While there are good reasons for liberal populists to be disillusioned, the solution is not to abandon representative democracy but to reinforce it. The liberal populism of Grillo and his ilk must be confronted before it's too late.

Signing a petition is not a silver bullet for challenging those in power. But building movements of people is certainly a huge part of it. And what's even more important at a time when people are almost entirely sceptical of politics and politicians, is that it's putting power in the hands of the people - and that's what real change is all about.

It's fair to say that the relationship between the online campaigning organisation 38 Degrees and Tory MPs is not great at the moment. For those not ...

More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition urging the government to abandon the Health and Social Care Bill. In the latest sign of pub...

On Saturday afternoon I, along with a couple of hundred other people, spent two hours sitting in the middle of the road at Oxford Circus. Why? To draw attention to the cruelty of the government's assault on disabled people in the Welfare Reform Bill, which finishes its journey through parliament this coming week.

38 Degrees members believe that contacting our MPs and telling them what we think is what living in a democracy is all about. It's not only for certain sorts of people, from one or other end of the political spectrum. It's for all of us.

This afternoon, the House of Lords votes on whether to allow the Health and Social Care Bill to continue its passage into law. Whatever happens, it is very unlikely that this vote will mark the end of the campaign to protect the NHS.

MPs are bracing for another onslaught of emails as online activist group 38 degrees launches its latest campaign, this time targeting the government's...

The launch of the government's new "e-Petitions" website, which from Thursday allows the public to collect signatures online on issues they care about...

It feels like the public is finding its voice during this crisis. We've responded differently to how we did during the banking crisis or the MP expenses scandal. The mood has somehow felt different. There has been less resignation, less hopeless cynicism, and more appetite for action.

On June 30 2011 activists held a protest outside the Department of Culture Media and Sport against the takeover of BSkyB by Rupert Murdoch's News ...