Roger McNair - Project Jinn and Reforming Democracy in the UK

Send us Fan MailWe are joined by Roger McNair, founder of Project Jinn, to examine the growing crisis of confidence in British democracy and the case for reform.McNair argues that the current system—built around elections every five years—is no longer sufficient for a politically aware and connected population. He sets out a vision for a more direct, participatory model, where citizens have a meaningful say on key issues between elections. Drawing on his journey across all 76 UK cities, he describes a country marked by deep disillusionment with politics, but not without hope.The episode also confronts harder questions about truth, division, and whether democratic systems can function when citizens no longer share a common understanding of reality.🔑 Topics coveredCollapse of public trust in politicians and institutionsThe limits of representative democracyDirect democracy and the Swiss/Liechtenstein modelsProject Jinn’s mission and structureInsights from a nationwide tour of the UKPublic disengagement vs latent political opinionsMedia trust, misinformation, and foreign interferenceTruth vs perspective in political debateInclusion of anti-democratic viewpointsThe emotional state of the country: disconnection, fatigue, and underlying goodwillAt its core: if democracy is no longer delivering for the public, what should replace it—and how can it be rebuilt?Support the show