Welcome to McDougall Trust
McDougall is the independent charitable trust that promotes public understanding of electoral democracy.
McDougall Trust exists to advance knowledge and understanding of, and research into, the forms, functions and development of electoral democracy.
McDougall has developed a longstanding focus on representative institutions, voting systems and elections, whether in government at local, regional, national and international level, or in other bodies, such as political parties, companies, trade unions, community groups, charities and other voluntary organisations.
McDougall's Main Activities, through which its purposes are carried out either directly or via arrangements with others, are:
REPRESENTATION Journal of Representative Democracy is McDougall Trust's unattributed peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in association with Taylor & Francis, see: Representation | Taylor & Francis Online (tandfonline.com);
Archives and other collections : maintaining McDougall's collections of historic archives, pamphlets, books, personal correspondence and other materials on representative democracy including elections and electoral issues (this contains the Enid Lakeman electoral studies library).
In late 2023 the Trust was pleased to reach an agreement to deposit the archive collection at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. It is not currently available to the public, pending sorting and cataloguing work.
Encouraging, supporting, or providing :
- research within the field of electoral democracy and the dissemination of its useful outcomes;
- relevant online resources - papers and other media, including Workshop summaries and videos, plus the extensive Voting matters online resources on preferential voting systems, see: Voting matters (mcdougall.org.uk);
- funding for the annual McDougall Trust Research Prize;
- occasional resourcing support such as grants towards projects in the fields of representative democracy and electoral studies.
McDougall's potential audiences include policy makers, legislators, election organisers, election monitors, researchers, political scientists, historians, teachers, academics, pollsters, students, reformers, campaigners, activists, journalists, commentators, leaders, members, selectors, candidates, all those in institutions and associations that aspire to democracy or use election processes, and anyone interested in how democratic societies are - or could be - governed.
McDougall Trust - Promoting public understanding of electoral democracy.
McDougall Trust is independently run and funded. It welcomes legacies and other donations in support of its charitable work.
Charity No. 212151 (Registered as Arthur McDougall Fund)
www.mcdougall.org.uk
contact@mcdougall.org.uk
