Drew Westen: What Obama Needs to Do in Denver
Drew Westen, author of the brilliant The Political Brain gives us his thoughts on what Obama needs to do at the Convention. In brief - define himself and his story, explain how the US got to the low point it's now at, explain why John McCain […]

Kira Cochrane on the apparent backlash against feminism | World news | The Guardian
The sex industry is booming, the rape conviction rate is plummeting, women’s bodies are picked over in the media, abortion rights are under threat and business leaders don’t want to employ women. It adds up to an all-out assault on feminism. But […]

Michael Tomasky: Barack Obama must compromise his liberal principles in order to get elected | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
the question here is about how far a candidate for president can go to inoculate himself against likely attacks – attacks that have a proven track record of working – before he’s no longer the candidate […]

The Ethics of Climate Change: Pay Now or Pay More Later?: Scientific American
Good article on the ethics and economics of climate change. How do we value the lives and well being of future generations? What sacrifices are appropriate now to ensure our children’s and grandchildren’s well being in the future

Referenda: democracy vs elites | openDemocracy
Following on from George Schöpflin’s earlier piece: The people’s direct voice in judging constitutional change in the European Union must be upheld, says Gisela Stuart.

The referendum: populism vs democracy | openDemocracy
The idea of the referendum as an instrument of the people’s will rests on pre-democratic foundations, says George Schöpflin.

The Lisbon treaty and the Irish voter: democratic deficits | openDemocracy
Ireland’s rejection of the European Union’s “reform treaty” exposes a democratic deficit in Dublin more than in Brussels, argue Johnny Ryan & Joseph Curtin, who offer three steps to redress it.

Why not a revenue-neutral carbon cap? | Gristmill: The environmental news blog | Grist
The demise of the Lieberman-Warner climate bill may not be a bad thing if it spurs environmentalists and politicians to ask: Is this the best way to cap carbon?

Barack Obama: at the crossroads of victory | openDemocracy
The Democrats’ presidential candidate must avoid the allure of the conventional wisdom to secure victory in the United States election, says Godfrey Hodgson.

The convenient green honeymoon.
With everyone from David Cameron to Enda Kenny wearing their green hearts on their sleeves it’s easy to think that climate change is beyond politics. In this post Inconvenient Truth world, we’re all signed up members of the must-do-something-about-climate-change brigade. We just have to switch to energy efficient light bulbs, buy […]