefing follows a previous LGIU report into local government in Belgium that analysed the levels of decentralisation in the country’s political infrastructure. This report will consider the recent history of citizen’s assemblies across Europe, developments within Belgium, and considerations towards future use.
International studies show a global decline in democracy since 2006. The current spread of ‘states of emergency’ in democratic and non-democratic countries runs a risk of eroding civil liberties even far beyond the end of the crisis. The pandemic is triggering discussions about permanent surveillance measures, the recentralisation of policies, and exceptional rules – even…
May 7th would have been the day that several English city-regions voted for a mayor; a choice that would have been based on both promises of candidates’ actions in office and a judgement of the incumbent mayor’s record in office – which would have been a milestone for a new model of governance in the…
The May 2020 elections were postponed in the UK, but other polls in other places have carried on. We cannot afford to postpone democracy forever, what should an election look like in the time of coronavirus?
With all polls currently postponed until 6 May 2021, just what are electoral administrators up to during this pandemic? Peter Stanyon, Chief Executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, tells what they’re doing now and what they need to do to prepare for the next set of elections.
After pilot studies, the UK Government is planning to make voting conditional on the production of photographic identification at polling stations in UK parliamentary elections and in local elections in England. We review and comment on the issues raised by reports on the pilots. The briefing was written before Covid-19.
In recent years, Canada has developed an immigration policy seeing millions arrive, including in rural locations. This is the work of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP), a partnership and program between federal and local government incentivising more remote and isolated communities to accept migrants. This briefing outlines the role of Canadian municipalities in…
The UK government launched its Freeports consultation in February. The consultation has been extended to July 2020. This briefing outlines the content of the consultation, considers wider evidence on the benefits and challenges of freeports, and suggests considerations for local authorities and other place-based partners inclined to make a response.
How is it that we will begin to emerge from weeks of lockdown? There is no tried and tested method but trust and transparency in how decisions are made and acted upon are key to their success, writes Janet Sillett.