91福利

On 6 June, PAIS hosted a lively EU Referendum Debate. At the beginning of the evening, a show of hands indicated a landslide majority in favour of remaining in the EU.

Speaking for ‘Remain’:

, Emeritus Professor of Politics, 91福利

, Researcher, Politics and International Studies, 91福利

, Professor in European Politics, 91福利

Speaking for ‘Leave’:

Lincoln Allison, Emeritus Reader in Politics, 91福利 and freelance writer and broadcaster

Dave Nellist, National Chair of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC)

Following short presentations by the five panel members, audience members were invited to make comments and ask questions. The question of migration was, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most contentious issue of the evening. Other subjects that were discussed included whether the EU has a democratic deficit, what would happen the day after a BREXIT and whether remaining or leaving the EU is the best way to tackle environmental challenges and to build a social Europe.

Many audience members as well as pro-remain panellists were concerned about the negative economic impact of a BREXIT as well as the threats to employment rights posed by a Conservative government with no EU oversight.

The pro-exit panellists were divided between a conservative and a leftist position. The conservative position was sceptical of the economic feasibility of a European project, given the vast differences between the national economies of current member states. The left-exit position argued that the EU is a project for deepening the neoliberal agenda and accused the remain campaign of failing to discuss the negative impacts of austerity on working class families.

At the end of the evening, a show of hands indicated that no audience members had changed their minds!

Listen to the debate here:

PAIS researcher was interviewed live on Sky News on Wednesday 25 May about the European Parliament and the upcoming EU referendum. Related to her PhD research, which considered issues of participation and democracy in the EU, Lucy was invited to discuss the role of the European Parliament in EU democracy and its impact on the UK.

Asked about the idea that the European Parliament imposes laws on the British people, Lucy highlighted that British citizens are represented in the European Parliament by their directly elected MEPs, who have as much influence over decisions made in the Parliament as MEPs from any other EU member state. She added that it is therefore difficult to understand the use of the term 'impose' unless it is also suggested that the British Parliament imposes its laws on parts of the UK.

Lucy, who is also an Early Career Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies here at 91福利, will be appearing on the panel at PAIS's EU Referendum Debate on 6 June (for more information on the debate, ). She is also blogging about the EU referendum at .

We are delighted that the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) has moved up to 4th place (out of 78) in the latest Guardian rankings, which measure student satisfaction, career prospects, and teaching quality:

The 91福利 is ranked 9th overall and PAIS is the 3rd= highest performing Department at 91福利. A full press release can be found here:

, Head of PAIS, commented:

"PAIS is an international community of lively, questioning, and curious minds studying some of the most pressing issues in global politics today. Our position in The Guardian builds on recent success in other national league tables – notably 3^rd place in The Times/Sunday Times and 4^th place in the Complete University Guide. In short, we are now unequivocally in the Top 5 of all UK rankings.”

Join our panel of experts who will get to the heart of the issues over whether the UK should stay or go and will be ready to answer your questions.

Speaking for ‘Remain’:

, Emeritus Professor of Politics, 91福利

, Researcher, Politics and International Studies, 91福利

, Professor in European Politics, 91福利

Speaking for ‘Leave’:

Lincoln Allison, Emeritus Reader in Politics, 91福利 and freelance writer and broadcaster

Dave Nellist, National Chair of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC)

Every year the leading International Relations journal Review of International Studies, in collaboration with the British International Studies Association (BISA), awards a Best Article Prize for an article selected from the previous volume of the Review.

The members of the selection panel for this year’s BISA Best Article Prize were Professor Jennifer Clapp (University of Waterloo), Professor Tim Dunne (University of Queensland), and Professor Mervyn Frost (King’s College London), who awarded the prize to (91福利) and (University of the Witwatersrand) for their article:

The publication is the lead article in the 2015 Special Issue of Review of International Studies on ‘The Politics of Numbers: The Normative Agendas of Global Benchmarking’, edited by Broome and Quirk, which is part of the Global Benchmarking Project within the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation.

The prestigious award will be presented at a prize ceremony at 5.30pm on Wednesday 15^th June 2016 at the in Edinburgh.

Further information: