The furore about MP’s expenses has temporarily overshadowed all other political issues, says Simon Barrow. But it is perhaps better seen as a symptom of a much wider disconnect between governors and governed.
The rapidly changing relationship between religion and state was the focus of a dialogue between ten Chinese and nine European scholars and religious leaders representing Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and traditional Chinese religions
The main British party conferences were about to sidestep the economy, but the latest bank crunch has made the topic unavoidable, says Simon Barrow. But do politicians or the churches have anything meaningful to say?
With Barack Obama and John McCain joining battle for the November US presidential elections, a leading evangelical Christian figure organised a candidates forum refreshingly free of rancour, say observers.
The United Kingdom rates committed campaigners such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King far more highly than celebrities and more than one in ten would be prepared to break the law to campaign for a cause they believed in.
Barack Obama recently got into trouble for suggesting that alienated rural voters in Pennsylvania seek refuge in religion, rifles and rejection of outsiders.
The global revival of religion has raised fundamental questions about its role in politics and its claim that it serves as a principle of identity, indispensable to the continuing survival of communit