Six of the Best 655

"Britain is the most centralised country in the Western world. Its political system is weighted overwhelmingly towards Westminster, with few institutional safeguards against the writ of Parliament, itself increasingly in thrall to the executive." Tom Crewe on the decline of local government.

Lion & Unicorn considers the decline in Shami Chakrabarti's reputation in 2016.

Donald Trump is shining a light on how much of the American political system is encoded in custom and how little is based in the law, says Annie Karni.

The rules for electing the President of the United States are deeply flawed, argue Eric Maskin and Amartya Sen.

"You must pass through several layers of security, dress appropriately and use only 'non-propelling' pencils. Disconcertingly, visitors must expect to be escorted to the bathroom and searched before departure." Julia Baird on the Royal Archives and what they don't want you to know.

Paul Newton and Brigitte Timmermann uncover the trade in fake penicillin that inspired Graham Greene’s film The Third Man and highlight a continuing problem.