Stuart Weir is director of Democratic Audit at the Human Rights Centre, University of Essex, and a consultant to the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust on the State of the Nation polls. He is co–author of Voices of the People: popular attitudes to democratic renewal in Britain (2001), Democracy under Blair: a democratic audit of the United Kingdom (2002), and The International IDEA Handbook on Democracy Assessment (2003).

Recent articles

The voluntary legal-political agreements between Britain's power-brokers endorsed by the Power inquiry will not revivify a flawed democracy, says Stuart Weir – only a written constitution will do.

Britain's centralised way of doing foreign policy lacks proper oversight and accountability, according to a new collaborative report. Simon Burall & Stuart Weir propose ways to redress a key "democratic deficit".

The British government has suffered a major defeat on its post-7/7 counter-terrorism proposals, but its plans still threaten the democratic balance between security and liberty, and thus jeopardise both, say Stuart Weir & Andrew Blick.

Electoral turnouts and media commentaries in Britain may tell a story of political apathy, but the latest State of the Nation opinion poll reveals a high degree of political awareness – and discontent – among its citizens.