Stein Ringen is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford. His book on the Chinese state, The Perfect Dictatorship, will be published this year. Contact him here.
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Published in: openDemocracyUKBrexit and the British constitution: it doesn't workIf Parliament is sovereign and wants to vote, it votes. If someone else (the government) is in a position to “give” it the right to vote, it is not sovereign.
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Published in: HomeWas Machiavelli a democrat? Is he relevant today?However you read The Prince, it is a reminder that the elementary condition of good government is effective government.
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Published in: HomeChina and the embarrassment of western democracyThe trouble for democracy does not come from Beijing, or from globalisation, or from abroad, or, in Britain, from immigration or from Europe. It resides at home.
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Published in: Can Europe Make It?Parliamentarians - wake up!The author launches a new blog with a message on Brexit – parliament wake up! Former Labour parliamentarian replies on how to correct the imbalance exploited by Thatcher, Blair and May.
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Published in: HomeMy 350 on BREXIT: Responsibility"I am entitled to shout this from the mountaintop since I have been asking since the referendum was called: How are political decisions made in this country?"
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Published in: HomeMy 350 on BREXIT: Earthquake
“For my part, my sentiment is not just embarrassment, but shame. That we should choose the coward’s way of turning on the EU in its moment of need.”