Democracy and Elections

We are a multi-disciplinary research group, drawn mainly from the fields of political science and sociology. Our main interest - as our name suggests - is in the study of democracy, citizen participation and elections both within the UK and worldwide.

The evidence from the UK and other democracies shows that representative systems are facing challenging times in terms of declining levels of popular trust in key institutions, such as political parties and elected MPs, and a growth of populist alternatives.

The mission of Democracy and Elections at Manchester is to provide informed and academically rigorous insights into these trends and reveal how political attitudes, behaviour and organisations are changing in Britain and beyond.

Leads