When we shop are we exercising our freedom? Or are we more like prisoners exercising in the yard under supervision? Is the consumer market a realm of democracy, or of
Fishkin, James, When the People Speak: Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation, Oxford University Press, 2009.
James Fishkin, who is masterminding POWER 2010’s deliberative assembly in London this weekend (see
On the day after the Conservatives published a draft manifesto for the English NHS that failed to mention ‘England’ a single time, I thought it would be fitting to publish
The Home Secretary has admitted in a Parliamentary answer that the Identity and Passport Service is collecting National Insurance numbers from every person who applies for an ID card, and storing them on the National Identity Register
Yemen’s foreign minister rejects possibility of US intervention in its battle against al-Qaeda, suggesting fears that US support might do more harm than good. Aid agencies warn of return to war in southern Sudan. Indian security forces bring day-long siege in Srinagar to an end with death of two m
Funny old world, politics. Two of the nastiest and most unhelpful Labour Party officials (and that is putting it mildly) while I was editing New Socialist, the party's
Despite the failings of the neo-liberal model, the media still uses its advocates in City institutions, financial bodies and agencies associated with them to explain and analyse the crisis
I don't know if I am being fair to Nick Clegg, but I read a short piece in the Guardian today on his condemnation of Labour and the
President Barack Obama criticises intelligence agencies for security failings as airport security undergoes review worldwide. The UN food agency suspends operations in south Somalia. A suicide attack in Dagestan kills six people. Egyptian police clash with Gaza aid activists. Britain and France re
Perhaps I am unreasonably angry and disturbed on learning that academy schools are not open to public scrutiny through the freedom of information law. After all, it is a lapse
It's not just the end of a year and of the decade. I suspect 2008-9 will go down as the end of an era: a pivotal transition
