More Americans voted in the 2020 presidential election than in any other contest in our history (Hartig et al 2023). Yet in the same election—the lauded peak of our democratic participation—nearly the ...

Welcome to openDemocracy’s weekly reader comments round-up. This is an opportunity for us to showcase some of the many carefully considered messages we receive on a range of topics. These comments are ...

Sometimes it can be difficult to persuade young people to voluntarily fight and die for their country, but the definition of ...

Labour secured a massive Commons majority at last year’s general election with the support of just one in five eligible voters. The party won nearly two-thirds of MPs (63%) with just a third of the ...

Earlier this month, an Arizona state legislator did the unthinkable: He proposed returning power to the people by repealing compulsory school attendance laws. Compulsory education requirements have ...

Even in such a bitter, unusual election, roughly half of eligible Americans probably won't vote by the end of Election Day. In recent elections, turnout has ranged from about 50% to 60% of the ...

Australians will head to the polls tomorrow to elect a new government. But the country's 18 million eligible voters won't just be going to pick their preferred candidate - they'll also be fulfilling a ...

Sociologists, philosophers, and anthropologists have long been interested in the power of social institutions to shape people’s thoughts and expectations. Two of the most powerful social institutions ...

Daniel Allen is a patron of the Stolen and Missing Pets Alliance (Sampa). The government petitions to 'Reclassify the theft of a pet to a specific crime in its own right' and 'Pet Theft Reform: Amend ...