Showing papers in "Politics in 1996"
TL;DR: In this article, the author's own recent experience of interviewing a number of top civil servants, both serving and retired, was used to introduce some of the issues involved in elite interviewing to researchers new to the use of the technique.
Abstract: Interviews are one of the major tools in qualitative research, although there is a limited literature on the subject of interviewing generally and elite interviewing particularly. The aim of this article is to introduce some of the issues involved in elite interviewing to researchers new to the use of the technique. Emphasis is also placed on the need for the interviewer to know his/her subject thoroughly, and to be prepared to be flexible in an interview situation. The information is based on the author's own recent experience of interviewing a number of top civil servants, both serving and retired.
408 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a broad brush survey of new forms of public management and support the view that the spread of the new forms cannot be seen as a global paradigm shift in public management.
Abstract: This article summarises the results of a ‘broad brush’ global survey of ‘new forms’ of public management. The survey supports the view that the spread of the new forms cannot be seen as a global ‘paradigm shift’ in public management. However the new forms are increasingly found beyond the core set of OECD countries usually given as examples of reforming countries. The survey suggests that globalisation processes are increasing the amount of ‘lesson drawing’ between countries and contributing to the spread of new forms.
31 citations
TL;DR: The authors made a connection between the structure and organisation of the state and the behaviour of domestic political actors, and also brought the state back into the analysis of British "awkwardness" in relation to the EU.
Abstract: This article builds on the recent exchange between Jim Buller and Stephen George on the subject of British ‘awkwardness’ in relation to the European Union. While it engages with both authors, the article also seeks to bring the state back into the analysis. It makes a connection between the structure and organisation of the state and the behaviour of domestic political actors.
15 citations
TL;DR: The authors inspects recent theoretical work in deliberative democracy and identifies three distinct ways in which such theories attempt to justify their claims for an increase in deliberation, each of which has its strengths; each has its implications for practice.
Abstract: This paper inspects recent theoretical work in deliberative democracy. It identifies three distinct ways in which such theories attempt to justify their claims for an increase in deliberation. Each has its strengths; each has its implications for practice. If the new deliberative theories are to move beyond a critique of liberal democracy in order to articulate a legitimate and practical politics, the respective gains of these three types must be brought together.
11 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the reasons for the success and failure of various WII's, examining the nature of pressure politics, methods of organizing, public and private debates before focusing on women's attitudes to the childcare issue.
Abstract: The Women's Liberation Movement achieved political success with several issues - but not with childcare. This article addresses the reasons for the success and failure of various WII's, examining the nature of pressure politics, methods of organising, public and private debates before focusing on women's attitudes to the childcare issue. The conclusion drawn here is that the more successful feminist issues' do not challenge gender roles to the same extent as childcare does - which could explain the nonmobilisation of childcare as an issue.
5 citations
TL;DR: In the 1990s, the challenge of planning France's entry to the Information superhighway is throwing up questions for traditional strategies of organizing the production of infrastructures and services as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the 1970s and 1980s the French state was closely involved in dirigiste policies of technological development in the telecommunications sector, but in the 1990s the challenge of planning France's entry to the Information superhighway is throwing up questions for traditional strategies of organising the production of infrastructures and services. Although official reports on ‘les autoroutes de l'information’ stress the need for immediate action, the complexities of reconciling traditional dirigiste policies with the free-market recommendations of the European Commission and the uncertainties of the Presidential elections of 1995 have hindered France's ability to act quickly.
4 citations
TL;DR: The authors draws attention to the notable parallels between the problems faced by John Major and his government over Europe and a comparative situation from the 13th century, and shows that nationalism has been a leading force in politics for far longer than chronocentric analysis has allowed and that rulers ignore it at their own cost.
Abstract: This paper draws attention to the notable parallels between the problems faced by John Major and his government over Europe and a comparative situation from the 13th century. It shows that nationalism has been a leading force in politics for far longer than chronocentric analysis has allowed and that rulers — whether kings or prime ministers — ignore it at their own cost.
4 citations
TL;DR: The role of human nature in the conservative philosophy of Roger Scruton is examined in this article, showing the influence on his views of Hegel and Wittgenstein, as well as showing that such an approach can cause many problems for the conservative, and that it makes his approach resemble the methods of e.g. socialism and liberalism, precisely those theories he wishes to attack for being based on abstract theories of Human Nature.
Abstract: In this article I examine the role that the concept of human nature plays within the conservative philosophy of Roger Scruton. I argue that it is of fundamental importance for his approach to conservatism, as well as showing the influence on his views of Hegel and Wittgenstein. However, such an approach can cause many problems for the conservative, and I argue that Scruton's use of a theory of human nature to justify particular social arrangements makes his approach resemble the methods of e.g socialism and liberalism, precisely those theories he wishes to attack for being based on abstract theories of human nature.
3 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Russian studies after 1991 has struggled to redefine its identity and to adapt to the challenge of a more open field, and the skills honed for predicting the fall of communism are questioned.
Abstract: Accused of having failed to predict the fall of communism, Russian studies after 1991 has struggled to redefine its identity and to adapt to the challenge of a more open field. Do the skills honed ...
3 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the special difficulties faced by a liberal democratic system which seeks to maintain its democratic credentials when governing a culturally diverse society, focusing on the analysis of cultural pluralism developed in two recent pieces of Bhikhu Parekh.
Abstract: This paper assesses the special difficulties faced by a liberal democratic system which seeks to maintain its democratic credentials when governing a culturally diverse society. The argument focuses upon the analysis of cultural pluralism developed in two recent pieces of Bhikhu Parekh. After clarifying the nature of Parekh's culturally pluralistic society, the cultural specificity of liberal democracy is examined Finally, Parekh's attempt to reconcile the two through ‘operative public values’ is shown to be inadequate in such a manner that the ability of a liberal democratic system to ever bring lasting well-being in a situation of cultural diversity is thrown into doubt.
3 citations
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TL;DR: A third of the 65-volume edition of The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham has now been completed as discussed by the authors, which has changed our understanding of Bentham's thought and his contribution to contempora...
Abstract: Nearly a third of the 65-volume edition of The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham has now been completed. How has it changed our understanding of Bentham's thought and his contribution to contempora...
TL;DR: The post-war liberalism should be defined in terms of its promotion of (social) interaction as discussed by the authors, which is not to be seen as the opposite of communitarianism, as current usage implies, nor is it individualist.
Abstract: Post-war liberalism should be defined in terms of its promotion of (social) interaction. It is not to be seen as the opposite of communitarianism, as current usage implies, nor is it individualist. In practice it strengthens the nation state. It has a purpose, too, for given an innate but not perfect human conservatism, maximising interaction will minimise change. This conservatism does seem to exist, but liberalism is ‘ideological’ in concealing it as a goal. With success, for no change-directed and specifically anti-interactive normative theory has emerged Partly, perhaps, because it would lie outside the concept of the political entirely.
TL;DR: The authors examines the evolution of energy policy in post-war Britain and examines the decline of the politics of production associated with the nationalised energy industries and the rise of regulation under the impact of privatisation.
Abstract: This article examines the evolution of energy policy in post-war Britain. It examines the decline of the politics of production associated with the nationalised energy industries and the rise of the politics of regulation under the impact of privatisation. The article concludes with an examination of energy policy in the context of the recent debates over governance and the hollowing-out of the state.
TL;DR: The German federal election in October 1994, just four years after German Unity, revealed that clear divisions between east and west Germany still exist as mentioned in this paper, and the PDS on the left of the political spectrum was supported by around one fifth of east German voters, the parties on the right gained negligible support in Germany as a whole.
Abstract: The German federal election in October 1994, just four years after German Unity, revealed that clear divisions between east and west Germany still exist. Whilst the PDS on the left of the political spectrum was supported by around one fifth of east German voters, the parties on the right gained negligible support in Germany as a whole. The federal German electoral system, based on a personalised sytem of PR, again played a key role; it is, however still too early in the development of the new Germany to speak of a single new party system.
TL;DR: The authors distinguish between text, context, history, contextualism and historicism, and argue that historical contextualism is a methodological claim that valid history is only secured or demonstrated via the reconstruction of 'the context' - especially where the latter is to do with a perspective on the background to a text.
Abstract: To deal with the methodological problems of historical contextualism, it is useful to distinguish between (1) Text, (2) Context, (3) History, (4) Contextualism and (5) Historicism.1A text is by turn the outcome, and object, of all writing or research. A context is any perspective on a text, including the background data that one may append to it. History is a narrative, a story, which is focused upon a text or context - in as far as the two are the same, viewed as propositions ‘Contextualism’ is a methodological claim that valid history is only secured or demonstrated via the reconstruction of ‘the context’ - especially where the latter is to do with a perspective on the background to a text. Historicism is disinclined either to extract present moral judgements from, or apply them to, the past; it resists more broadly any form of social generalisation over extended units of chronological time2; it thereby displays a liability to overrate the importance of the sometimes 'spectacular differences' (Popper 1960: p.101) between various historical periods. Historical contextualism may be construed as a new variety of historicism. The emphasis of the present account is more broadly upon the logical futility of historical contextualism in general, and less upon its specifically historicist character.
TL;DR: The results of the French presidential elections of April-May 1995 confirm that there are currently two parallel trends in French politics as discussed by the authors : the mainstream left and mainstream right are increasingly contesting the middle ground, and a majority of voters accept this.
Abstract: The results of the Presidential elections of April-May 1995 confirm that there are currently two parallel trends in French politics. On the one hand the mainstream left and mainstream right are increasingly contesting the middle ground, and a majority of voters accept this. On the other hand, a substantial minority of the electorate is keen to protest against the inability of any of the major parties to remedy France's socio-economic ills, and therefore votes for the marginal parties, the parties of dissension and protest.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explain the interrelated factors which led to pre-conference consensus and cooperation in each case including the emergence of a strong/leader state changes in population policy and exogenous events.
Abstract: The population of 5.7 billion people which now inhabits the earth is slated to increase to about 10 billion by 2050. Serious doubts exist about the capacity of the earth to feed such an ever-expanding population. There has been considerable concern over population as the worlds total human population has grown rapidly since 1945. Attempts by the international community to establish a regime to deal with the problem of overpopulation have led to the convening of the Bucharest Conference in 1974 the Mexico City conference in 1984 and the Cairo conference in 1994. However an international regime has yet to be created. The authors explain the interrelated factors which led to pre-conference consensus and cooperation in each case including the emergence of a strong/leader state changes in population policy and exogenous events. Counterforces responsible for destroying consensus include religious opposition ideological forces domestic political forces and the lack of any real agreement on the nature of the population problem. Any future attempt at solving the population problem must be an integrated and holistic one in which a leader state plays a key consensus-building and funding role. Any future attempt must also take into account the influence of new forces and the socioeconomic and cultural circumstances of indigenous communities.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a theory of community which challenges the interpretation of communitarianism offered by Lacey and Frazer (politics, Vol. 14 No. 2, No.2).
Abstract: This article seeks to challenge the interpretation of communitarianism offered by Lacey and Frazer (Politics, Vol. 14 No.2). By developing a theory of community it is possible to overcome the problems which they highlight, and to demonstrate that communitarianism, properly understood, is a philosophy which can frame much useful debate in political theory.
TL;DR: International relations theory emerged in the 1930's with the triumph of realism over utopianism, a triumph that created a discourse that has been unable to make a substantial contribution to the l... as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: International Relations theory emerged in the 1930's with the triumph of realism over utopianism, a triumph that created a discourse that has been unable to make a substantial contribution to the l...
TL;DR: This article argued that irony is an aesthetic, rather than, as solidarity, a moral ideal and that Rorty's notion of agency is too voluntaristic to supply the necessary communitarian sentiments for solidarity to be achieved.
Abstract: In Richard Rorty's persuasive alternative to contemporary liberal theory he maintains that a contingent, rather than a universalist, liberalism can better engender human solidarity and that the ironic stance can better safeguard liberal freedom than any metaphysical buttress. In an internal critique I argue that irony is an aesthetic, rather than, as solidarity, a moral ideal. Moreover, Rorty's notion of agency is too voluntaristic to supply the necessary communitarian sentiments for solidarity to be achieved. Hence the twin ideals of irony and solidarity cannot both be situated in his decentered notion of selfhood.
TL;DR: The ambiguity in the concept is not limited to the academic textbook but exists across the whole range of the human and social sciences and is much deeper and more perplexing than her own discussion indicates as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: This article responds to Rose Gann's ‘The Limits of Textbook Ideology’ in a previous issue of Politics. It acknowledges that she has performed a service in drawing our attention to the problematic character of the concept, particularly within the ordered world of the academic textbook. However this ambiguity in the concept is not limited to the academic textbook but exists across the whole range of the human and social sciences and is much deeper and more perplexing than her own discussion indicates.
TL;DR: In this article, the extent to which institutions are actually meeting these needs and reviews the extent of the potential benefits that employing postgraduates can bring to postgraduate research and the benefits of employing them.
Abstract: Research has become increasingly important within social science since the introduction of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The RAE has served to simultaneously focus the attention of academic institutions upon research output and emphasise the obvious penalties of poor performance in this area in terms of potentially lower academic status, lower income and lower student numbers. Academic institutions have, therefore, begun to pay an increasing amount of attention to postgraduate research and the needs of postgraduates. This article questions the extent to which institutions are actually meeting these needs and reviews the extent to which institutions reap the potential benefits that employment of postgraduates can bring.
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TL;DR: The concept of community is underspecified in the political theory literature as mentioned in this paper, and references to actual physical communities overlook the symbolic and imagined aspects of community, which furthermore destabilise putative communities as much as they stabilise them.
Abstract: The concept ‘community’ is underspecified in the political theory literature – it must have a more specific reference than just some collectivity or some network of social relations. But attempts to specify what is specific about the relation of community are unsatisfactory. And references to ‘actual physical’ communities overlook the symbolic and imagined aspects of community, which furthermore destabilise putative communities as much as they stabilise them. Analysis of social relations and networks, and theories of what patterns of relations are conducive to human flourishing should deploy more precise sociological categories.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine one aspect of the contests for the leadership of the British Conservative Party: the "third burden", the need to win "convincingly" in order to avoid being tripped up by the third hurdle.
Abstract: This article examines one aspect of the contests for the leadership of the British Conservative Party: the ‘third’ burdle. Since the introduction of formal elections no Conservative leader has been tripped up by the third hurdle (a need to win ‘convincingly’) but this has not prevented its existence as being taken as fact. This article considers whether it exists at all, and if so, attempts to consider its height. It concludes that if the third hurdle exists it owes more to realpolitik than to precise statistical measurement.