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SubscriptionsColumn / Investigation: Democracy in Danger
The newspaper’s extensive reporting and analysis of the various threats to democracy from populism, oligarchy, dark money and online disinformation.
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Can Citizens’ Assemblies Improve Our Response to Crises?
Governments should use assemblies to tackle the issues at the heart of public debate during a crisis, write Stefan Flothmann and Brett Hennig
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Xi-Think: The Imminent Dangers of Absolute Power in China
The fate of China and much of the world is now dependent on the whims of one man, says Chris Ogden
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‘The Pariah State that Allows Lawfare’
The UK has an opportunity to lead the way with a national anti-SLAPP law, or risk falling behind the European Union, a coalition of activists, lawyers and journalists warn
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A Crisis of Leadership and the Shortening of the Ministerial Lifespan
Max Colbert reports that 147 members of the Government have either resigned or been sacked this year alone — one every two days
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‘Beware Absolute Monarchs Bearing Gifts’
Afsana Lachaux warns of the impact of Britain’s dependence on the £140bn invested by Gulf states, from the impact on London’s housing to a rising political influence
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Government May Face Legal Challenge Over Voter ID in Elections Next Year
A legal briefing by Good Law Project says that election groups will have to closely monitor who loses out when mandatory voter ID comes into force in just a matter of months
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The Toxin of Televisuality
As the democratic dangers posed by social media are exposed, the degradation of our politics by the small screen should not be forgotten, writes AC Grayling
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‘They Know Who I Am, They Know What I’m Doing’: Arrested Journalists Speak Out over New Policing Act
Josiah Mortimer talks to Tom Bowles and Rich Felgate who were locked up for covering an environmental protest, and reports on more repressive legislation to come.
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The US Midterms and the Lucrative Business of Election Denial
Matt Bernadini inspects the funding sources of those backing Trump’s ‘stolen election’ theory
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‘Amateur Hour in British Politics’
As more and more ministers are handed top jobs for their loyalty rather than their competence, former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall considers what we can do about this democratic deficit
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‘Musk’s Twitter Buy Makes No Sense – Unless It’s Part of Something Bigger’
Brexit and Trump were initially seen as jokes, but the new owner of the social media giant could pose a serious threat to democracy – and a boon for Vladimir Putin, writes David Troy
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The American Midterms: ‘This Might be the Last Election Where Your Vote Matters’
Heidi Siegmund Cuda speaks to academic and author Jason Stanley on how solidarity on the left is America’s last great hope against fascism
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‘The Suella Braverman Scandal Shows Rishi Sunak has Quickly Traded “Integrity” for Power’
The new Prime Minister’s deal with the disgraced Home Secretary gives the lie to claims he is making a clean break from the Truss and Johnson eras, writes Adam Bienkov
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All But One of Boris Johnson’s Cabinet Ministers Used Private Email – Why?
Suella Braverman has returned to the Home Office following her resignation last week over her use of private email – but Iain Overton reports how using personal channels is a common occurrence among cabinet ministers
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Government Rushing Ahead with Voter ID Next Year Despite Warning It Poses ‘Significant Risk to Safe Elections’
David Hencke reports on the controversial move to make voters bring photographic ID when they turn up to vote in next year’s May local elections in England
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‘How Will We Know Putin hasn’t Picked the Most Disruptive Candidate?’
Security experts and democracy campaigners raise fears over wild west Conservative leadership election if it goes to members, reports Josiah Mortimer
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‘Bringing Back Johnson would be a Betrayal of Sexual Harassment Survivors’
The former Prime Minister’s downfall followed his claims he did not know about sexual assault allegations against an ally – that alone means he should not be returned to high office, argues Sian Norris
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‘The “Second Coming” of Boris Johnson Shows the Conservatives are a Party Woefully Out of Ideas’
That the scandal-prone former Prime Minister is even being discussed as a replacement for Liz Truss proves how out-of-touch with reality the governing party now is, writes George Llewelyn
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Strange Allies: Hungary, Russia and the UK
Szabolcs Panyi looks at the affinities between British Conservatives and Viktor Orbán in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
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Was Justice a Victim of the War in Afghanistan?
New data shows how complaints against the UK military in Afghanistan were highly unlikely to be prosecuted, report Iain Overton and Murray Jones
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‘Lack of Evidence’ of Drugs Use in Parliament, Met Concludes
A series of confusing, contradictory statements have been issued about cocaine being found in parliamentary bathrooms
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Reform or Ruin: Could Labour Win the Next Election but Lose the Future?
AV Deggar considers the structural changes needed from Labour, if it knocks the Conservatives out of power at the next election
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China: The Dawn of the Authoritarian Century?
Chris Ogden looks at how democracy is retreating in the face of China’s ‘Pax Autocratica’ – capitalism combined with state intervention and one-party rule
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Saudi Oil Decision Exposes More Failed British Diplomacy
Saudi Arabia is following the example of Russia by mocking Britain’s permissive, pro-trade policies, say Sam Bright and Sian Norris
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‘The UK Must Help Bosnia Resist Putin’s Pressure’
Following Bosnia’s elections, Labour MP Fleur Anderson discusses the country’s prospects and what Britain can do to help
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Who Voted For This, Liz?
Rupert Read says Liz Truss has no authority to govern based on 80,000 Conservative members and calls for an immediate general election
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Individuals on UN Sanctions List Allowed to Trade in UK
Diogo Augusto unpicks the UK’s lax surveillance of company directors
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‘Lies and Deceit’: Top Russian Oligarch Indicted for US Criminal Sanctions Violations had Role in Russia Interference Report
The indictment of Oleg Deripaska is the latest in a string of judicial decisions which lead back to Putin’s interference in US elections, reports Heidi Siegmund-Cuda
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‘Great British Democracy’: Who Voted for This?
The UK’s political system currently resembles an unelected autocracy rather than a truly representative democracy, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘There is a Connection Between their Roots in Fascism and their Embrace of these Ideas’: Italy’s Drift to the Far-Right
Adrian Goldberg spoke to David Broder – author of Mussolini’s Grandchildren: Fascism In Contemporary Italy – for the Byline Times Podcast about the historical roots of the country’s new far-right leadership
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Winds of Stagnation: What a Far-Right Victory in Italy Would Mean for Women and LGBTIQ Rights
Francesca Visser speaks to activists about the forthcoming elections and how a far-right coalition could lead to stalling progress on human rights
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What Does the New Prime Minister Mean For Britain’s Oligarchy Problem?
Oliver Bullough considers how a changing of the guard in Downing Street may influence attempts to crack down on kleptocrats
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Sweden Democrats Latest Far-Right Party to go Mainstream in Europe
The electoral success of a formerly neo-Nazi party in Sweden – which has ties to the UK Conservatives – is part of a Europe-wide pattern where the extreme has become mainstream politics
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‘My Allegiance is to These Islands, Not the King’
Adrian Goldberg speaks to Paul Powlesland, who was threatened with arrest for suggesting that he may write ‘not my King’ on a sign
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Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Appointment Shows Truss’ Government Is Captured by the Hard Right
The UK’s new Prime Minister is surrounding herself with hardline figures who were previously on the fringe of the Conservative movement, reports Adam Bienkov
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‘Johnsonism Gone Sour: Liz Truss as Prime Minister Will Drag Us to Disaster’
The UK’s incoming Prime Minister has accepted the worst parts of Boris Johnson’s politics, while abandoning anything that made his agenda palatable, reports Adam Bienkov
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Can We Trust Truss? All the False Claims During her Campaign to Become Prime Minister
The Conservative leadership frontrunner claims she is “honest” and “straightforward” but has repeatedly misled the public during her bid to succeed Boris Johnson
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On the Frontline of Exposing the Truth About Russia and Brexit
Four years ago, Tom Mutch thought he had the ‘scoop of the century’ blowing open Russia’s involvement in Brexit. Now, after the UK has left the European Union and Putin wages genocidal war in Ukraine, he wonders whether we are any closer to knowing the truth
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Online Propaganda: A Gateway into the ‘Pro Russian Ecosystem’
Matt Bernardini investigates the influential academic website Swiss Policy Research which claims to expose ‘geopolitical propaganda’ but seems more intent on spreading it
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What a New Polish Textbook Tells Us About Education’s Culture Wars
A bizarre history book is set to be introduced to Poland’s secondary schools – with its reactionary content symbolic of a wider battle for values in global education
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Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak Refuse to Correct Boris Johnson’s Lies
The candidates are refusing to correct the record on any of the Prime Minister’s false claims in Parliament, Adam Bienkov reports
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Where is Britain’s Liz Cheney?
Alexandra Hall Hall explores the worrying trajectories of the US Republicans and the UK’s Conservative Party
