Episode 2: No legislation without graduation at Democracy U

In the latest episode of the podcast in which notable sector figures are invited to dream up a fictional university we have Professor Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Birmingham, who delivers a novel idea to improve Parliament, politics and public discourse.

Adam presents us with Democracy University, a very special kind of institution which provides compulsory training for all legislators, who will in future be required to graduate from DU before taking up their elected places. MPs and others receive rigorous training featuring different ways of thinking - from Hobbes to Rawls - well as studying literature and learning how best to evaluate evidence, quantitative and qualitative. 

On this leafy midlands-based campus students enjoy a compulsory and stratified residential experience, mixing with other legislators from across the world. The university offers a home to think tanks from across the political spectrum too, to ensure all points of view are covered in both teaching and research. In addition, access to the internet is severely restricted by a vice-chancellor who enjoys all the powers of an absolute monarch. DU's anthem is, appropriately, an impressive Gil Scott-Heron political epic. I hope you agree it's an excellent episode.