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Stuart Weir is Senior Research Fellow in Democracy and Human Rights at the University of Essex; Director of the Democratic Audit at the University of Essex; an international Consultant and Training Adviser on the Consolidation of Democracy and Human Rights; and an active academic and journalist. He is currently engaged on a project to measure democracy country-by-country throughout the world for International IDEA (Institute for Democratic and Electoral Assistance). He is also an Associate Consultant to the British Council.

The Democratic Audit has published 18 reports on democratic matters, some of which Stuart Weir has authored and all of which he has edited. The most influential of these have been three reports on quangos, or para-statal organisations, in the United Kingdom, one of which was published jointly with Channel 4 TV, which broadcast a documentary, Behind Closed Doors, based on the Audit's researches.