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How can we fix our democracy?

16 May 2023, 6:30 pm–7:30 pm

Alan's headshot shows him smiling to the camera

Inaugural lecture for Prof Alan Renwick. What are the problems with democracy in the UK and are there any solutions that would work in practice?

Event Information

Open to

All

Availability

Yes

Organiser

Eleanor Kingwell-Banham

Location

Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre
Wilkins Main Building
Gower Street
London
WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom

 

This lecture will now be available to watch via Zoom. If you wish to join online, please select an 'online attendance' ticket when booking. Please note that in-person tickets have sold out.


 

Our democratic system is not working as well as it should: on this, both the public and most experts agree. But what exactly are the problems? What are the pros and cons of the potential solutions? And are such changes feasible? 

Drawing on recent Constitution Unit research into public attitudes to democracy, as well as his own work on electoral systems, referendums, citizens’ assemblies and other democratic institutions, Alan Renwick will explore answers to each of these questions. He will argue that there are no quick fixes, but that a series of changes in institutions, practices, and behaviours may lead to valuable improvements.
 



Lecture: 18:30-19:30
With an introduction by Prof Meg Russell
And an appreciation by Prof Anand Menon

Drinks Reception: 19:30-20:30
All welcome!
 


A close up of a video camera with a LED screen showing that it is focussed on a speaker. The speaker and crowd appear blurred in the background
This event will be recorded and the video will be uploaded to our YouTube channel.

 

You can subscribe to our YouTube channel to be alerted when the recording is uploaded, or just check our channel after the 24 May, when the video should have been made available.



Accessibility

This event is wheelchair accessible. Please see detailed accessibility information below for:

Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre (AccessAble)
wheelchair access info
Haldane Room (AccessAble) (drinks reception venue. This room is just inside "Outside Access (South Junction)")
wheelchair access info


 


About the Speaker

Professor Alan Renwick

Professor of Democratic Politics and Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit

Alan Reniwck is wearing a pale linen suit, baby blue tie and round horn-framed glasses. He smiles to the camera.
Alan Renwick is an expert in the mechanisms through which citizens can participate in formal politics: particularly in electoral systems, referendums, and deliberative processes such as citizens' assemblies. His research is comparative: besides the UK, his recent projects have included all European democracies as well as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, and the United States.

Alan works with policy-makers on a range of issues. He became a source of authoritative, impartial evidence during the UK's electoral system referendum of 2011. He has provided evidence to governments and parliamentary select committees on a range of topics, including the conduct of referendums, electoral reform, reform of the House of Lords, and citizens' assemblies. Outside the UK, he has also provided advice and participated in debates in a range of settings, including Canada, Egypt, Jordan, Hong Kong, and Jersey.

Before coming to UCL in 2015, Alan was based at the Universities of Oxford and Reading. He obtained his doctorate, on processes of institutional design in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland during transition from communism, in 2004. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at New College, Oxford from 2003 until 2008 and a Departmental Lecturer in Comparative Politics in the Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford, from 2005 to 2006. He was based at the University of Reading between 2008 and 2015, latterly as Reader and Associate Professor of Comparative Politics.

Alan is Director of Impact and Engagement for the UCL Department of Political Science and one of the hosts of the department's podcast, UCL Uncovering Politics