Short briefings published as part of the Constitutional Principles and the Health of Democracy project. They cover topics from the constitutional principles that underpin democracy to the role of citizens' assemblies.
Briefings are available in both webpage and PDF format. These are listed below.
Constitutional principles
Protecting constitutional principles: what are they and why do they matter?
By Meg Russell, Alan Renwick and Lisa James, second edition, published October 2025.
What is democratic backsliding and is the UK at risk?
By Meg Russell, Alan Renwick and Lisa James, second edition, published October 2025.
Checks and balances: what are they and why do they matter?
By Lisa James, Alan Renwick and Meg Russell, second edition, published October 2025.
The rule of law: what is it and why does it matter?
By Lisa James and Jan van Zyl Smit, second edition, published October 2025.
Parliament
What is parliamentary scrutiny and why does it matter?
By Meg Russell and Lisa James, second edition, published October 2025.
House of Commons procedure: why does it matter and how does it change?
By Hannah Kelly, Lisa James and Meg Russell, published July 2025.
Elections and public participation
Free and fair elections: what are they and how does the UK compare?
By Alan Renwick and Lisa James, published October 2025.
Citizens' assemblies: what are they and how can policy-makers use them?
By Alan Renwick, second edition, published October 2025.
Territorial politics
The territorial constitution: what is it and why does it matter?
By Lisa James, Meg Russell and Alan Renwick, published October 2025.
How does politics work in Northern Ireland?
By Lisa James, Conor J. Kelly and Alan Renwick, published October 2025.
Standards and regulation
Standards in public life: what are they and why do they matter?
By Lisa James, Meg Russell and Alan Renwick, second edition, published October 2025.
Constitutional regulators: what are they and how do they work?
By Lisa James, Alan Renwick and Meg Russell, second edition, published October 2025.
The executive
The civil service: what is its role?
By Lisa James, Meg Russell and Alan Renwick, second edition, published October 2025.
Public appointments: what are they and why do they matter?
By Lisa James, second edition, published October 2025.
Monarchy and the royal prerogative
What is constitutional monarchy and what is its role in the UK?
By Lisa James and Robert Hazell, published April 2024.
International agreements: what is parliament's role and why does this matter?
By Lisa James and Arabella Lang, second edition, published October 2025.
Media and discourse
The role of the media in democracies: what is it and why does it matter?
By Caitlin Farrell and Lisa James, second edition, published October 2025.
Healthy political discourse: what is it and why does it matter?
By Alan Renwick and Tom Fieldhouse, second edition, published October 2025.
We have a page devoted to the earlier editions of our briefings. We also published two context-specific briefings in 2022:
- How can Rishi Sunak demonstrate integrity, professionalism and accountability?, by Meg Russell, Alan Renwick, Sophie Andrews-McCarroll and Lisa James, published October 2022. This is also available in PDF format.
- Rebuilding constitutional standards: five questions for the next Conservative leader, by By Meg Russell, Alan Renwick and Robert Hazell, published July 2022. This is also available in PDF format.