Pravar Petkar
@pravarpetkar.bsky.social
Researcher working on participatory democracy, constituent power and democratic legitimacy with interest in UK and India.
Prev: University of Edinburgh (PhD), LSE (LLM)
Co-Editor, IACL-AIDC Blog.
Website: https://pravarpetkar.com
Prev: University of Edinburgh (PhD), LSE (LLM)
Co-Editor, IACL-AIDC Blog.
Website: https://pravarpetkar.com
The latest episode of ‘what sort of a mandate is enough of a mandate for opening independence negotiations’. Some brief thoughts 🧵 1/6
www.ft.com/content/3136...
www.ft.com/content/3136...
SNP seeks to exploit unionist rift with fresh independence pitch
John Swinney to set out plans for second referendum at party conference as Reform splits Scottish pro-union vote
www.ft.com
October 10, 2025 at 10:49 AM
The latest episode of ‘what sort of a mandate is enough of a mandate for opening independence negotiations’. Some brief thoughts 🧵 1/6
www.ft.com/content/3136...
www.ft.com/content/3136...
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
I‘m giving a public talk at UCL on Thurs 16 Oct. The title is “Bureaucracy and distrust: the civil service in the constitution” looking at the civil service’s constitutional foundations, and how it might respond to a populist govt. @sirJJkc.bsky.social will chair!
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
Hybrid | CLP - Bureaucracy and Distrust: The Civil Service in the Constitution
This lecture will be delivered by Dr Ben Yong, as part of the Current Legal Problems Lecture Series 2025-26
www.ucl.ac.uk
October 6, 2025 at 6:53 AM
I‘m giving a public talk at UCL on Thurs 16 Oct. The title is “Bureaucracy and distrust: the civil service in the constitution” looking at the civil service’s constitutional foundations, and how it might respond to a populist govt. @sirJJkc.bsky.social will chair!
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
📢ICON GBIE, TRICON, QUB Webinar:
Familiarity, Culture & Expertise: The Future of Referendums in Ireland & the UK
Oct 17th 10:00-13:00 Online
To register follow the link below:
events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0d55a0...
1/3 👇
Familiarity, Culture & Expertise: The Future of Referendums in Ireland & the UK
Oct 17th 10:00-13:00 Online
To register follow the link below:
events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0d55a0...
1/3 👇
September 30, 2025 at 11:49 AM
📢ICON GBIE, TRICON, QUB Webinar:
Familiarity, Culture & Expertise: The Future of Referendums in Ireland & the UK
Oct 17th 10:00-13:00 Online
To register follow the link below:
events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0d55a0...
1/3 👇
Familiarity, Culture & Expertise: The Future of Referendums in Ireland & the UK
Oct 17th 10:00-13:00 Online
To register follow the link below:
events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0d55a0...
1/3 👇
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
The news of Conor Gearty's death has just been announced and I'm not coping. He was a mentor and the pole star in my constitutional thinking. He was also a great friend and fantastic fun to be around. I'm heartbroken for Aoife and the children.
September 12, 2025 at 10:02 AM
The news of Conor Gearty's death has just been announced and I'm not coping. He was a mentor and the pole star in my constitutional thinking. He was also a great friend and fantastic fun to be around. I'm heartbroken for Aoife and the children.
Very sad to hear this terrible news - Conor was not just an inspirational teacher whilst I was at the LSE and an exceptional scholar, but so warm and generous as LLM Director, remembering us years later. Thoughts go out to all his family.
September 12, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Very sad to hear this terrible news - Conor was not just an inspirational teacher whilst I was at the LSE and an exceptional scholar, but so warm and generous as LLM Director, remembering us years later. Thoughts go out to all his family.
Really interesting data on support for the major parties from last year to this year - and provides some colour to the 2025 local election results in England. 1/2 🧵
Labour's next biggest losses are to left-liberal parties (Liberal Democrats and Greens).
Reform's growth in support has mostly come from the Conservatives and non-voting (much less from Labour).
These reflect patterns of party-bloc voting that we saw in the 2024 UK GE: tinyurl.com/y5pv7thw
Reform's growth in support has mostly come from the Conservatives and non-voting (much less from Labour).
These reflect patterns of party-bloc voting that we saw in the 2024 UK GE: tinyurl.com/y5pv7thw
September 3, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Really interesting data on support for the major parties from last year to this year - and provides some colour to the 2025 local election results in England. 1/2 🧵
Very interesting perspective on some of the ongoing grievances. Open question how England can better be represented politically, but it seems there’s a wider problem of identity to tackle irrespective of tinkering with devolution.
The Conservatives and Labour have allowed resentment to fester in the biggest part of the UK – and the only region not to have its own parliament.
Nigel Farage and the political power of English grievance
The Conservatives and Labour have allowed resentment to fester in the biggest part of the UK – and the only region not to have its own parliament.
tcnv.link
August 29, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Very interesting perspective on some of the ongoing grievances. Open question how England can better be represented politically, but it seems there’s a wider problem of identity to tackle irrespective of tinkering with devolution.
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
Considered and informative the thread on the history of parliamentary sovereignty, from Professor @robertsaunders.bsky.social
I'd add that what "unlimited parliamentary supremacy" means in practice has changed over time.
The idea emerged in an era when there were two chambers with near-equal powers, party discipline was weak, the scope of legislation was less extensive & passing major legislation was genuinely hard. [...]
The idea emerged in an era when there were two chambers with near-equal powers, party discipline was weak, the scope of legislation was less extensive & passing major legislation was genuinely hard. [...]
August 29, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Considered and informative the thread on the history of parliamentary sovereignty, from Professor @robertsaunders.bsky.social
Some thoughts on the UK Govt’s recent ‘Votes at 16’ announcement - in short, we need much better citizenship education for voters (or all ages) that is practical as well as theoretical for this to be a success.
icfs.org.uk/votes-at-16-...
icfs.org.uk/votes-at-16-...
July 30, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Some thoughts on the UK Govt’s recent ‘Votes at 16’ announcement - in short, we need much better citizenship education for voters (or all ages) that is practical as well as theoretical for this to be a success.
icfs.org.uk/votes-at-16-...
icfs.org.uk/votes-at-16-...
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
One does not simply... rewrite the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.
😅😅😅😅😅...😭
😅😅😅😅😅...😭
July 20, 2025 at 7:21 PM
One does not simply... rewrite the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.
😅😅😅😅😅...😭
😅😅😅😅😅...😭
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
I have a piece in the Times Higher Education today on the problems AI is causing for university assessments.
www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/have-c...
www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/have-c...
Have chatbots killed the student essay?
This year’s marking season has confirmed for many academics that, less than three years since the launch of ChatGPT, AI use by students has become so rife that their submitted writing is no longer a r...
www.timeshighereducation.com
July 7, 2025 at 7:07 AM
I have a piece in the Times Higher Education today on the problems AI is causing for university assessments.
www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/have-c...
www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/have-c...
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
"Under first-past-the-post, because there are more people wanting Special Brew than cappuccino, lattes or flat whites respectively, you are all condemned to go out on the piss." Brilliant from @willhaycardiff.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Here is the single thing Labour can do to see off Reform and make British politics work | Will Hayward
Farage’s party could win 42% of Commons seats with only 26% of the vote. That’s not the way civilised countries do democracy, says Guardian columnist Will Hayward
www.theguardian.com
June 28, 2025 at 1:00 PM
"Under first-past-the-post, because there are more people wanting Special Brew than cappuccino, lattes or flat whites respectively, you are all condemned to go out on the piss." Brilliant from @willhaycardiff.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
Happy publication day to me!
Here’s a little celebratory thread🧵 to explain what the book is about:
One of the everlasting questions in constituional theory and practice is what makes a constitution difficult to amend?
Here’s a little celebratory thread🧵 to explain what the book is about:
One of the everlasting questions in constituional theory and practice is what makes a constitution difficult to amend?
June 26, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Happy publication day to me!
Here’s a little celebratory thread🧵 to explain what the book is about:
One of the everlasting questions in constituional theory and practice is what makes a constitution difficult to amend?
Here’s a little celebratory thread🧵 to explain what the book is about:
One of the everlasting questions in constituional theory and practice is what makes a constitution difficult to amend?
It’s quite possible to advocate for the reforms mentioned in this article - citizenship education, media literacy and more real-world skills - and not conclude that education should better equip children for the workplace. 1/5 🧵
We need our children to leave school ready for life in the real world
To ensure that young people embarking on a career have the skills and mindset employers are looking for, education must be linked more closely to the workplace, writes David Blunkett.
To ensure that young people embarking on a career have the skills and mindset employers are looking for, education must be linked more closely to the workplace, writes David Blunkett.
‘We need our children to leave school ready for life in t...
To ensure that young people embarking on a career have the skills and mindset employers are looking for, education must be linked more closely to the wor...
bit.ly
June 2, 2025 at 6:28 PM
It’s quite possible to advocate for the reforms mentioned in this article - citizenship education, media literacy and more real-world skills - and not conclude that education should better equip children for the workplace. 1/5 🧵
Worth reading this piece for the stats quoted as much as anything else - a shift in electoral system will happen once the party in govt is incentivised to do it. Lib Dem/Green gains from Lab being greater than potential Reform gains might well be what provides that.
By betraying his voters so comprehensively and so soon, Keir Starmer has done us a favour. He has given us 4 years to design the government we want.
In this week's column I explain how it can be done. There's massive
potential, but we need to start now. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
In this week's column I explain how it can be done. There's massive
potential, but we need to start now. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
How we can smash Britain’s two-party system for good at the next election | George Monbiot
Labour is beyond repair. Time for a co-ordinated strategy to support progressive parties committed to electoral reform, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
May 28, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Worth reading this piece for the stats quoted as much as anything else - a shift in electoral system will happen once the party in govt is incentivised to do it. Lib Dem/Green gains from Lab being greater than potential Reform gains might well be what provides that.
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
A blog version of this article is now on the @politicalquarterly.bsky.social website. #LoughNeagh
May 16, 2025 at 9:46 AM
A blog version of this article is now on the @politicalquarterly.bsky.social website. #LoughNeagh
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
A core feature of the Trump regime is its embrace of "authoritarian democracy", as a battering ram with which to demolish any obstacle to its power.
The very notion of "authoritarian democracy" can sound contradictory.
But it's an old & dangerous idea, that needs to be better understood. [THREAD]
The very notion of "authoritarian democracy" can sound contradictory.
But it's an old & dangerous idea, that needs to be better understood. [THREAD]
Stephen Miller on the court order to release Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk: "There's a judicial coup in this country....This judicial coup by a handful of Marxist judges...can only be understood as an attack on democracy."
May 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM
A core feature of the Trump regime is its embrace of "authoritarian democracy", as a battering ram with which to demolish any obstacle to its power.
The very notion of "authoritarian democracy" can sound contradictory.
But it's an old & dangerous idea, that needs to be better understood. [THREAD]
The very notion of "authoritarian democracy" can sound contradictory.
But it's an old & dangerous idea, that needs to be better understood. [THREAD]
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
A complex switch of votes in various direction.
Aggregate numbers suggest a limited number of direct Labour/Reform switchers
In this contest, Reform consolidated the right-of-centre anti-Labour vote, while Labour lost voters to non-voting, and could not squeeze Greens as Reform did Tories
Aggregate numbers suggest a limited number of direct Labour/Reform switchers
In this contest, Reform consolidated the right-of-centre anti-Labour vote, while Labour lost voters to non-voting, and could not squeeze Greens as Reform did Tories
May 2, 2025 at 5:11 AM
A complex switch of votes in various direction.
Aggregate numbers suggest a limited number of direct Labour/Reform switchers
In this contest, Reform consolidated the right-of-centre anti-Labour vote, while Labour lost voters to non-voting, and could not squeeze Greens as Reform did Tories
Aggregate numbers suggest a limited number of direct Labour/Reform switchers
In this contest, Reform consolidated the right-of-centre anti-Labour vote, while Labour lost voters to non-voting, and could not squeeze Greens as Reform did Tories
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
✍️I visited British Steel last week - just as workers were discovering that the plant's Chinese owners were effectively planning to starve the blast furnaces to death.
It was a strange, unsettling experience. With deep ramifications. Some thoughts: edconway.substack.com/p/the-strang...
It was a strange, unsettling experience. With deep ramifications. Some thoughts: edconway.substack.com/p/the-strang...
The Strange, Unsettling Story of British Steel
Why the fate of a blast furnace in Scunthorpe might have much deeper implications for this country
edconway.substack.com
April 12, 2025 at 6:17 AM
✍️I visited British Steel last week - just as workers were discovering that the plant's Chinese owners were effectively planning to starve the blast furnaces to death.
It was a strange, unsettling experience. With deep ramifications. Some thoughts: edconway.substack.com/p/the-strang...
It was a strange, unsettling experience. With deep ramifications. Some thoughts: edconway.substack.com/p/the-strang...
Pleased to share my book review of Leah Trueblood’s Referendums as Representative Democracy, now published in Public Law Review. A short thread on some key points I make 🧵1/
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Book Review: Referendums as Representative Democracy
<span>Leah Trueblood’s monograph <i>Referendums as Representative Democracy</i> prompts us to re-think why modern constitutional democracies should hold referen
papers.ssrn.com
April 10, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Pleased to share my book review of Leah Trueblood’s Referendums as Representative Democracy, now published in Public Law Review. A short thread on some key points I make 🧵1/
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Great discussion @mileendinstitute.bsky.social yesterday on options for electoral reform in the UK. Pleased to see territorial issues also addressed - the asymmetry of representative systems across the UK means that reform will impact different areas in different ways.
@unlockdemocracy.bsky.social
@unlockdemocracy.bsky.social
April 2, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Great discussion @mileendinstitute.bsky.social yesterday on options for electoral reform in the UK. Pleased to see territorial issues also addressed - the asymmetry of representative systems across the UK means that reform will impact different areas in different ways.
@unlockdemocracy.bsky.social
@unlockdemocracy.bsky.social
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
We're hosting this year's @ukcla.bsky.social early career workshop in constitutional law and theory.
The panel includes @daniellalock.bsky.social. CfP below, apply now and please share to anyone who you think might be interested.
@livunilawsj.bsky.social @livunislsj.bsky.social
The panel includes @daniellalock.bsky.social. CfP below, apply now and please share to anyone who you think might be interested.
@livunilawsj.bsky.social @livunislsj.bsky.social
Call for Papers: UKCLA Early Career Workshop in Constitutional Law and Theory
School of Law and Social Justice, University of LiverpoolWednesday 23rd April 2025 The Liverpool Public Law Unit (LPLU) is pleased to announce a one-day workshop for PhD candidates and early-career…
ukconstitutionallaw.org
March 27, 2025 at 4:14 PM
We're hosting this year's @ukcla.bsky.social early career workshop in constitutional law and theory.
The panel includes @daniellalock.bsky.social. CfP below, apply now and please share to anyone who you think might be interested.
@livunilawsj.bsky.social @livunislsj.bsky.social
The panel includes @daniellalock.bsky.social. CfP below, apply now and please share to anyone who you think might be interested.
@livunilawsj.bsky.social @livunislsj.bsky.social
Perhaps a return to the Supplementary Vote - or some other system - for mayoral elections? Whilst there’s increasing interest in PR-STV, I don’t see that being on the table this early in this Parliament.
What electoral reforms could be on the table when the government publishes its approach in this area before the summer recess?
Read all about it (and much more) in the latest edition of Monitor, our triannual constitutional review 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution....
Read all about it (and much more) in the latest edition of Monitor, our triannual constitutional review 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution....
March 27, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Perhaps a return to the Supplementary Vote - or some other system - for mayoral elections? Whilst there’s increasing interest in PR-STV, I don’t see that being on the table this early in this Parliament.
Reposted by Pravar Petkar
A key question for the next decade in UK politics is "how does discontent among 18-35s express itself?"
Does it accelerate democratic disengagement, which can be ignored in the short-term but is catastrophic for democracy over time, or will new radical forces emerge - some on the radical right?
Does it accelerate democratic disengagement, which can be ignored in the short-term but is catastrophic for democracy over time, or will new radical forces emerge - some on the radical right?
March 23, 2025 at 8:29 AM
A key question for the next decade in UK politics is "how does discontent among 18-35s express itself?"
Does it accelerate democratic disengagement, which can be ignored in the short-term but is catastrophic for democracy over time, or will new radical forces emerge - some on the radical right?
Does it accelerate democratic disengagement, which can be ignored in the short-term but is catastrophic for democracy over time, or will new radical forces emerge - some on the radical right?