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The UK government's 'Industrial Strategy' is a product of a Conservative party in power, coming to terms with a particular set of economic and political circumstances. In contrast, international bodies have commended long-term concepts of 'green growth' rather than conventional industrial development, whilst individual local authorities in the UK and elsewhere have been working towards economic regeneration policies that are both environmentally aware and also related directly to local communities. Taken together, the UK industrial strategy, the reports of international agencies and the efforts of individual local authorities raise the question as to the possible shape of a national strategy that reflects ideas of green growth and applies these ideas to processes of urban regeneration, urban development and planning. This paper gives a brief outline of such a strategy, suggesting that green growth must deal with towns and cities, both as causes of pollution, carbon emissions and resource consumption and as places where people should be able to enjoy a good quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the Internet resource State Papers Online, the Government of Britain, 1509-1714, located at http://www.gale.cengage.com.

This paper gives a short overview of the UK government’s STEM agenda and then considers one aspect in depth – the STEM Advisory Forum. It explains how the Forum operates to draw together views from across the STEM community through online discussions and face-to-face events. Four examples are given of topics that have been dealt with by the Forum. Firstly the topic of engineering, enrichment and engagement is covered through samples of various events and discussions. A major issue covered is the number of young people taking A Level mathematics. The background to the issue is explained and how views expressed on the Forum might have had some influence upon the Government’s advanced level target and may yet impact on admissions behaviour in universities. A third short example of impact on the number of university places for STEM subjects is given and the piece finishes with an example of impact at local level in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the UK government's proposals on industrial strategy, published in a Green Paper in January 2017. The need for an industrial strategy is rooted in fundamental imbalances in the UK economy. The proposals in the Green Paper, however, are modest. There is substantial new money for R&D and on issues such as procurement and skills the government makes the right commitments, but the Green Paper fails to address a number of major issues that are key to an industrial revival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Features the remarks of the authors to critique of Peter Morriss about their views of power indices in Great Britain. Claims that Morriss misread first part of their note and did not read second part at all; Partial agreement with Morriss regarding choice of blocking threshold by British prime minister John Major.

This paper documents a significant association between the exposure of an individual or area to the UK government's austerity-induced welfare reforms begun in 2010, and the following: the subsequent rise in support for the UK Independence Party, an important correlate of Leave support in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union membership; broader individual-level measures of political dissatisfaction; and direct measures of support for Leave. Leveraging data from all UK electoral contests since 2000, along with detailed, individual-level panel data, the findings suggest that the EU referendum could have resulted in a Remain victory had it not been for austerity. (JEL D72, F15, F60, H53, I38) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the theological influences on the Balfour Declaration which was made on the 2 November 1917 and for the first time gave British governmental support to the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. It explores the principal personalities and political workings behind the Declaration before going on to argue the statement cannot be entirely divested from the religious sympathies of those involved, especially Lord Balfour. Thereafter, the paper explores the rise of Christian Restorationism in the context of Scottish Presbyterianism, charting how the influence of Jonathan Edwards shaped the thought of Thomas Chalmers on the role of the Jews in salvation history which in turn influenced the premillennialism of Edward Irving and his Judeo-centric eschatology. The paper then considers the way this eschatology became the basis of John Darby's premillennial dispensationalism and how in an American context this theology began to shape the thinking of Christian evangelicals and through the work of William Blackstone provide the basis of popular and political support for Zionism. However, it also argues the political expressions of premillennial dispensationalism only occurred in America because the Chicago evangelist Dwight L. Moody was exposed to the evolving thinking of Scottish Presbyterians regarding Jewish restoration. This thinking had emerged from a Church of Scotland 'Mission of Inquiry' to Palestine in 1839 and been advanced by Alexander Keith, Horatius Bonar and David Brown. Finally, the paper explores how this Scottish Presbyterian heritage influenced the rise of Zionism and Balfour and his political judgements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent to which PFI is a product of a modernisation agenda and its role in furthering it. We define modernisation using an analysis of the UK Government's legislation and pronouncements framing it in the context of New Public Financial Management(). The paper uses the example of healthcare to consider recent changes in the procurement and accounting for infrastructure investment. Finally we evaluate the use of PFI in the context of NPFM and the modernisation agenda and consider whether the public sector should provide funding for the infrastructure of the public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the role of city leadership in the current multilevel governance settings and provides a conceptual framework for understanding the main elements of city leadership. Forms of political, managerial and civic leadership have been distinguished within city leadership and the main actors, structures, processes and followership patterns are examined using Italy and the UK as starting points of comparison. This comparative framework sheds a light on some common and different features in the city leadership patterns in Italy and the UK, such as the cross-cutting and multilayered administrative context for public service delivery; the common trend towards strengthening the executive side of political leadership rather than the representative one; the growing relevance of forms of civic leadership as a trigger for creating public and social value and for enhancing the resilience of the territories. Main differences deal instead with the role of central government in defining the role of city leaders, where Italy seems to experience a return towards greater centralization and controls, and the UK is experiencing an opposite trend towards the empowerment of local communities. Finally, the paper sets out some future directions for the research agenda on city leadership we are seeking to pursue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responds to comment on the re-interpretation of urban politics in Great Britain, published in a 2001 issue of 'Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers.' Taxonoy of contrasts between local governance and government; Analysis of the deployment of a variant of regulation theory.

This paper reviews changes over the last 10 years in the governance arrangements and processes involved in sub-national economic development and cross-boundary collaboration. It begins with a summary of the institutional changes in the main countries of the UK, in the dual context of fiscal retrenchment and neo-liberal deregulation. The picture that emerges is one of a confused patchwork in England; incremental modifications in Scotland; and embryonic developments in Wales. This is then contrasted with a range of experiences in other countries, involving wholesale recentralisation and a sidelining of local and regional institutions at one end of the spectrum, to resistance to restructuring through repurposing, increased mutual collaboration and improved management at the other. However, enhanced economic links and benefits do not automatically flow from any particular form of rescaled governance arrangements. As our original article found, the key ingredients are robust and inclusive political and decision-making processes, a suite of appropriate policy instruments and deployment of sufficient resources to ensure that they have an effect. The paper also concludes that a more comprehensive theoretical framework is needed to advance understanding of what lies behind different forms of state governance rescaling, and what makes a given instance more (or less) effective than another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite decades of research, we still need more long-term evidence of the effects of New Public Management (NPM) and accompanying changes in government over a generation. Looking at UK experience, a key case in NPM and digital-age developments, this paper evaluates administrative data to show what happened to indicators of fairness and consistency and of prudent management through limitation of running costs in public administration over three decades. The analysis shows that running costs rose substantially in real terms (contrary to the cost-cutting stereotype of NPM), while indicators of first-stage formal challenges to government suggest increased dissatisfaction with fairness and consistency in administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents academic papers about the contribution of accounting to the modernization of the public sector in Great Britain. Public sector modernization is intertwined with the introduction of technologies and practices commonly used in the private sector. The first paper analyzes the budgeting of the Scottish parliament under decentralization. The second paper investigates the use of accounting information at the assembly level in Northern Ireland. The third paper takes a comparative and public-administration related viewpoint. The fourth paper reflects on the Public Finance Initiative, as a particular accounting instrument of public sector modernization. Management accounting research into public sector transition is the primary object of the fifth and final paper.

This paper presents research completed as part of an interdisciplinary project entitled 'Tales of the Frontier'; both between the disciplines of geography and archaeology; and on the landscape narratives of Hadrian's Wall. In particular, the paper unravels the currency of race-geographies present in the collaboration, material interpretation and dissemination processes which included the curating of a public exhibition 'An Archaeology of 'Race''. In public museums and popular narratives of Roman Britain, black and African residents and cultures on the frontier are seemingly discordant with narratives of Hadrian and Roman Britain. In the paper, using critical antiquarian and classicist accounts, Roman history and culture as practised in Britain's northern landscape is interrogated and as a result emerges as multicultural, particularly through the re-narration of the Roman heritage of the Wall centred on Emperor Septimius Severus, the African Emperor. This recovered set of narratives sits as counter to narratives along heritage sites at the Wall and perceptions in the public sphere as well as enabling the critique of narratives of archaeology employed in justifications of political ambition, rule and governance of the British Empire, in the 19th century. The postcolonial orientation taken in this paper therefore contributes, first, to an evaluation of narrative as a postcolonial politics of praxis; and second, to a means of critiquing popular accounts of this landscape's history. Here, the postcolonial narrative mode also provides a framework for producing the exhibition and a teaching pack to represent Roman British cultures of citizenship in this landscape. Overall, narrative operates as an important political tool of doing postcolonial history and heritage that is inclusive and that can be used to engage in public geographies, both materially and intellectually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is United Kingdom (UK) government initiatives over the last thirty years, or so, which have been designed to both up-skill the workforce and to improve the country's international competitive position. It also considers the impact which these educational interventions have had on the economic and human capital of the various stakeholders including the government, employers and learners. It comes to the conclusion that, whilst some progress has been made in developing the human capital and the economic capital of the stakeholders these interventions have not significantly improved the United Kingdom's global competitive position. The paper also points to the current political uncertainty in that country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative approach to the decision- and policymaking that has been practiced in most developed countries for more than a quarter of a century. Such policies followed, to a greater or lesser degree, the policies adopted in the UK and the USA since the period of the Thatcher and Reagan administrations, respectively. These policies proclaimed the supremacy of the market and downplayed government intervention in the marketplace. Design/methodology/approach - This paper draws upon earlier research by the authors as well as upon published works of other researchers. Findings - Self-interest governed the way policies are formed and through a process of extreme capitalism financial leaders took ever-increasing risks for which executives received lucrative incentive salaries. The recent crash suggests a failure in such policies and this paper proposes an alternative way of operating - the way of altruism. Selfishness and egoism are argued as endemic in economic rationalism and extreme capitalism, replacing selflessness that engenders policies more aligned to altruism. Research limitations/implications - The research is limited by the ability to examine all the research literature in the field at greater depth. However, the examination that has been possibly indicated that self-interest and greed, endemic in extreme capitalism and economic rationalism, have made significant contributions to the recent subprime and global financial crises. Practical implications - This paper provides government and corporate policymakers with an understanding of an alternative value - selflessness as aligned to altruism - than the values of selfishness and greed that are endemic in economic rationalism and extreme capitalism guiding policies that led to the global financial crisis. Originality/value - The paper fulfils an identified need and supports policymakers seeking to achieve just outcomes for all stakeholders across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the age of twenty-three until his death at the age of sixty-eight, Lord Acton was or sought to be a member of the United Kingdom parliament. Although Acton remains a subject of scholar!y interest, his political career has received relatively little attention. This article examines Acton's search for an Irish parliamentary seat, a search which was twice unsuccessful in 1857, but which resulted in May 1859 in Acton's return as the member for Carlow borough. Although Acton was pushed towards parliament by his family - and particularly his stepfather, Lord Granville - a close examination of Acton's campaigns reveals more dedication to a political career than has previously been accepted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the first of several emanating from a study of the relationship between accounting governance and accountability in local government in the UK. A grounded theory methodology was used to discover participants' perceptions of these phenomena in four UK local government organisations. The budget system was found to be the most important organizational process with respect to accountability and this paper focuses on the core relationship discovered between budgetary practices and accountability perceptions. The way in which accountability was perceived and the budgetary practices were quite distinct in each of the four case studies. A grounded theory of this relationship is developed from the case studies to explain these differences. Bourdieu`s concept of habitus is used to further develop this grounded theory and to suggest a more formal theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU carbon price lies well below estimates of the social cost of carbon and "target-consistent" carbon prices needed to deliver ambitious targets such as the 40% reduction target for 2030. In light of this, the UK introduced a carbon price floor (CPF) for its electricity sector in 2013 and the new Dutch Government has recently made a similar commitment, while successive French Governments have called for an EU-wide CPF. This paper analyzes the impacts and design of a power- sector CPF, both at the EU and national level, using a political-economy approach. We find a good case for introducing such a price-based instrument into the EU ETS. We suggest that a CPF should be designed to "top up" the EUA price to €25-30/tCO2, rising annually at 3-5% above inflation, at least until 2030. We argue that the new EU Market Stability Reserve enhances the value of a CPF in terms of delivering climate benefits, and discuss the potential for a regional CPF in North-West Europe. We also review international policy experience with price floors (and ceilings). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of the phrase 'basic research' as a term used in science policy discussion dates only to about 1920. At the time the phrase referred to what we today commonly refer to as applied research in support of specific missions or goals, especially agriculture. Upon the publication of Vannevar Bush's well-known report, Science - The Endless Frontier, the phrase 'basic research' became a key political symbol, representing various identifications, expectations and demands related to science policy among scientists and politicians. This paper tracks and evaluates the evolution of 'basic research' as a political symbol from early in the 20th century to the present. With considerable attention having been paid to the on-going evolution of post-Cold War science policy, much less attention has focused on the factors which have shaped the dominant narrative of contemporary science policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the development of cooperative relationships in back-channel communication and their impact on intraparty negotiation. It draws on extensive newly available evidence on back-channel communication in the Irish peace process to expand the range of detailed case studies on a topic which is shrouded in secrecy and resistant to academic inquiry. The article analyses the operation of a secret back channel that linked the Irish Republican Army to the British government over a period of 20 years, drawing on unique material from the private papers of the intermediary, Brendan Duddy, and a range of other primary sources. The article finds that interaction through this back channel increased predictability and laid a foundation of extremely limited trust by providing information and increasing mutual understanding. Strong cooperative relationships developed at the intersection between the two sides, based to a great extent on strong interpersonal relationships and continuity in personnel. This in turn produced direct pressure for changes in the position of parties as negotiators acted as advocates of movement in intraparty negotiations. The article finds that this back channel was characterized by a short chain, the direct involvement of principals and the establishment of a single primary channel of communication and that these features combined with secrecy to generate the distinctive cooperative dynamics identified in this article. It concludes that the potential for the development of cooperative relationships is particularly strong in back-channel negotiation for two reasons; first, the joint project of secrecy creates an ongoing shared task that builds trust and mutual understanding regardless of progress in the negotiations. Secondly, as a shared project based on the explicit aim of bypassing spoilers, the process creates structural pressures for cooperation to manage internal opponents on both sides, pressures intensified by the secrecy of the process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The political impact of 'social acceleration' has recently attracted much attention in sociology and political theory. The concept, however, has remained entirely unexplored in the discipline of history. Although numerous British historians have noted the prominent position of acceleration in the late-Victorian and Edwardian imagination, these observations have never expanded beyond the realm of rhetorical flourish. The present paper attempts to build a two-way interdisciplinary bridge between British political history and the theories of social acceleration that have been posited in the social sciences, arguing that both British political historians and acceleration theorists have much to gain from further dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the historiography on Ulster Unionism after partition has grown considerably in recent years, there has been no extended investigation of Unionism at Westminster (‘the Ulster Party’), its structures and effectiveness. This article uses new archival material to shed light upon the Party's membership, governance, coherence, and wider engagement. The later sections of the article review the nature of the ties binding the Party to Stormont and to Conservatism, unravelling some of their complexity, and placing a particular emphasis upon the relationship between Westminster Unionism and the fall of the devolved government in 1972. Here, new evidence is adduced from several underexploited or fresh sources to shed light upon the workings of the Party in the years immediately before this debacle. It is argued that the Westminster Unionists' (at best) highly ambiguous reaction to direct rule was a fitting culmination to fifty years of often jealous and defensive interaction with Stormont. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 2007, the UK government announced that all new homes are to be ‘zero carbon’ by 2016. At present, zero carbon dwellings are significantly expensive to achieve, costing up to 40% more in capital costs than conventional building. Delivering the energy through a district energy supply achieves zero carbon at considerably less cost. This paper concluded that district energy using a large wind turbine and community biomass boiler could reduce technological capital costs by £20 000 (70%) per 128 m2 dwelling. It was estimated that a district energy can save £35 000 in capital and running costs over a 30 year life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Focuses on the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (UCTA) and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (UTCCR) 1999, two legislations associated with unfair terms in Great Britain. Outline of the UCTA; Framework of the UTCCR; Implementation of the directives on providing a legislative regime.

This paper explores institutionalism and New Labour as overlapping and intersecting responses to neoliberalism and the New Right. It links institutionalism to the Labour Party and its advocacy of networks and joined-up governance in much the same way as we have come to tie neoliberalism to the New Right and its faith in the new public management. Because the paper's interpretive approach modifies institutionalism, the link it draws between New Labour and institutionalism also points to something of a critique of these latter. At times, they seek to tame the contingency of social life by reducing the complex to theories about the allegedly given characteristics of institutional forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modernisation agenda for local government is based on questionable political assumptions. It has the attributes of a theological concept. This paper examines the concept of modernisation of local government by focusing on three dimensions (1) governance, (2) management and (3) finance. This analysis suggests the modernisation agenda is limited in scope and vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the approach taken by the UK courts to the use of visible, overt police surveillance tactics in the context of political assemblies. Contrasting judicial attitudes to the direct experiences of protesters themselves, the paper argues that the narrow approach taken by the courts to questions of privacy, based on informational autonomy and the 'reasonable expectation of privacy' test, has led to the insufficient recognition of the psychological, social and political harms arising from intensive surveillance operations. The paper argues for a broader view of privacy, or in the alternative, a more robust application of the right to freedom of assembly, to protect protest mobilisations and assemblies from disruptive and intrusive aspects of overt state surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the character of the nineteenth-century electoral violence in United Kingdom (UK) with focus on England and Ireland. Social impact of electoral violence; Factors which sustained election riots in England and Ireland; Agrarian conflicts; Core of the Home Rule movement aimed at establishing a more sophisticated repertoire of agrarian action and modernizing the electoral process in UK.

While the economic changes effected by the British Conservative government in the 1980s are transparent, there is considerable debate as to whether there was a political dimension to the "Thatcher Revolution." This paper argues that the Conservatives were successful in undertaking social structural reforms that effectively moved the political center of gravity in Britain to the right and toward the government's preferred market-oriented policy agenda. The government's strategy-manifest in the sale of council houses to tenants and of shares in privatized corporations to individuals, and its attack on organized labor-was narrowly targeted on the swing electorate among wealthier members of the lower socioeconomic strata. The Labour party has acknowledged the successes of the Conservatives' structural reforms, and has moved its policy platform, in Downsian fashion, to the right in order to regain electoral competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the impact that the Fourth Reform Act had for the Liberal and Labour parties in Great Britain in 1918. The changes made by the act enabled the Labour Party to become a `national' party; Assisted Labour's strategy of eliminating the Liberal party as a parliamentary force; Significance of the act's timing.

This article presents two case studies, concerning the allocation of £Billions by a mechanism communicated via spreadsheet models. It argues that technical analytic skills as well as policy development skills are a vital component of governance. In the UK, Central Government uses funding formulae to distribute money to local service providers. One commonly stated goal of such formulae is equity of service provision. However, given the complexity of public services, together with variations in need, delivery style and the exercise of stakeholder judgement as to which needs should be met and how, such formulae frequently obscure the process by which equity has been taken into account. One policy 'solution' to managing such tensions is to seek 'transparency'. With respect to funding formulae, this commonly involves publishing the underlying data and formulae in spreadsheets. This paper extends the argument that such 'transparency' requires an audience that understands the policy assumptions (and related conceptualisations), data sources, methodological approaches and interpretation of results. It demonstrates how the search for policy 'transparency' is also met by the technical quality assurance goals that the operational research community would recognise as best practice in the development both of software generally and spreadsheet models specifically. Illustrative examples of complex formulae acting to subvert equity are drawn from the English Fire and Rescue Service and Police Service allocation formulae. In the former, an increase in the amount of deprivation, as measured by one of six indicators, has the perverse effect of decreasing the financial allocation. In the latter, metropolitan areas such as London are found to gain most from the inclusion of variables measuring sparsity. The conclusion from these scenarios is that the steps needed to for technical quality assurance and policy transparency are mutually reinforcing goals, with policy analysts urged to make greater use of technical analytic skills in software development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Conservative Party has in the 2015 British general elections won an absolute majority under David Cameron's leadership. Cameron's rule signifies a contested phase in British politics in the 21st century. This paper asks the question: What is Cameronism? Cameron argues that Margaret Thatcher "was a big influence" for him. It is therefore appropriate to study the relationship between Thatcherism and Cameronism. The article revisits theories of Thatcherism and analyses how it is related to Cameronism. Thatcherism and Cameronism are understood as being unities of ideology and policies that want to implement a particular model of society and for doing so, are organised along three dimensions: the economy, politics, and culture. An ideology critique of key speeches, interviews and documents analyses these three dimensions of Cameronism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reflects on efforts to identify evidence about the role of media in fragile states. It explores and compares findings from two research projects and focuses on some of the lessons that have emerged from these exercises as well as on the relevance of the findings for media development. While we know that media matters in areas such as conflict, reconciliation and peacebuilding, neither of the reviews of the literature found substantial evidence supporting some of the widespread claims about the importance of media, suggesting how elusive this evidence can be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lien Social et Politiques is the property of Institut National de Recherche Scientifique (INRS) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the development of the 1963 court case brought by the Board of Trade's Restrictive Trading Agreements Office against jute manufacturers, in order to examine the impact of the newly introduced competition policy for government–business relationships. Government's active enforcement of competition marked an important change in the direction of industrial policy in the UK and the jute industry was one of the cases to be examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the key discussions emerging from within the centre and centre-left of British politics is the means of combining a commitment to diversity with the aim of achieving social solidarity. While there has been a populist strand to this debate recently with the contribution of writers such as Goodhart who has argued that diversity specifically undermines the willingness of the majority (white Anglo-Saxons) to pay for collective welfare provision, there has also been recognition of the difficulty of promoting difference and unity from within even the more sympathetic elements of the academic literature. The purpose of this paper is to consider the nature of this dilemma and to propose a tentative solution. In essence we suggest that the problem lies not in creating a fit between the two elements for the sake of making the new? social democracy work but in rebuilding traditional social democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Teoria y Realidad Constitucional is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

By contrast to major constitutional reforms elsewhere in the UK, in England's eight regions beyond London New Labour has favoured administrative decentralisation. This paper examines these institutional arrangements and assesses their capacity to develop a more integrated approach to territorial development. It confirms a growing awareness of the need to ensure greater coherence between policies to promote economic, social and environmental wellbeing. Nonetheless, a complex regional institutional architecture, inconsistent sector-based strategies, a lack of strategic leadership and blurred accountabilities hamper moves towards policy integration and the delivery of joint outcomes. Moreover, despite ongoing reforms, the absence of a clear regional agenda in a functionally designed Whitehall raises fundamental questions about the ability of sub-national bodies to work collectively to develop and implement a more coherent approach to regional policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Former long-serving political editor of the BBC, Cole suggests that Blair’s attach on the British media – made in a speech as he prepared to vacate 10 Downing Street – was to a certain extent justified. “The recent burst of breast-beating about the loss of trust in the media has mostly been concentrated on broadcasting,” writes Cole. “But when you consider how many newspaper ‘scoops’ are not followed up by other papers, or even by the originator of the story, how many are never heard of again, you wonder whether trust in the printed word is being similarly eroded. Much of the blame for all this is put down to ‘spin’. Certainly the public relations trade, in which I include focus groups and public opinion polls, and not only in politics, but in business, the entertainment industry, and even charities, has gained an unenviable reputation for perverting the truth on behalf of its clients. This is where Tony Blair’s criticism of media obsession with ‘impact’ rings bells. Non-governmental organisation, charities, university researchers have all learned that the first sentence of their press release must contain a story. Sometime it is hyped. When I was news editor and deputy editor of The Guardian, we were very reluctant to print a story that claimed a forthcoming cure for cancer, lest it raised false hopes in patients and their families. Nowadays, researchers seem to claim cures for everything down to in-growing toenails, and gain publicity for them… The media do not operate in a vacuum. If we wonder why life is more strident today, we must look at others, including politicians, but also at ourselves. We have some kind of duty to truth, so far as we can discover what the truth is. But are we taking on the malignant forces that impede the search for truth as often as we ought?” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores changes in the pre‐school education market in England since the Labour Government came into office in 1997. It focuses in particular on quality, availability and affordability and in so doing explores issues of equity. It will be argued that whilst overall levels of pre‐school educational provision have increased, there are still not enough places, costs are too high for some and the quality is variable. In the light of research evidence indicating greater cognitive and social progress in certain types of pre‐school provision, it is argued that there is a particular need to improve access to such forms of provision as they can enhance the educational and social outcomes of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. A number of policy changes are proposed in order to enhance the quality, availability and affordability of pre‐school education for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compares the youth policy during the days of the 1997 Labour Government and the proposals contained in the 2005 Green Paper, titled "Youth Matters," in Great Britain. Threat made through the Green Paper to services and support for young people; Commitment by the 1997 Labour government to prioritizing education; Origins of the Connexions Strategy, a strategy on youth policy.

Discusses Jürgen Habermas' use of the coffeehouse and the periodical essays of Joseph Addison and Richard Steele as examples of his concept of an 18th-century public sphere. Attitudes of Addison and Steele towards the coffeehouse; Need for the understanding of Addison and Steele toward public political life to be read within the context of Whig political fortunes in the later years of Queen Anne's reign; Shifting of the grounds of political debate away from the contentious issues of war and religion that threatened the security of Whig politics.

The current period of welfare reform in British politics is taking place within a discourse of modernization described in terms of a ‘third way’. The ideas which constitute this discourse resonate with recent developments within human geography, namely a movement to theorizing ‘in-between’ spaces, a turn to culture and to issues of globalization. This paper suggests that welfare reform is a restructuring project which allows the nature of thinking and acting ‘in thirds’ to be questioned. It problematizes the ‘third way’ approach to cultural modernization and economic globalization as a de-politicized discourse, and argues for the cultural politics and political economics which underpin welfare reform to be foregrounded. As a form of political discourse analysis, it points to the developing need for a welfare geography that is attuned to the languages and practices through which dominant systems of social and economic distribution are constituted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major criticism of urban regeneration policies during the 1980s and 1990s in England has been the failure to reduce the gap between the poorest neighbourhoods and the national average for the indices of long-term unemployment, crime rates, health chances and educational qualifications. The UK Government, since election in 1997, has undertaken a wide-ranging review of urban policy. New approaches and more effective use of public sector resources are being piloted in an attempt to identify the pathways to social inclusion, which seem to have been missing in previous regeneration attempts (Audit Commission, 1989; DoEE, 2000). This paper seeks to deepen our understanding of the appropriate balance between physical and social regeneration through proposing an approach that foregrounds the role of residents in neighbourhood regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research discussed in this paper arose from the writer's interest in United Kingdom (UK) rural policy, government and governance. Its aims were to: 1) find out the extent to which the participants in the research, many of whom are involved in UK local government, were aware of the nongovernmental advisory and support organisations that, from 1909 until 2013, were involved with rural policy; and 2) establish the loci of influence in relation to aspects of rural policy. The data, gathered from interviews and an online questionnaire, suggests that political influence lies primarily with the Conservative Party, whose elected members run the district and county councils. Other sources of influence include the middle and landed classes. There is ambiguity, however. Some clerks and councillors admitted that they do not know where influence lies; suggesting that they, at least, do not believe it lies with them. Awareness of the organisations is unsurprisingly varied according to the participants' backgrounds. Overall, the data suggests that the more remote organisations were physically from 'work on the ground', and the more years that have passed since their closure, the lower the awareness of their existence and work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]