Showing papers in "The British Journal of Politics and International Relations in 2003"
TL;DR: The prime minister's ability to access a series of personal and institutional power resources as mentioned in this paper enables the prime minister to lead, if not command, the core executive, and, in concert with others, to direct and control, its policy development.
Abstract: Prime ministerial predominance can enable the prime minister to lead, if not command, the core executive, and, in concert with others, to direct, if not control, its policy development. Leadership predominance facilitates prime ministerial predominance within the executive, and prime ministerial predominance reinforces leadership predominance within the party. Such predominance arises from the prime minister's ability to access a series of personal and institutional power resources. The more resources, the more powerful and predominant the prime minister is; the fewer resources, the less powerful and predominant they are. Such resources are necessarily transient, being accumulated and inevitably dispersed, acquired and lost, and are never permanent. When possessed, they can grant the prime minister considerable, if never overwhelming, intra-executive authority and influence, and the opportunity to be a stronger, but not the only element within the core executive.
140 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored common commitments between competing historical materialist perspectives within International Political Economy (IPE) by engaging with Open Marxism that has emerged as the basis of a radical rethinking of theories of the state, the dialectic of subject-object and theory-practice, as well as commitments to emancipating the social world.
Abstract: This article explores common commitments between competing historical materialist perspectives within International Political Economy (IPE). It does so by engaging with the approach of Open Marxism that has emerged as the basis of a radical rethinking of theories of the state, the dialectic of subject-object and theory-practice, as well as commitments to emancipating the social world. Despite these contributions, though, there has been a sonorous silence within debates in critical International Relations (IR) theory in relation to the arguments of Open Marxism. In contrast, we engage with and develop an immanent critique of Open Marxism through a ‘Critical Economy’ conception of the state proffered by Antonio Gramsci. Previously overlooked, this alternative approach not only promotes an understanding of the state as a social relation of production but also affords insight into a broader range of class-relevant social forces linked to contemporary processes of capitalist development. A key priority is thus granted to theorising the capitalist state, as well as issues of resistance and collective agency, that surpasses the somewhat ‘theological’ vision of state-capital-labour evident in Open Marxism. Moreover, it is argued in conclusion that the approach we outline provides an avenue to critique additional competing ‘critical’ approaches in IR/IPE, thereby raising new questions about the potential of critical theory within international studies.
139 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors trace the evolution of ideas about tax policy over the past century and show that these ideas have had enormous consequences for the development of the modern state and argue that there is an iterative, interdependent and dynamic relationship between policy makers' ideas, political institutions and public policy outcomes.
Abstract: This analysis traces the evolution of ideas about one of the most important policies facing any state: taxation. The article will demonstrate that elite ideas about tax policy have changed dramatically over the past century and that these ideas have had enormous consequences for the development of the modern state. This article argues that there is an iterative, interdependent and dynamic relationship between policy makers’ ideas, political institutions and public policy outcomes. The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than commonly understood. Indeed the world is governed by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. (John Maynard Keynes) Academic economists discussing policy issues sometimes sound as though they are, in effect, advocating that the way the world works should be changed to fit the conditions assumed in their models. (Richard Bird)
138 citations
TL;DR: The 2001 General Election generated considerable interest and also much criticism of politicians' use of the Internet as discussed by the authors, via content analysis, search engines and database material, this article exami...
Abstract: The 2001 General Election generated considerable interest and also much criticism of politicians' use of the Internet. Via content analysis, search engines and database material, this article exami...
116 citations
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the shift from the openly declared pursuit of national interests in foreign policy, to the growing emphasis on ethical or moral duties to protect the rights and interests of the people of the world.
Abstract: This article analyses the shift, from the openly declared pursuit of national interests in foreign policy, to the growing emphasis on ethical or moral duties to protect the rights and interests of ...
102 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a multi-level governance framework of analysis is proposed for central-local relations at neighbourhood, local authority, sub-regional and regional levels, and it is argued that, while much of the research using such frameworks has hitherto focused on the EU, recent developments in governance at neighborhood, local authorities, subregional, and regional level facilitate its application within the UK.
Abstract: Central-local relations have been of particular interest since the Labour government came to power in 1997. Both academics and practitioners have pointed to tensions within the Labour government's reform agenda—between a ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approach; between a drive for national standards and the encouragement of local learning and innovation; and between strengthening executive leadership and enhancing public participation. It is argued that while Labour's modernisation strategy has clear elements of a top-down approach (legislation, inspectorates, white papers, etc) there is also a significant bottom-up dimension (a variety of zones, experiments and pilots, albeit with different degrees of freedom). This article utilises a multi-level governance framework of analysis and argues that, while much of the research using such frameworks has hitherto focused on the EU, recent developments in governance at neighbourhood, local authority, sub-regional and regional levels facilitate its application within...
97 citations
TL;DR: This article reviewed Giddens' vision of the Third Way and argued that it reflects a new and fundamental complexity shift within the social sciences, and they attempted to go beyond the third way and argue that there is not one, two or three ways, but hundreds.
Abstract: Focusing on the work of Anthony Giddens, this article reviews his vision of the Third Way and argues that it reflects a new and fundamental ‘complexity’ shift within the social sciences. His ability to partially recognise and integrate this shift into his thinking gives the Third Way much of its power and coherence. However, his unwillingness to accept the shift's full implications and his determination to find the one new way for the left blinds him to its more contingent and complex implications. By coming to terms with the development of complexity theory in the natural and social sciences, this article will attempt to go beyond the Third Way and argue that there is not one, two or three ways, but hundreds.
65 citations
53 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that Americanisation and Europeanisation are distinct in terms of both content and process, and argued that the UK is currently influenced by both of them, since these are not mutually exclusive.
Abstract: A number of recent accounts of UK social policy under New Labour have emphasised the continuing Americanisation of the British welfare state. This article does not deny the influence of the US but rather seeks to balance it with an account of the growing Europeanisation of UK social policy. It argues that Americanisation and Europeanisation are distinct in terms of both content and process. Since these are not mutually exclusive, the UK is currently influenced by both. This situation is illustrated by looking at three social policy issues under New Labour: social exclusion, the New Deal and the treatment of lone parents.
36 citations
34 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe and analyse the fuel protests in the UK in September and November 2000 and draw on theories of social movements to explain the success of the first of these protests and the failure of the second.
Abstract: We describe and analyse the fuel protests in the UK in September and November 2000. We draw on theories of social movements to explain the success of the first of these protests and the failure of the second. We show how the loose, network forms of organisation contributed to the success in September, and the attempts to impose more formal organisations helped to cause the failure in November. We also show how the success of the protests depended on the articulation of the aims of the protesters with dominant social forces in British politics, in particular the oil companies, the police, and the mass media.
TL;DR: Results suggest that the responsiveness of health care expenditures to public preferences in the US and UK is linked to the way in which health care issues are differently defined by policy-makers.
Abstract: This article explores the extent to which yearly changes in health spending reflect yearly changes in public preferences. Time series modelling suggests that health care spending is remarkably more responsive to yearly changes in public opinion in the US than in the UK. A content analysis of party manifestos suggests the significant role of ‘issue definition’ in accounting for this difference. Health care issues in the US have more often been viewed as problems of expenditure, while UK policy-makers have tended to focus on efficiency. Results suggest that the responsiveness of health care expenditures to public preferences in the US and UK is linked to the way in which health care issues are differently defined by policy-makers.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the impact of devolution to Wales on the policy control of the UK core executive and the implementation of the additionality principle guiding EU structural funds.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to explore the impact of devolution to Wales on the policy control of the UK core executive. Our case study is the implementation of the additionality principle guiding EU structural funds. Successive UK governments have been reluctant implementers of this principle and have played the ‘gatekeeper’ role in controlling the financial impact of EU funds on domestic public spending. Devolution presents a challenge to central control over this policy. In this context, we seek to refine the ‘gatekeeper’ concept by drawing on the insights of the core executive approach.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that cross-fertilising the classic neo-functionalist perspective on European supranational regionalisation offers a profitable basis for development, and apply the approach to devolution in the UK.
Abstract: The article seeks to contribute to theoretical analysis of sub-state regionalisation, particularly as applied to the study of its principal history-making developments. It argues that cross-fertilising the classic neo-functionalist perspective on European supranational regionalisation offers a profitable basis for development. The article clarifies its conceptual categories, adapting to take account of the sub-state context, and then applies the approach to devolution in the UK. Reference to this case seeks to confirm the utility of the perspective, and in the process offers a novel framework for clarifying the common and distinctive political dynamics of devolution across the UK.
TL;DR: This paper examined the relationship between economic policy networks and policy learning during the 1960s, using recently released files to flesh out the operation of both networks and learning, finding that policy failure in the 1950s brought into being a new policy network which was able to secure a radical shift in the economic policy of the core executive in the early 1960s.
Abstract: This article examines the relationship between economic policy networks and policy learning during the 1960s, using recently released files to flesh out the operation of both networks and learning. It finds that policy failure in the 1950s brought into being a new policy network which was able to secure a radical shift in the economic policy of the core executive in the early 1960s. However, it then proved impossible to craft, implement and sustain a coherent and enduring set of new policies within the new policy framework due to the ability of competing networks to resist central control. This leads to three conclusions. First, peripheral actors may obtain influence over policy-making in the core executive by means of a policy network. Second, policy learning does not necessarily generate policy change of a similar order because, whilst networks may facilitate learning, competing networks may block the translation of this learning into effective policies. Third, ‘governance’ is not solely a phenomenon of the years since 1979: in the 1960s the British core executive was already operating within a polity characterised by fragmentation, inter-dependency and self-organising policy networks.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the motivations of Labour Party employees using new quantitative and qualitative data and concluded that existing models are helpful in explaining the motivations for party employment, and that party employment should be regarded as a form of political participation and as a consequence, existing models can be used to help explain why people work for political parties.
Abstract: Party employees are an under-researched group in political science. This article begins to address this oversight by examining Labour Party employees using new quantitative and qualitative data. It argues that party employment should be regarded as a form of political participation and as a consequence, existing models of political participation can be utilised to help explain why people work for political parties. After testing these propositions, the article concludes that existing models are indeed helpful in explaining the motivations for party employment.
TL;DR: In the inter-war years, a number of scholars studied and wrote about British politics in a way that marks them out as founding fathers of the discipline The writers were academics, confined to a few universities, and did not regard themselves as political scientists as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In the inter-war years a number of scholars studied and wrote about British politics in a way that marks them out as founding fathers of the discipline The writers were academics, confined to a few universities, and did not regard themselves as political scientists The article analyses two outlooks—collectivism and pluralism—which emerged to challenge the Westminster model Many present features of a ‘British approach’ are evident in the work and the long-term impact on the discipline is assessed
TL;DR: In recent issues of the British Journal of Politics & International Relations a debate has developed between Shane O'Neill and Glen Newey on the role of liberal political theory in resolving conflicts as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In recent issues of the British Journal of Politics & International Relations a debate has developed between Shane O'Neill and Glen Newey on the role of liberal political theory in resolving confli...
TL;DR: In this paper, the development of governments and governance structures intermediate between state and local levels has become increasingly significant in the government of both Britain and the United States and there are additional pressures from regions with distinctive cultures, as well as from the increasingly influential Europe of the Regions.
Abstract: Regionalism: the development of governments and governance structures intermediate between state and local levels has become increasingly significant in the government of both Britain and the United States. Functional issues concerned with the regeneration of rustbelt areas or controlling growth in prosperous areas have resulted in searches for regionalist solutions on both sides of the Atlantic. However, in Britain there are additional pressures from regions with distinctive cultures, as well as from the increasingly influential ‘Europe of the Regions’. Demands for regional government and governance may be generated from the bottom up by a region's politicians, business leaders and others but they are unlikely to be successful unless they are encouraged by higher levels of government, at state, national or supranational levels.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors make the case for a strong delineation of ethical and moral categories in contemporary international relations theory, specifically within the theory of cosmopolitanism, and offer a specific policy area, the area of international drug control, as a potential area of policy application.
Abstract: This article makes the case for a strong delineation of ethical and moral categories in contemporary international relations theory—specifically, within the theory of cosmopolitanism. The argument draws on the history of ideas, particularly observations about the nature of Stoicism in classical political thought, and a range of contemporary ‘ethical’ texts to make the case that there is a missing ethical category in contemporary approaches. Contemporary reflections on world citizenship and the global city, such as those contained in Linklater and Held, adopt a specifically moral notion of normativity and neglect an ethical component which is both distinct and theoretically practicable. The article offers a specific policy area—the area of international drug control—as a potential area of policy application.
TL;DR: In this paper, two options for the use of evolution in political science are set out: firstly, leave the concept at the level of metaphor which might add richness to narratives of political change; or secondly, accept functionalism and construct political science theories along the lines beginning to develop in evolutionary economics.
Abstract: Peter Kerr (Kerr 2002) recently argued in this journal that evolutionary theories could be of great benefit to political scientists' investigations of change. He is not successful in establishing a case for evolutionary theory in political science due to the misconception that evolutionary theory can have explanatory power without being functionalist. Two options for the use of evolution in political science are set out: firstly, leave the concept at the level of metaphor which might add richness to narratives of political change; or secondly, accept functionalism and construct political science theories along the lines beginning to develop in evolutionary economics. The conclusion is the need for a dynamic approach whilst avoiding functionalism and that political science at this stage should remain agnostic and critical about when and where particular dynamic mechanisms may operate.
TL;DR: It is argued that the similarities between evolution and institutional change are superficial, and that Kerr’s suggestions to the contrary are based on misunderstandings of biological evolution.
Abstract: In his recent BJIPR article, Peter Kerr expressed modest ambitions for the role of evolutionary theorising in the social sciences (Kerr 2002). At the very least, he suggests that evolutionary theory can provide useful metaphors for analysing political and institutional change. At the most, he speculates that institutional change might occur in ways strictly analogous to biological evolution. In this short article, I argue that the similarities between evolution and institutional change are superficial, and that Kerr’s suggestions to the contrary are based on misunderstandings of biological evolution. Consequently, there is little to be gained, and much to be lost, from using evolutionary theory as a metaphor in this context. As an alternative, I argue that the real promise of evolution comes not from metaphorical or analogical applications of the theory, but from actual applications of the theory to the evolved design of the psychologies of the political actors who actually have the intentions and make the decisions.
TL;DR: For example, this paper found that the Liberal Democrats became noticeably less supportive of the government, and more favorable towards the Conservatives, as the parliament went on, and the data appeared to indicate that they began to stress the "opposition" whilst still retaining the constructive opposition.
Abstract: This article analyses Liberal Democrat voting in the 1997 parliament. Overall, Liberal Democrat MPs were most likely to find themselves voting with the Labour government than with the Conservatives. But the Liberal Democrats became noticeably less supportive of the government, and more favourable towards the Conservatives, as the parliament went on. There are also clear differences between different types of votes, with the Liberal Democrats being much more likely to support the government over votes on the principle of legislation than on the detail. To use the Party's own phrase of constructive opposition, the data appear to indicate that they began to stress the ‘opposition’, whilst still retaining the ‘constructive’.
TL;DR: The authors compare and contrast the two major periods of mobilisation around the issue of sexuality that have occurred in Britain and highlight the notions of frames, networks and incentives as key concepts when trying to explain movement change over long periods of time.
Abstract: This article compares and contrasts the two major periods of mobilisation around the issue of sexuality that have occurred in Britain. These are the explosions of activity occurring during the 1970s promoted by the Gay Liberation Front and other groups and those occurring in the late 1980s and 1990s promoted by OutRage and other groups. The article shows how these two periods of mobilisation were characterised by considerable differences in terms of values, strategy and organisation. In seeking to explain these changes, the article draws upon diverse ideas in movement theory. In particular, it highlights the notions of frames, networks and incentives as key concepts when trying to explain movement change over long periods of time.
TL;DR: Drabek, Z. as discussed by the authors and Negri, A. P. (2000) Empire. London: MIT Press, x + 273 pp., ISBN 0-262-13395-4
Abstract: Drabek, Z. (ed) (2001) Globalisation under Threat: The Stability of Trade Policy and Multilateral Agreements. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, xiii + 235 pp., ISBN 1-84064-658-6 Hardt, M. and Negri, A. (2000) Empire. London: Harvard University Press, xvii + 478 pp., ISBN 0-674-25121-0 (cloth) 0-674-00671-2 (pbk.) Mol, A. P. J. (2001) Globalization and Environmental Reform: The Ecological Modernization of the Global Economy. London: MIT Press, x + 273 pp., ISBN 0-262-13395-4
TL;DR: Cohen, Steve, Humphries, Beth and Mynott, Ed (2002) From Immigration Controls to Welfare Controls. as discussed by the authors The Case Against Immigration Controls, viii + 180 pp.
Abstract: Cohen, Steve, Humphries, Beth and Mynott, Ed (2002) From Immigration Controls to Welfare Controls. London and New York: Routledge, xii + 234 pp. ISBN 0-415-25082-X (cloth) 0-415-25083-8 (pb). Hayter, Teresa (2000) Open Borders: The Case Against Immigration Controls. London: Pluto Press, viii + 180 pp. ISBN 0-7453 1547 X (cloth) 0 7453 1542 9 (pb). Meilander, Peter C. (2001) Toward a Theory of Immigration. Houndmills: Palgrave, x + 254 pp. ISBN 0-312-24034-1