Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research Information

Constitutional issues underpin every single public policy issue we face. Questions of who can wield power and on what terms are perhaps the most fundamental we, as citizens, can ask. Yet, as a nation, we often misunderstand our own constitution. This leaves government, legislators, and ordinary people ill-equipped to address the challenges we face. The ICDR seeks to improve our constitutional conversation through public education and thought leadership. We work to open up the legal and academic bubble, bringing the best constitutional minds in the country to legislators, government, and the public at large. To do this, we do three things: 1. Advise – Provide legislators and officials at all levels of government and devolution with non-partisan, concise, accessible, and strategic advice on constitutional and democratic issues. 2. Empower – Empower citizens to engage in constitutional discourse through public education. 3. Lead – Provide thought leadership by providing a platform for the nation’s leading constitutional minds to engage with our most pressing constitutional challenges. The ICDR is entirely non-partisan. We work with legislators through the All Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy and the Constitution. We also engage with select committee and public inquiries as well as officials in Westminster, Holyrood, Cardiff, and in local government. Our ideas are developed by our panel of fellows drawn from the leading constitutional experts at the bar, in academia, on the roll, and in other areas of practice. We utilise the media, events, conferences, blogs, longer form research, briefings, videos, and educational materials to make their ideas as accessible as possible to legislators, policy-makers, and members of the public.