democracy

A chapter I wrote on the democratic state’s obligation of transparency was recently published in a philosophy book called ‘Political Philosophy in a Pandemic’. In my chapter, I set out a framework for determining which kinds of instance of state non-transparency can be deemed justifiable, on a rights-based liberal democratic account of the state.

In 2021, I took part in an Oxford Union debate entitled ‘This House is A Roundhead, Not a Cavalier’, in which I contended that modern-day Roundheads fight for the requirement for political power that is justified and limited. You can read my speech here, and watch the debate here. And here you can read a further speech I made during a debate for the IEA on hereditary power, in which I argued that hereditary leadership is illegitimate in a democracy.

In 2019, I wrote a paper called Why Democracy? Taking political rights seriously for FREER. In it, I aim to provide a positive and accessible introduction to some well-known political ideas, formulated to bring light to a current issue of importance in a way that engages with the value of freedom and the primacy of political rights in political society. In this paper, I also discuss the importance of localism. You can read the ‘fiscal decentralisation’ part of the localism section here, on my medium site, too.

I’ve written various other things on democracy and related topics. Here’s a piece I wrote for spiked on the ‘wrong results people’. And something for the Telegraph on Richard Dawkins’ category error. And one for Reaction on the need for institutional examination and decentralisation. And something for ConHome on citizenship. And here’s my half of a debate article for 1828, entitled ‘Should we fly flags on public buildings?’, in which I argue that even national flags shouldn’t be flown on such buildings, in a democracy. And here’s a short speech I gave on socialism.