Delegate or Trustee?

The recent outcry over SNP Leadership candidates’ personal beliefs has highlighted a fundamental question about the very nature of our representative democracy.

Who were better? Take That, or New Kids On the Block? 

Take That and New Kids on the block were both bands who gained commercial success from the early 1990s. While both groups have had their share of successes and devoted fans, there has been ongoing debate among music fans and critics about which group is superior. In this analysis, used music theory and statistical analysisContinue reading “Who were better? Take That, or New Kids On the Block? “

Interdependence is Normal 

There’s no such thing as a country.  Nation states are a shared figment of the imagination, defined by invisible, imaginary, interim lines on maps. There is no such natural thing as a country: maps, borders, coasts and people have changed over time. That’s one of the facts that highlight the pointlessness of nationalism. Who nowContinue reading “Interdependence is Normal “

How to spot a populist 

A populist is a political leader or movement that seeks or obtains power by claiming to represent the interests of ordinary people and combat what they designate as the “elite” or the powerful. This is the ideational definition of populism I refer to in the prologue to the Populists handbook, which sees populism as aContinue reading “How to spot a populist “

How to deprogram a nationalist. 

Subscribe to get our latest articles into your inbox Disagreement in a debate can be healthy – one definition of politics is how civilised society makes decisions when members disagree. But the online debate is often poisonous, and there are genuine and well-founded concerns about the polarisation of societies; in the UK generally, specifically hereContinue reading “How to deprogram a nationalist. “