Political institutions often delegate authority to regulatory bodies to reap the benefits of their expertise. Yet, this delegation comes with challenges of its own. In this article Kirill discusses two modes of action that politicians can pursue when dealing with regulatory bureaucracies, arguing that balancing regulatory discretion with accountability could “trigger the never-ending adjustment of grips”
How democratic is majority rule? In this article, Kirill explores the advantages and disadvantages of this form of decision rule, arguing that it could be substituted by consociationalism – all through the prism of Perceval’s quest for the Holy Grail.
Are binary politics still appropriate or even relevant? Obioma explores the extent to which our current political systems are representative of the diversity of opinion present in society and how this affects our views of one another. In her words ‘It is not only easy, but rational, to continue to allow our lives to be ruled by the structures that we are indoctrinated in, but I implore you to take on the personal cost of letting your thoughts and beliefs exist outside of them’.
In countries where COVID responses have been poor, does the blame lie with the resilience of the population to make sacrifices for the greater good? Or can the buck stop at the door of failed political leaders? In this article, Yuval explores the ineffective response to coronavirus in Israel. Is it the Isreali cultural archetype of the ‘freier’ that prevented policy from being effective? Or was it the fact that “Netanyahu’s half-hearted appeals to the vaunted sense of Israeli solidarity have failed to contain the communal defiance of the Coronavirus structures across Israel”. To the author, “It seems that as Israelis, our unifying impulse is only effective when the external enemies are our Arab neighbours, and not a microscopic pathogen.”?
In June 2019, two record-breaking sized protests gripped the streets of Hong Kong over the reading of the extradition bill. Why did this bill trigger an unprecedented response from the public? The author argues that ‘people in Hong Kong see their protected freedoms of speech, assembly and press, as well as the rule of law, being eroded. While tensions were escalated using petrol bombs, lasers, metal weapons, and tear gas, he argues that the true factor intensifying the protests is ‘the continual struggle for a more competitive and responsive government’ within the one country two systems framework.
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