What is going wrong with democracy? We hear perspectives from the United States, Brazil, India, and Western, Central and Eastern Europe.

Britain’s National Health Service is in crisis, grappling with intense strains on its services from increasing demand, staffing shortages, and insufficient funding. These pressures have exposed and exacerbated the entrenched systemic inequalities in British society. Hear from a panel of experts on how the healthcare crisis in Britain impacts ethnic minorities, and what can be done to create a truly inclusive and egalitarian healthcare system.  Recorded 15 feb 2025.

Are fossil fuels really necessary for development in the Global South?

Lobbying necessarily informs policy; but by operating largely behind the scenes, does it also undermine democracy? Should lobbying be more tightly regulated? Would it make a difference anyway?

We explore an issue that lies at the heart of the relationship between the government and its citizens: accountability. Trust in politics and politicians is at an all-time low. Scandals and corruption in British politics appear to be rife. Are there sufficient processes and institutions in place to hold politicians and governments to account? Should they be strengthened, and if so, how? In this event, we will hear from three speakers with a wealth of experience across three of the most important pillars of accountability in British politics: Parliamentary select committees; Ombudsmen; and the media.

As voters across the US prepared to go to the polls, we held a special Policy & Practice event co-hosted with the UCL Centre on US Politics to make sense of this momentous election. Experts on US politics will gave us their insights on the state of the race and what a potential Trump or Harris victory would mean for the country, its foreign policy, and the rest of the world.

What is the state of the British economy? How is the Government proposing to grow the economy? How do its plans stack up? And is economic growth really the right goal in the first place? Join us to hear our expert panel discuss these questions and more.

For our first Policy & Practice seminar of academic year 2024-2025 we were joined by Ambassador Simona Leskovar, who talked about the role of small states in international security, and Sir Mark Lyall Grant GCMG, who gave a response.

Alastair Campbell came to UCL for a special opening event of the UCL Department of Political Science's Policy & Practice seminar series for 2023-24, so discuss how young people should get involved with politics and help to save democracy.

Prof Alan Renwick's inaugural lecture. What are the problems with democracy in the UK and are there any solutions that would work in practice?

Inaugural lecture for Sir Peter Riddell, Honorary Professor in Political Science and member of the Constitution Unit. Is there middle ground in the culture war over ministerial standards?

Prof Christian Schuster's Inaugural Lecture. Good governance is essential, but governance reforms in the global south often fail. This lecture asks why. One increasingly popular view is that the strategy adopted by international development organisations – which focuses on advancing ‘global best practice’ laws – is fundamentally flawed and that solutions need to be home-grown. This lecture challenges that perspective.

In this panel discussion, we examine current decision-making on the U.S. Supreme Court, how it has affected policymaking dynamics in the U.S. and what the policy consequences of similar decisions may be in the future.

A common, though simplistic, narrative of China's involvement in Africa is one of Chinese dominance and debt trap diplomacy. However, as with most political, economic, and social phenomena, China's involvement in Africa is much more nuanced.

What are the unique challenges that LGBTIQ+ migrants and asylum seekers face, in their home countries, in the course of migration, and in receiving countries? Listen to our panel discussion to find out.

Can the international economic and legal system survive today’s fractured geopolitics? Find out during our panel discussion on "Global Discord," a new book by Harvard research fellow and former central banker Paul Tucker.

In recent years, speech inciting hatred, peddling dissemination, and encouraging self-harm has proliferated on social-media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, prompting calls for regulation to force platforms to tackle these challenges more aggressively. One of the most ambitious proposals is the UK’s own Online Safety Bill, which looks likely to be passed (in some form) by the current government and will grant Ofcom substantial new powers over social media. Yet the Bill is highly controversial, prompting concerns over censorship of legitimate speech. What will this regulatory regime look like in practice? Will it effectively prevent harm? And is there merit to the concern that it will undermine free speech? To confront these issues and more, we are joined by leading experts and practitioners from academia, civil society, and Ofcom itself.

In his inaugural lecture, the Director of the UCL Policy Lab, Marc Stears will argue that the UK can overcome its current crises, but only if it democratises its politics and radically opens up its core institutions to people of all backgrounds. He will set out why this matters, what obstacles it will face and also explain the role that initiatives like the UCL Policy Lab can play in the process.

What will the 2022 midterm elections mean for American politics and policy? Recorded 3 November 2022.

Can the WTO survive the US-China trade rivalry? Is the Russia-Ukraine war the beginning of the end of the multilateral trade regime? And how can Europe respond to these tensions?