December 2011

Alan Renwick

In Part 1 of this post, I outlined the basics of Hungary’s new electoral law.  Now I turn to the question of what we should make of the changes introduced.

Before I get going, I should say that others have been following Hungary’s electoral reform debates over recent months and years more closely than I have.  I offer my impressions here partly because I know many non-Hungarian-speakers want to know more than they can at present about what has happened, and partly in the hope of initiating conversation with those in Hungary who know much more than I do.  I hope you will point out errors, omissions, and points that I ought to think about in more detail.

The key question in thinking about an electoral reform concerns whose interests it is designed to serve.  Is it imposed by the government to protect its own interests (what I have elsewhere called elite majority imposition)?  Is it agreed among politicians more widely (elite settlement)?  Or does it reflect pressure from below, which politicians feel compelled in greater or lesser measure to accommodate (elite–mass interaction)?

Read the rest of this entry »

Alan Renwick

While most of us have been preparing to hang up our stockings, Hungary’s parliamentarians have been hard at work: on Friday alone they passed fourteen new laws.  One of these was a new electoral law – the first significant overhaul of the Hungarian electoral system since the country’s first post-communist democratic elections in 1990.  In this post – the first of two on the new electoral law – I will outline the changes that have taken place.  The second post will analyse the politics underlying the new law and consider what it tells us about the state of Hungarian democracy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Alan Renwick

Last week, as promised in the coalition programme, the government published its proposals for allowing voters to recall MPs who are found guilty of serious wrongdoing.  The draft bill and accompanying white paper set out procedures whereby a recall petition will be opened either when an MP is jailed for up to twelve months (longer jail sentences already lead to automatic expulsion) or when the Commons itself decides that a miscreant MP should be censured with the threat of recall.  The petition will be administered by returning officers.  If at least 10 per cent of eligible local voters sign the petition within an eight-week period, a by-election will be held.  The sitting MP will be allowed to stand in the by-election, but will have to prove his or her continuing local support in order to retain office.

Read the rest of this entry »

Patrick Porter

Finally after a busy teaching term I’ve got a chance to add some thoughts to the great post and articles by Jon Western and Joshua Goldstein on humanitarian intervention.

Bottom line: I think Jon and Joshua make a robust case that not only can intervention work, but that the international community is learning effectively how to go about it. As they argue, it is a technique of statecraft that is being refined and better understood. It might not necessarily transform societies on every metric of human well being, but prompt military action combined with due attention to the rule of law, security and institutions can fend off predators and give oppressed peoples a chance – a breathing space - to rebuild. East Timor, Sierra Leone, and who knows, maybe even Libya testify to this.

Read the rest of this entry »