Matthew Worsdale reviews ‘Democracy’ by Paul Ginsborg. Worsdale identifies two strands in Ginsborg’s analysis: case studies of participatory democracy that try to involve people in the decision making process and the embodiment of this project in the context of the ideas of Marx and Mill.

Paul Stuart and Paul Mitchell report on Labour’s proposals to hugely increase state surveillance. They describe the government’s implementation of new measures under the pretext of the “war on terror” which will intrude ever deeper into the private lives of people who are viewed as potential criminals rather than citizens.

The European Parliament changed its rules this month, says Steve McGiffen. Unless we wake up and take note, democracy may turn out to have been a whim of the twentieth century

It is surely just a matter of time before neo-liberal logic demands that the spheres of politics and business also be synchronized, says the Independent Working Class Association

In rich nations- such as the US and UK- you could be forgiven for thinking that the oppression of working people in their fight for better conditions had become a thing of the past. However, as William Roche argues, union busting has swelled to become a multi-million dollar industry.

Steve McGiffen considers the erosion of democracy, as more and more questions are predetermined by unelected officials in Brussels.

The people of Ireland have a chance to decide their country’s future when the Lisbon Treaty comes up for a referendum. But Brian Denny warns that the EU is preparing to ignore them.

Referendums killed off the EU Constitution, a ‘blackmail’ that Europe’s elites will now avoid by forcing through the Lisbon Treaty without debate, writes Susan George. And Tony Blair is just the man some of them want to lead the way in this new Europe

NUS: managing apathy?

In 1968, fury at the Vietnam war sparked protests and uprisings across the world: from Paris and Prague to Mexico. Tariq Ali considers the legacy 40 years on.

The City of London has become a tax haven for the super-rich, overseen by Gordon Brown with, alarmingly, no complaints from Mayor Ken Livingstone. Patrick Ward looks at the history and humbug that props up the square mile and leaves neighbouring boroughs cash-starved

IN 1976, the British Foreign Office was busy discussing the potential benefits of a ‘clean surgical coup’ in Rome, in order to prevent the Communists from winning democratic elections. Nikos Raptis has some advice for the British public.

Only the Irish will be allowed a referendum on the the Lisbon Treaty. Most of the rest of Europe will soon have to put up with institutions they once rejected. Le Monde Diplomatique reports.

The public and parliament must assert democratic control to ensure that Britain plays an ethical role in foreign affairs, writes Stuart Weir.

Lobbying is much more widespread than is recognised, suggestsDavid Miller. Only a mandatory system of disclosures can help to put an end to it.

Hilary Wainwright examines how new technology and new forms of organisation are coming together to transform the left and labour movements, political representation and democracy

Gordon Brown is urging a debate on Britishness. But Britain is an essentially imperial project sustained today by subservience to the US, argues David Beetham, and judging by the new green paper on governance a democratic Britain is not about to be born.

Ben Rymer looks at some of the consequences of New Labour’s belief that a market-based approach is the best way to run a country.

Elections to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in May saw more than 146,000 votes discounted, writes Niall Green — the largest number of rejected ballots in UK electoral history.

Joan Pedro asks David Edwards and David Cromwell, editors of the British media-watchdog Media Lens, about the consequences of the corporate structure of the mainstream media on the way issues such as climate change and the drive to war with Iran are reported.