UCL Constitution Unit
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Reposted by UCL Constitution Unit
Reposted by UCL Constitution Unit
![33. We have heard that central to the success of committees is the culture in which they operate. Whilst the structure of committees is important to how effective they are, a recurring theme of our inquiry has been that the culture of committees has far more impact on their effectiveness. Professor Meg Russell, Director of the Constitution Unit and Professor of British and Comparative Politics University College London told us:
"it is important to emphasise that structure cannot trump culture—well, it certainly struggles to do so. […] it is hard to generalise. You need to build whatever you build with sound understanding of your own system and its culture and capabilities; you should not think that you can import something from elsewhere or pick from a list of what comparative academics think are effective things, because they might or might not work in your case."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rrfsy7upxelwmqgb32nq536y/bafkreihgiwslg52rwvw2mgwe5gb2arnb3hxefktise2byoqm2sr2zky3b4@jpeg)
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The Guardian
@theguardian.com
· 10d
UK government urged to restore Electoral Commission’s independence to protect democracy
Oversight of watchdog could be abused by a future authoritarian government, report warns
The independence of the Electoral Commission must be fully restored to protect the UK’s electoral integrity from a future authoritarian government, a new report warns.
The Democracy in Danger report by Spotlight on Corruption found the UK government is in breach of eight different international standards on ensuring the independence of electoral bodies by maintaining the government’s oversight of the watchdog.
The UK government is in breach of eight different international standards on ensuring the independence of electoral bodies by maintaining the new power in place.
All the constitutional oversight bodies that reviewed the ministerial power opposed its introduction – including two parliamentary committees, the UK’s top ethics body, the Committee on Standards in Public Life, and the Electoral Commission’s oversight body, the Speaker’s Committee.
The UK has plummeted down international rankings for electoral body autonomy since the power was introduced and now ranks 44th, among countries such as Ghana, Nepal and Croatia. It has fallen out of line with comparable countries such as Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.
The power, which was described by the former MI5 director general and chair of the top ethics body, Lord Evans, as “giving a toddler a gun”, could be used by a future government with autocratic tendencies to distort electoral rules in its favour to maintain power. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by UCL Constitution Unit
Reposted by UCL Constitution Unit
