@hughpope.bsky.social
Writer on deliberative democracy, Turkey, the Middle East & Central Asia. Love to review books.
For the transcript and what I learned watching Riz Ahmed in action, take a look at my substack post here:
open.substack.com/pub/hughpope...
A stylish masterclass from @rizahmed.bsky.social on why we need to replace elected politicians with groups of citizens chosen by lot.
So great to see fame and wit selflessly used for a good idea.
Thank you too to interviewer Kareem Rahma & his
@subwaytakes.bsky.social
youtube.com/shorts/M7oTO...
Being old-fashioned, I wrote up my feelings about the climb - and how it taught me to appreciate again what I had forgotten was right on my doorstep.
hughpope.com/2025/08/22/r...
It's been 20 years since we built a retreat on the flanks of Mount Olympos β the one on #Turkey's Mediterranean coast! β and I now finally did the exhilarating climb to the summit.
#lycianway #thelazyolive #hiking #longdistancetrails
Another fine hike along the #LycianWay trail - next stop will be the peak of Mount Olympos (that's the one southwest of Antalya in Turkey).
#thelazyolive
youtu.be/wRyvi00hWB8
Thoughts on why I felt okay about bidding a last goodbye to 43 years' worth of reporting notebooks.
In short: they were personal and I've used them all up.
Still, it wasn't easy putting such a core ingredient of my working life out on the street.
hughpope.com/2025/07/22/b...
"Taking part in this process has taught me that it helps to talk with people who think differently from me - and that we can find common ground.β
#CitizensAssembly
The unexpected moral wisdom that #Norway got when seven non-profits convened a citizens' assembly to deliberate on the future of their Oil Fund, the biggest investment fund in the world.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Thanks Erin Ogunkeye & France24 TV for the chance to talk about how randomly selected citizens' assemblies can take on the important moral decisions of our time β for instance, paving the way for last week's move in France in lifting the ban on assisted dying.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYAc...
Citizens' assemblies inch into the mainstream - @hughpope.bsky.social Β
rebootdemocracy.ai/newsthatcaug...
A post to celebrate 'The Rest is Politics' podcast giving its seal of approval to citizens' assemblies as a way forward for democratic reform.
Thank you @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social & @rory-stewart.bsky.social and looking forward to hearing more.
hughpope.substack.com/p/citizens-a...
Citizensβ assemblies have earned a significant new seal of approval.
The UK's top political podcast βThe Rest is Politicsβ stands out as a running indictment of electoral representation as a system of government, implicitly at least.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/citize...
#CitizensAssembly
Great to see so many American friends this weekend demonstrating for their rights, rule of law and less partisan rule.
The last few months have lessons about what we in Europe should now be standing up for too.
open.substack.com/pub/hughpope...
If you feel confused and upset about the news from Gaza, here's a book that offers a tried and tested antidote for at least the first half of that problem.
open.substack.com/pub/hughpope...
A happy 2nd birthday post for my late father's posthumous book, The Keys to Democracy.
πFor the publisher, it's a best seller
π£New endorsements keep coming in
πPaperback due in Sept
Many thanks to all who helped a once-lost manuscript on its way!
hughpope.substack.com/p/to-be-or-n...
If you wonder why rich people dominate systems based on elections, listen to our podcast. The ancients were wise to the corruptions of representative democracy.
Athens had the antidote in its glory days β random selection. We can take it again today.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF37...
βEnjoyableβ, βidiosyncraticβ & βbroadly rightβ - a lovely and important review of my late Dad Maurice Pope's book The Keys to Democracy.
open.substack.com/pub/hughpope...
For all Sherlock Holmes fans out there - and anyone interested in an inspired portrait of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II in real fictional life β my (glowing) review of Andrew Finkel's debut novel.
#Constantinople #SherlockHolmes #DrWatson #mystery #Turkey
hughpope.com/2025/01/27/s...
Great to see a debate starting in the US over constitutional renewal and the idea of proportional representation being "a fix" for their crisis in governance.
Taking a leaf from my late Dad's book The Keys to Democracy, I put the arguments for going much further here.
hughpope.com/2025/01/16/p...
For anyone out there heading to Davos for the first time ... or if you're just interested in what it's like to be a hanger-on to the rich and powerful.
hughpope.com/2016/01/19/d...
Many people in Europe and in my politically paralysed home country Belgium can see what's going wrong.
But is the way to put it right really to fantasize about a return to the old two-party electoral system that got us here in the first place?
open.substack.com/pub/hughpope...
It started with good intentions. Trust was misplaced. Then came abdication of responsibility.
For a taste of just how much big tech companies have now taken over our lives and governments, see my interview with @marietjeschaake.bsky.social for DemocracyNext.
demnext.substack.com/p/ending-big...
