Patterns of protest in Portugal show the relationship between the ‘old’ politics of labour and ‘new’ anti-austerity movements
The financial crisis of 2007-08, and the subsequent Eurozone crisis ushered in a Europe-wide era of lowered public spending. This, in turn, created a wave of protests about the iniquities of spending cuts, unemployment, and public services reduction. Guya Accornero and Pedro Ramos Pinto look at protests in Portugal – one of the worst affected countries […]
An EU quota trading system for refugees would offer a fair method for alleviating Europe’s migration crisis
The European Commission has proposed a quota system for distributing the responsibility for asylum seekers across EU member states. Mollie Gerver writes that while the principle of refugee quotas has generated opposition, a quota trading system, in which states can sell all or part of their quotas to other states, could offer a solution. She […]
Unless we change the way we think about transparency, open data is unlikely to have a significant political impact at the local level
Open data and transparency have long been heralded as welcome innovations by policymakers and politicians, and the current Government has made it a priority at both a national and local level. But when it comes to the latter, how effective has it been and how much have citizens made use of it? Mark Frank argues that […]
The case against Directly-Elected Executive Mayors
In a speech in Manchester recently, Chancellor George Osborne spoke of a ‘revolution in the way we govern England’. As a result, the Queen’s Speech included a bill for a ‘radical new model of city government’, giving more control over policy areas such as housing, planning and transport to English cities. In return, these cities would […]
Electoral participation has an impact on political and socioeconomic inequality
The UK has just had a General Election in which inequality was a much-discussed, though hardly dominant, policy issue. But that is the relationship between voting and socioeconomic inequality? Yvette Peters argues that there is a relationship, and explains it with reference to the relationship between what she terms ‘responsiveness’. With the recent general election in the […]
The UK electoral system now decisively favours the Conservatives
The previous Coalition government attempted to redraw the boundaries of the UK’s Parliamentary constituencies in order to remove a perceived bias against them, and towards the Labour Party. Though contentious, it was reckoned that the system made it harder to win a majority for the Conservatives than it did for Labour. Tim Smith argues that […]
Local government needs fiscal devolution, more power in the hands of councils and communities and respect from the centre
What does the result of the 2015 General Election result mean for local government? Jonathan Carr-West of the LGiU think tank argues that local government should not be forgotten amidst all of the new announcements, and that the sector needs more power of spending and services, and more respect and space from the still-dominant political […]
The Scotland Bill implements and improves upon the Smith Commission recommendations
The Government recently published the Scotland Bill, which in essence should implement the recommendations of the post-referendum, cross-party Smith Commission, and provide for new powers in a range of areas. Adam Tomkins – a member of the commission representing the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party – argues that this is most welcome, and can move us […]
The coverage of the Irish marriage referendum shows that sometimes media ‘balance’ is impossible
Ireland recently voted to not only legalise same-sex marriage, but to become the first country to do so in a referendum, and to have it enshrined in the constitution. The campaign wasn’t just notable for the optimism and positivity of the ‘Yes’ campaign, though, with court decisions to ensure a “balanced” debate let to often […]
Book Review: The Problem-solving Capacity of the Modern State
The early 21st century has presented considerable challenges to the problem-solving capacity of the contemporary state in the industrialised world. Among the many uncertainties, anxieties and tensions, it is, however, the cumulative challenge of fiscal austerity, demographic developments, and climate change that presents the key test for contemporary states. This book considers the state of […]
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