Populism seems now the most dynamic political force in many liberal democracies, following Brexit, Donald Trump’s election victory and the rise of Marine Le Pen’s Front National. But what is populism? Some say that a populist is merely a politician who proves unexpectedly popular. But perhaps we can try a more precise definition. A populist is someone who believes that the traditional governing parties of moderate Left and moderate Right, which claim to oppose each other, in reality form a…

Late last year, plans were announced to introduce identification requirements at polling stations. Namely, if you want to cast a ballot, you might need to present a passport, driver’s licence, or some other form of photographic identification. From that decision, we might be justified in thinking that the integrity of our ballot-boxes is genuinely under threat: the hidden menace of voter impersonation looms large throughout our country, there exists a non-trivial effort to undermine election results, de-legitimise the institutions themselves…