News and views from the Blavatnik School of Government community 
In any presidential campaign, candidates running for president announce their ticket partner for vice president. At least that seems to be the rule of thumb everywhere, but Argentina. For the first time in Argentine history, a candidate running for vice president announced their formula partner for the upcoming elections in […]
Last week, the Senate of the State of Alabama passed the most restrictive abortion law in the United States. It allows abortions only when there is a “serious health risk” to the mother, precluding them in cases of rape, and raising penalties to up to 99 years in prison for […]
When I first suggested the topic of this blog to a friend, he said it was an oxymoron. Design and government? Thinking and government? If design thinking is all about putting people first, many do not believe that policies really put people first. The design thinking process involves many steps […]
Elections and referenda are just two ways for people to have a say in how they are governed. Protesting is another, which is why rights of assembly and free speech are protected in most democracies. And in many democracies nowadays, those rights are being used to the fullest. Climate activists […]
With the European Union’s latest extension of the United Kingdom’s membership in the bloc, onlookers around the world are right to wonder why the Brexit process has proved so intractable. The short answer is that the UK’s government and parliament are trying to achieve three incompatible goals: preserving the country’s […]
Whether by historical standards, or compared with other parts of the public sector, the financial settlement awarded to English local government in 2010 was undoubtedly tough. As the Coalition Government sought to manage a perilous fiscal situation through a combination of modest tax rises and far more significant spending cuts, grants to […]
Throughout history, technological advances have put politicians and regulators in a difficult balancing act between embracing the benefits of the transformational changes brought by new technologies, versus providing reassurance to citizens that change can be managed and stability maintained. Take for example the advent of the self-propelled vehicles (cars), which […]
Now that British Prime Minister Theresa May, facing certain defeat, has postponed Parliament’s vote on the deal she concluded with the European Union last month on the United Kingdom’s departure from the bloc, the case for a “people’s vote” – a second Brexit referendum – is gaining ground. But is […]