Parliaments were and remain institutions of frustrating negotiation and very often unpalatable compromise. They also represent an imperfect but significant check on the abuse of power.
Parliaments have been prorogued before – and revolution has ensued.
Union Square: contentious political rallies helped progressive social reformers argue for the protection of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington DC, USA
New York’s Union Square is an important site in American labor history. One scholar’s research illustrates the shifting meanings and inherent tensions of public space as an epicenter of civic life.
Dr Yang has been held in Beijing under harsh conditions, without access to lawyers or family for more than seven months before being formally arrested.
Shutterstock
Outspoken Australian-Chinese democracy advocate Dr Yang Hengjun has been formally arrested in China on suspicion of spying, further straining relations between the two countries.
A demonstrator in Hong Kong on Aug. 24, 2019.
REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach.
REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
By limiting access to social media and the internet, the government hurts the right to free speech of not only Papuan residents but also all Indonesians.
Another issue is that pre-polling gives an advantage to the major parties over the smaller ones, due to the latter having fewer resources.
AAP/Bianca de Marchi
An analysis of pre-polling figures shows a surge in early voting, particularly in regional areas. But questions remain about how it affects the relationship between voters and parties.
A journalist at work with his camera.
Wikimedia Commons
Deportees and other migrants return home wealthier, more educated and with more work experience than people who never left. This ‘brain gain’ benefits the whole community, financially and politically.
Aerial view of Port Louis, Mauritius.
Supplied by author
Turkey’s authoritarian leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was handed a big defeat recently when his party’s candidate lost a crucial election contest. Is this the beginning of Erdogan’s demise?
Conflict made its way to the Supreme Court this past session with two cases – one about the census, the other about gerrymandering. A court scholar says the two cases are intimately connected.
In 2018 Ireland voted to repeal the eighth amendment of its constitution and legalise abortion, following proposals from a citizen’s assembly.
Aidan Crawley/EPA
Labor is proposing establishing a new parliamentary committee to look into press freedom; one that will deal with whistle blowers and have crossbench representation.
Sudanese protesters at a sit-in, in Khartoum, Sudan on June 20, 2019. A government-imposed internet blackout has restricted information flow out of the country.
Hussein Malla/AP Photo
We know that social media platforms have an incentive to promote whatever gets the most attention, regardless of its authenticity. We’re more reluctant to admit that the same is true of people.
The Democratic field started with more than two dozen candidates.
AP Photo/John Locher
The more candidates that there are, the likelier it is that voters cannot come to a consensus on the best candidate.
It is entirely unprecedented to have a sitting head of government admitting to ongoing genocide. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during ceremonies at the release of the MMIWG report in Gatineau, on June 3.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Political scientists concern themselves with ideas of democracy. Now that Canada’s PM has accepted the finding of genocide, this changes how and what political scientists need to discuss.
Millions of people in Hong Kong have come out to stop a proposed law that would have allowed China to try accused criminals, including political dissidents, in Chinese courts.
Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha
A controversial extradition law has been suspended in Hong Kong after more than a week of mass public resistance. Hong Kong’s legal system is one of its few remaining areas of autonomy from China.