Downloads
All downloadable publications available from the Hansard Society are listed below. Click on a publication from the list for more information and to download.
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Digital citizens and democratic participation: An analysis of how citizens participate online and connect with MPs and Parliament - shows that for Britons who are already online, the internet has made it easier to take part in civic and political activities and that half of them prefer to use the internet to take part in democratic life.
Download Digital citizens and democratic participation: An analysis of how citizens participate online and connect with MPs and Parliament
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The social networking application Twitter has
become an increasingly relevant and much talked about tool for the digital
politician. As recently as December 2008 only two MPs were regularly
dispatching 140-character ‘tweets', as a twitter message is known. Today, this
has risen to 79 or just over 12% of MPs. That's about the same number with a
blog but fewer than the 30% with a presence on Facebook. This rapid rise has
led to the portrayal of Twitter as either revolutionary or a pointless fad.
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Digital Dialogues is an independent review into the use of online technologies to enhance engagement between central government and the public. Free download of full report and Executive Summary available
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Your Parliament explains the basics of the British political system: the work of Parliament, the role of MPs and peers, and how laws are made. It also describes how to get involved: through voting, contacting your MP or visiting the Houses of Parliament.
The Your Parliament pamphlet provides clear, straightforward explanations on questions such as: What is Parliament? How is the UK run? Who are MPs and peers? What are political parties? How are new laws made? How do I vote? Why should I get involved? How can I get involved or find out more?
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The annual Audit of Political Engagement carried out by the Hansard Society measures the nature and extent of political engagement and reveals where views have changed - and where they remain constant. It offers a yearly snapshot of political knowledge and engagement in Britain.
Audit 5 includes a special section on constitutional issues to discover how much the public know about how our constitutional arrangements operate, which areas they are satisfied with and which they think are ripe for reform. This report is valuable source of information and debate for all those who are concerned with the health of our democratic system.
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Digital Dialogues is an independent review of ways in which central government can use information and communication technology to engage the public.
The report contains evaluations of 12 case studies, including Downing Street webchats, the Secretary of State for the Environment's blog and the FCO's forum on the European Youth Parliament. The report concludes that government has made good progress in online engagement from a ‘standing start’. The report concludes with 10 recommendations to government relating to how it can sustain its use of social media.
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P4tF addresses the use of the internet by Parliament to provide information to the public, to promote legislative scrutiny and to enhance representation, and seeks to map: How technology has been used in these areas to date; which technologies or processes may emerge in these areas over the next five years;
and how Parliament can plan strategically towards future ICT investment and provision.
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Lord Parekh with commentaries by Kate Jenkins, Dr John Chipman and Lindsey Hilsum.
This fifth publication in the Democracy Series brings together leading experts to consider whether democracy is a universal good and whether it should be actively promoted. The publication debates: whether democratic values can or should be exported from one country to another, how democracy can best be promoted and sustained and if the tensions between religious based democracy and liberal democracy are able to be resolved.
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By Alex Brazier, Susanna Kalitowski and Gemma Rosenblatt.
Law in the Making is an initial discussion paper from the Hansard Society’s major research project looking at how laws are made and the influences that are brought to bear on the legislative process. A final report looking at Parliament’s impact on legislation will be published in spring 2008.
This project is generously funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
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Hansard Society/Electoral Commission report.
The fourth Audit undertaken jointly by the Hansard Society and the Electoral Commission. It considers the barriers to greater political participation; what people want from MPs and from political parties; and what, if anything, people are prepared to do to be involved in politics.