Showing papers in "The Political Quarterly in 2005"
TL;DR: The Commission for Africa report, "Our Common Interest" as discussed by the authors, was one of the most thorough and rigorous analyses of Africa's problems ever undertaken, and made a strong case for urgent action, highlighting the positive developments already underway in Africa, in areas such as governance and economic growth, and arguing that rich countries should support this progress to ensure that precious gains are not reversed.
Abstract: n 11 March 2005, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, launched the Commission for Africa report, ‘Our Common Interest’, at the British Museum in London. The Commission, which comprised 17 people (the majority from Africa) drawn from politics, public service and the private sector, had been set an ambitious task: to define the challenges facing Africa, and to provide clear recommendations on how the developed world could support the changes needed to reduce poverty. Its report was widely welcomed as one of the most thorough and rigorous analyses of Africa’s problems ever undertaken. Its detailed and practical set of recommendations – directed, most immediately, to the G8 Summit in Gleneagles in July, the UN High Level Plenary on the Millennium Development Goals in New York in September, and the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong in December – constitutes a comprehensive programme for collective action to lift Africa from poverty, famine and disease, and to unlock its productive potential. At the outset, the report makes a strong case for urgent action. It highlights the positive developments already underway in Africa, in areas such as governance and economic growth, and argues that rich countries should support this progress to ensure that precious gains are not reversed. While encouraged by these signs of progress, the Commission is realistic about the challenge facing many African countries. On current trends, Africa is set to halve poverty, not in 2015 as envisaged with the Millennium Development Goals, but in 2150. Referring to African poverty and stagnation as “the greatest tragedy of our time”, the Commission cautions that failure to act now could lead to irreversible damage to the prospects of future generations. In its analysis of the causes of the current crisis, the report argues that the present situation is the result of a complex interplay of numerous interrelated factors, which form interlocking cycles that affect each country in different ways. Action is therefore required in several areas at once if vicious circles are to be broken. Subsequent chapters provide details of specific actions required in each of these areas. The subject of cultural awareness is given prominence in an early chapter, setting the Commission’s approach apart from many that have gone before. The report calls on the international community to make greater efforts to understand the values, norms and allegiances of the cultures of Africa, and in policy-making to display greater flexibility, open-mindedness, willingness to learn, and humility. An action plan that fails to take proper account of the role of culture is doomed to failure.
503 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that blogs are part of a battle for the soul of the internet and represent an extension of media freedom, rather than being a new tool for politicians to use in spreading their messages.
Abstract: This article examines the new phenomenon of blogging and suggests that, rather than being a new tool for politicians to use in spreading their messages, blogs should be seen as democratic listening posts, enabling us to pick up signals of subjective expression which might inform debate in these more reflexively democratic times. The article suggests that blogs are part of a battle for the soul of the internet and represent an extension of media freedom.
142 citations
TL;DR: Turner et al. as discussed by the authors presented a thorough analysis of the UK pensions system and identified the high-level options facing society, followed by a discussion and question answering session with the audience.
Abstract: Time: 6.00pm Registration and Refreshments 6.30pm Commentary and panel debate 7.30pm Refreshments and networking Venue: Cass Business School 106 Bunhill Row London EC1Y 8TZ The Pensions Commission is an independent body which was set up to advise the government on pensions. It will launch its First Report on 12 October. This report will be a thorough analysis of the UK pensions system and will identify the high-level options facing society. For more information, visit: overview of the report's findings. Following his presentation, Adair Turner will join the Cass panel – David Blake and Steve Haberman – to respond to questions from the audience. Adair Turner has combined careers in business, public policy and academia. He is currently vice chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe, a director of United Business Media plc, chair of the UK Low Pay Commission and chair of the UK Pensions Commission. He is also a visiting professor at the London School of Economics. Adair holds an Honorary Doctorate from the City University and his book, Just Capital – The Liberal Economy, was recently published by Macmillan. and obtained his PhD and DSc in actuarial science from City University. He has worked at Prudential Assurance and the Government Actuary's Department, and has been a member of the Council of the Institute of Actuaries. Steve has written papers on a wide range of topics, including mortality and morbidity models, annuities and pensions mathematics. His papers have won research prizes from the Institute of Actuaries. He is co-author of two recent books: 'Modern Actuarial Theory and Practice' and 'Actuarial Models for Disability Insurance'.
105 citations
TL;DR: The Good Friday Agreement, it is argued, is an integrationist form of power-sharing as discussed by the authors, which bears some superficial resemblance to consociationalism because integrationist power sharing bears a superficial similarity to segregationist powersharing.
Abstract: Segregationists and integrationists both support the power-sharing, Good Friday Agreement (1998) in Northern Ireland but for very different reasons. Consociationalists are segregationists who support the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) because they believe that conflict is best managed through the segregation of the communal groups and their consolidation into the pillars on which elites can build a settlement. Integrationists, on the other hand, support the GFA because they believe that power-sharing will lead to the integration of the communal groups and that will consolidate peace in Northern Ireland.
The Good Friday Agreement, it is argued, is an integrationist form of power-sharing. It bears some superficial resemblance to consociationalism because integrationist power-sharing bears a superficial resemblance to segregationist power-sharing. But it is the conservative theory behind consociationalism's prescriptions that make those prescriptions consociational not just the prescriptions themselves. The thinking behind the Agreement is far more democratic, integrationist and ambitious than consociationalists prescribe.
39 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the results of the 2005 election in the context of the debate on declining youth turnout at general elections and found that a closer competition in 2005 encourage young voters back to the polls.
Abstract: Pronounced declines in the number of young (non-) voters casting their ballots in 1997 and 2001 has raised the question: are we witnessing a generational disengagement with electoral politics? It is generally understood that voter turnout is strongly related to closeness of electoral competition. This research report examines the results of the 2005 election in the context of the debate on declining youth turnout at general elections. Did a closer competition in 2005 encourage young voters back to the polls?
38 citations
TL;DR: Gramsci was as much a child of Machiavelli as of Marx, and he praised the Florentine for developing a progressive or transformative realism in opposition to the conventional type of realism that seeks only to'manage' the status quo as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The paper begins by expressing some doubts about how Gramsci has been appropriated by the so-called 'Italian School' of International Relations/International Political Economy (IR/IPE) Particularly questionable is the attempt to 'internationalise' his concepts of 'civil society' and 'hegemony', whose respective meanings are sometimes extended beyond Gramscian usage Also dubious is the tendency to assume that his conceptual framework supports a counter-discourse within IR/IPE that contradicts the 'realist' mainstream In his political ideas, Gramsci was as much a child of Machiavelli as of Marx, and he praised the Florentine for developing a progressive or 'transformative' realism in opposition to the conventional type of realism that seeks only to 'manage' the status quo This interpretation of Gramsci as a kind of realist is defended by highlighting three 'Machiavellian' aspects of his thought: (a) his contempt for abstract ideals of justice or democracy, (b) his hostility to 'vague and purely ideological' (his words) internationalism; and (c) his surprising (for a supposed Marxist) doubts about the prospects for a non-coercive and egalitarian society In conclusion, it is pointed out that Gramsci helps us to illustrate a tension at the heart of Marxism: that between utopianism and realism Because of his admiration for Machiavelli, he eventually betrayed second thoughts about Marx's vision of a world without borders or conflict His idea of transformative realism, rather than his concept of hegemony, should perhaps be seen as his chief contribution to IR/IPE
36 citations
30 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the refocusing carries the risk of taking resources and professional time away from investigating serious cases of abuse and fails to address the problems in professional practice identified in the Climbie report.
Abstract: The government introduced its ambitious plans to transform children's services as its response to the tragic death of Victoria Climbie, the victim of child abuse. However their scope is far more than improving child protection services. The aim is to develop preventive services, responding to low level concerns, so that all children are helped to achieve their potential. This article asks what the impact of this shift in emphasis will be for child protection work. It argues that the refocusing carries the risk of taking resources and professional time away from investigating serious cases of abuse and fails to address the problems in professional practice identified in the Climbie report.
27 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors make a case for the importance of politics, particularly the successful strategic adaptation to the challenges and opportunities afforded by the completion of the Single European Market during the 1990s.
Abstract: Ireland's rate of growth and employment creation during the 1990s far outstripped economic performance in the rest of the OECD. Competing explanations are available in accounting for these outcomes, one stressing the primacy of the market, the other focusing on political choice. A case is made for the importance of politics, particularly the successful strategic adaptation to the challenges and opportunities afforded by the completion of the Single European Market during the 1990s. Ireland, as a small open economy, needs to combine effective external adjustment with appropriate domestic adjustment policies. Two policy areas are chosen for particular attention: industrial development strategy, and social partnership arrangements. This experience has implications beyond the Irish case, as the new central European and Baltic EU member states face similar challenges of policy adaptation.
25 citations
25 citations
TL;DR: The use of dog-whistle politics in general can undermine policy mandates, and the use of "dog whistle politics" - telling one group of voters one thing, while allowing or encouraging another group to believe another - makes the inferring of policy mandates especially problematic.
Abstract: Manipulative mixed messages from candidates to voters affect what governments are entitled to do in office. A party that wins an election gains a 'mandate to rule'. But there is a second type of mandate: a 'policy mandate' to enact specific policy proposals central to the winning party's campaign. Mixed-message politics in general can undermine policy mandates, and the use of 'dog whistle politics' - telling one group of voters one thing, while allowing or encouraging another group to believe another - makes the inferring of policy mandates especially problematic. Referendums provide only a partial remedy to dog whistle politics. Winning a clear policy mandate means forgoing dog whistle politics, despite the short term electoral advantage they may deliver.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the three main reasons behind Tony Blair's support for the post-9/11 foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration, especially the war on Iraq: first, Blair is on a neo-imperial mission, with deep roots in his personal development, to re-order the world to better suit British interests; secondly, Bush and Blair independently agree that the post 1989 period represents wasted time, years of drift that could have been used to press home Anglo-American dominance; and thirdly, an agreement that 9/11 opened the
Abstract: This article considers the three main reasons behind Tony Blair's support for the post-9/11 foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration, especially the war on Iraq: first, Blair is on a neo-imperial mission, with deep roots in his personal development, to re-order the world to better suit British interests; secondly, Bush and Blair independently agree that the post-1989 period represents wasted time, years of drift that could have been used to press home Anglo-American dominance; and thirdly, an agreement that 9/11 opened the space for a radical restructuring of international relations and the setting of a more interventionist global agenda.
TL;DR: The first report from the national Sure Start evaluation team concludes that to date not only has the Sure Start programme not been a success, but for certain groups of disadvantaged families it has led to a worse outcome.
Abstract: The first report from the national Sure Start evaluation team concludes that to date not only has the Sure Start programme not been a success, but for certain groups of disadvantaged families it has led to a worse outcome. The cost to date has been £3 billion.
This is simply the latest in a series of spectacular policy failures: for example, the Child Support Agency, family tax credits, truancy reduction, lack of literacy amongst many children, reductions in access to top universities from state schools.
Each has its own reasons for failure, but there are now so many examples in so many diverse areas that something more fundamental is going on. The problem is the increasingly complicated nature of the interventions of the social democratic state. These increase rather than reduce the probability of failure. Government still has an important role. But it should be as simple as possible.
TL;DR: This article summarized key aspects of government intervention in the British film industry since the election of a Labour government in 1997 and proposed that more careful attention be given to the cultural and educational implications of current policy.
Abstract: The article summarises key aspects of government intervention in the British film industry since the election of a Labour government in 1997. The process of amalgamating a variety of existing institutions (including British Screen, the British Film Commission and the Arts Council's Lottery Film Department) into the new UK Film Council is described and the implications for developments in the English regions is considered. The issue of the continuing American dominance of the industry is explored and this is related to the contentious concept of an economically 'sustainable' domestic industry. In conclusion it is proposed that more careful attention be given to the cultural and educational implications of current policy.
TL;DR: The government's Renewable Obligation system aims to supply 10 per cent of UK electricity from renewable sources by 2010 as discussed by the authors, although the headlines suggest that planning controversies hamper these objectives.
Abstract: The government's Renewable Obligation system aims to supply 10 per cent of UK electricity from renewable sources by 2010. Although the headlines suggest that planning controversies hamper these objectives, by the summer of 2004 enough capacity had been given planning consent to supply 4 per cent of UK electricity from new renewable energy sources. Enough renewable capacity to supply 7 per cent of UK electricity from renewables will probably be operational by 2010. The bulk of this is coming from onshore wind power, especially based in Scotland, and also offshore wind power. The offshore schemes are more expensive and need additional support outside the Renewable Obligation. The Conservatives have promised to bring in planning curbs for onshore wind power. There is pressure for more nuclear power, but this is likely to be impossible to finance without a very large subsidy from the Department of Trade and Industry.
TL;DR: Alvarez as discussed by the authors discusses three factors behind the US sugar industry's economic importance: the industry importance, the large representation of sweetener-producing states in the US Congress, and a powerful and successful lobby.
Abstract: The US sweetener industry comprises the production and processing of sugarcane, sugar beet and corn and, more recently, non-caloric products. The industry has always been protected by federal legislation. Such legislation has had positive and negative impacts on domestic sugar prices, which have remained relatively stable but well above the world price. Jose Alvarez discusses three factors behind that protective status: the industry's economic importance, the large representation of sweetener-producing states in the US Congress, and a powerful and successful lobby. Under current conditions, no change in the status quo should be expected. The major potential contingency on the horizon could be an agreement reached at the World Trade Organization eliminating existing levels of worldwide protection. Free trade negotiations have added new pressures to the US support programme. Time will tell whether or not the domestic success of the US sweetener industry can be duplicated in the international arena.
TL;DR: In this paper, the author summarises the consequences of the invasion in terms of the subsequent criticism and official inquiries before addressing the question of what is the national interest, and concludes that there was a decision to support the USA and that the threat was exaggerated to justify this decision.
Abstract: During the 2005 General Election the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, suggested that the invasion of Iraq was in 'the national interest'. Whether he knew it or not, this phrase has often referred to controversial decisions taken by governments, away from scrutiny and subject to criticism when made public, but which they believe are in the best interests of the British state.
The article summarises the consequences of the invasion in terms of the subsequent criticism and official inquiries before addressing the question of what is the national interest. The article then considers what exactly was the threat, and whether or not it was exaggerated, and what evidence is now emerging to indicate that the decision to invade was taken 'in the national interest'. It concludes that there was a decision to support the USA and that the threat was exaggerated to justify this decision.
TL;DR: Hennessy as discussed by the authors examines the significance of the 2004 Butler Report (on intelligence and weapons of mass destruction prior to the Iraq War) for Tony Blair both as war premier and also as an indicator of his governing practices in general.
Abstract: In the latest of his periodic 'overflights' of the Blair style of government since 1997, Peter Hennessy examines the significance of the 2004 Butler Report (on intelligence and weapons of mass destruction prior to the Iraq War) for Tony Blair both as war premier and also as an indicator of his governing practices in general. He concludes that the Cabinet's overall performance on the road to war was seriously inadequate, and is especially critical of its failure to test out fully the Attorney General's opinion in the legality of the war.
TL;DR: In this paper, a distinction is drawn between tactical terrorism, when such acts are undertaken as part of a multifaceted campaign, and strategic terrorism, which is undertaken as an independent means of achieving the desired political ends.
Abstract: Terror is defined as deliberate acts of violence designed to create a psychological effect—terror—with the intention of causing a shift in the target's attitudes and behaviour. A distinction is drawn between tactical terrorism, when such acts are undertaken as part of a multifaceted campaign, and strategic terrorism, where they are undertaken as an independent means of achieving the desired political ends. This follows a familiar distinction in airpower theory. A set of historical examples from both airpower and terrorism, as well as the fictional works of H. G. Wells and Joseph Conrad, is used to demonstrate the reliance on amateur psychology, concerning the likely social responses to forms of attack. This helps explain why strategic terror is rarely successful, though tactical terror can be.
TL;DR: In the UK, privatisation in the UK was facilitated by the interplay of ideas, institutions, actors, and economic interests as mentioned in this paper The motivations of the programme were ideational and political, but the objectives were economic and administrative.
Abstract: Privatisation in the UK was facilitated by the interplay of ideas, institutions, actors, and economic interests The motivations of the programme were ideational and political, but the objectives were economic and administrative Together these paved the way for the success of the policy Although several rationales were at play in the unfolding of privatisation, the ideological predilection of the Thatcher governments underpinned this far-reaching policy reform This explains why the Thatcher government did not reform nationalized industries within the public sector, but instead shifted them into the private sector Privatisation succeeded because it was championed by new right policy entrepreneurs, was supported by interest groups prepared to support, or least not impede, such dramatic policy change, and when the public enterprise status quo was deemed in need of reform Of course, ideas only act as a catalyst for policy change when an established policy agenda having withered, been worn-out or otherwise discredited, can then be successfully challenged
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the SPD's structural reading of the Deutsche Borse affair, whilst comparing it to an alternative interest-based reading, focusing more closely on the issue which, more than any other, led to Seifert's downfall.
Abstract: Boardroom trouble at Deutsche Borse, the company that operates Germany's main stock market, has recently provoked an important debate about competing capitalist models. Werner Seifert, Deutsche Borse's ousted Chief Executive, was eager to portray himself as the innocent victim of aggressive Anglo-American investors who had bought into his company but failed to understand its traditional operating ethos. In this, he was ably supported by key figures within the ruling Social Democratic Party, who, in order to shore up the party's core support, had increasingly come to blame overseas hedge funds for the development of German corporate governance models which prioritised profits over jobs. I review the SPD's structural reading of the Deutsche Borse affair, whilst comparing it to an alternative interest-based reading. The latter allows me to focus more closely on the issue which, more than any other, led to Seifert's downfall: his refusal to bow to the expressed interests of his own shareholders by pressing ahead, against their wishes, with a hostile bid for the London Stock Exchange. Seifert's eventual removal foreclosed the possibility of an integrated London-Frankfurt stock market and, somewhat ironically given the SPD's response to the affair, as a consequence it also prevented the entry of London's highly capitalised institutional investors into the German market for corporate control. The actions of Deutsche Borse's overseas shareholders might still be seen as evidence of a predatory Anglo-American capitalism. However, their successful removal of Werner Seifert may well have been responsible for temporarily keeping other financial predators at bay.
TL;DR: The authors investigates the political meanings of a now ubiquitous media term "middle England" and explores its origins in the historical idea of the middle classes as politically moderate, beleaguered and put-upon; and more recently in a neo-conservative, anti-elitist populism, which aims to short-circuit traditional political processes and speak directly to a nominally homogeneous, but actually carefully targeted, "people".
Abstract: This article investigates the political meanings of a now ubiquitous media term 'middle England'. It explores its origins in the historical idea of the middle classes as politically moderate, beleaguered and put-upon; and more recently in a neo-conservative, anti-elitist populism, which aims to short-circuit traditional political processes and speak directly to a nominally homogeneous, but actually carefully targeted, 'people'. It argues that the concept of 'middle England' reached full political maturity in the 1990s when increasingly slick party machines began to articulate and exploit these ideas through private polling and focus groups which concentrated on crucial swing voters. 'Middle England' is a product of the increasingly close, but fractious, relationship between these party machines and influential tabloid newspapers, particularly the Daily Mail.
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the cumulative development of New Labour's attitude and strategy towards the EU since the late 1980s and argued that the first two New Labour governments' approach to the EU represented a distinct retreat from the 'constructive engagement' and social democratic philosophy of Tony Blair's early modernising phase, moving steadily to occupy a much more traditional British position of 'defensive engagement', mixing national preferences with Atlanticism, and resisting further political integration in favour of traditional 'intergovernmentalism'.
Abstract: This article reviews the cumulative development of New Labour's attitude and strategy towards the EU since the late 1980s and argues that the first two New Labour governments' approach to the EU represented a distinct retreat from the 'constructive engagement' and social democratic philosophy of Tony Blair's early modernising phase, moving steadily to occupy a much more traditional British position of 'defensive engagement', mixing national preferences with Atlanticism, and resisting further political integration in favour of traditional 'intergovernmentalism'. It is further argued that New Labour's prioritisation and preferencing of a UK institutional and political economy based upon economic liberalisation, the preservation of key aspects of national sovereignty, and maintaining Atlanticism as the bedrock of Europe's external foreign and defence policies have left Britain almost as far from the true 'heart of Europe' as when Blair inherited office from John Major in 1997.
TL;DR: For New Labour to achieve the 'progressive consensus' to which it aspires, it needs to develop a transformative, cultural politics as discussed by the authors, which would engage in a battle of hearts and minds with the electorate, seeking to shape its preferences rather than accommodating them.
Abstract: For New Labour to achieve the 'progressive consensus' to which it aspires, it needs to develop a transformative, cultural politics. This would engage in a battle of hearts and minds with the electorate, seeking to shape its preferences rather than accommodating them. Much of the accumulated criticism of New Labour focuses on its failure to develop an overarching political narrative to fulfil this task. However, critics have also shown that New Labour does have a definite vision of the type of society and individual it is constructing in the face of social change. Unfortunately for progressives, this is based on an image of the acquisitive individual, culturally conservative community and a fatalistic understanding of modernisation. Entrenching a progressive consensus requires a political strategy that resonates with contemporary experiences of social change, while showing how it can be steered in more progressive directions.