Toby S. James
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tobysjames.bsky.social
Toby S. James
@tobysjames.bsky.social
Professor of Politics & Policy, @UEA, Visiting Prof. @LSE
Electoral Integrity Project co-Director
Policy Studies Editor: @policy-studies.bsky.social
Researching and teaching on: democracy, electoral integrity, political science.
https://tobysjames.com
The State of Political Leadership in Britain

Roundtable with Charles Clarke, Tim Bale, Emmanuelle Avril and Patrick Diamond

Tuesday 25th November 1pm-2.30pm

The registration link is: forms.office.com/e/dnX1qZ4pVR. We will send a join link 24 hours before the event
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM
💡 How do different scholars do research on electoral integrity? How should they?

📖 In this new chapter for the Oxford Handbook of Electoral Integrity, I profile three rival approaches

Recognition of different pathways would greatly benefit research and policy

academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
October 24, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Universal suffrage is often said to be a defining feature of democracy, but not the reality for many elections around the world.

In this new piece, we map the arguments for enfranchising all residents and the number of unenfranchised adults in the UK.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
October 17, 2025 at 8:58 AM
The books also include an interview with Boris Johnston himself with some candid reflections on his own time as leader.....
October 6, 2025 at 2:08 PM
📣 Out now!

Second editions of the British Labour Leaders and British Conservative Leaders books

Edited alongside Charles Clarke, @timbale.bsky.social and Patrick Diamond for @bitebackpublishing.bsky.social
October 6, 2025 at 2:08 PM
New! Just out in Democratization

@HollyAnnGarnett and I on electoral integrity resilience

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Open access and free to read...
September 5, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Automatic voter registration is coming to the UK...

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Here's why this is great news for democracy...

www.jrrt.org.uk/wp-content/u...
July 17, 2025 at 10:29 AM
📢New!

What is the relationship between democracy, public administration and democratic backsliding?

In this new article, I argue that the answer depends on the concept of democracy that is used...

📖Read free:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🌎Special issue page:
tobysjames.com/democratic-b...
July 1, 2025 at 1:38 PM
📣 New in Policy and Politics

Poll workers provide an essential role in a democracy - working on the 'coalface' to issue ballot papers and interact with the voter.

What if we listened directly to their experience, when devising electoral policy?

bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...
June 18, 2025 at 9:07 AM
2024 may have been the 'year of elections' but was it the year for electoral integrity?

There is a new Electoral Integrity Project-IDEA report out today, calling for urgent electoral integrity reforms worldwide to strengthen democracy:

www.idea.int/publications...

🗳️Please spread the word!
June 9, 2025 at 10:39 AM
The Australian election (in London) #overseasvoting
April 28, 2025 at 12:11 PM
April 11, 2025 at 1:05 PM
A great two days in a different classroom environment ⚽️
April 2, 2025 at 4:38 PM
And that’s a wrap!

Thank you from the EIP team to the paper givers, discussants, audience members who contributed to the Electoral Reform conference this week. And to our partners Westminster Foundation for Democracy!

🔖 for more updates here: www.electoralintegrityproject.com/electoral-re...
March 21, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Principles for Democratic Electoral Reform

Comments welcome! Join this conversations this week...

www.electoralintegrityproject.com/electoral-re...
March 17, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Trump nearly as unpopular as Putin in Britain, France, Spain and Italy according to YouGov data

yougov.co.uk/internationa...
March 7, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Many civil services are under attack from would-be autocrats

Policy Studies has a rolling special issue on Democratic Backsliding Public Administration

Read the latest piece on how organizational routines can be a source of resistance against policy dismantling

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
March 6, 2025 at 1:16 PM
The UK government is committed to improving voter registration...

In this new report funded by the JRRT, @paulbernal.bsky.social Bernal and I set out how this can be done with a move to automatic/direct registration....

www.jrrt.org.uk/wp-content/u...
March 5, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Register now!

Electoral Reform: Democratic principles and global practice

Online workshop, 19-21st March 2025

Organised by the Electoral Integrity Project and Westminster Foundation for Democracy

www.electoralintegrityproject.com/electoral-re...

Free and online
March 4, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Hamburg Parliament elections: high commitment to local democracy, but transparency of political funding could be improved.

The press statement from the Council of Europe mission is now available.

www.coe.int/en/web/congr...
March 3, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Election time is not over in Germany…

I am with the Council of Europe Congress monitoring the 2 March state election in Hamburg #Congress
February 28, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Sad to see more foreign aid cuts announced, this time by the UK government to 0.3%.

Foreign aid makes for a safer world and is much cheaper than war.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c4...
February 25, 2025 at 2:34 PM
The problem is that this rests the thin concept of democracy used.

For an alterative view:

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Undoubtedly the US will be downgraded substantially, but there are many components to democracy
February 13, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Around the world many people pay live, work and pay taxes without the right to vote.

Scotland and Wales have moved to residence-based voting.

What would be the effect of residence-based voting in the UK?

Find out in a new report..

tobysjamesdotcom.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
February 13, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Although much has been written about electoral reforms - much less has been said about the electoral reform *process*.

The event will see the GNSEI Principles for Electoral Reform being introduced. Papers will consider the triggers and barriers to their adoption around the world.
January 22, 2025 at 12:17 PM