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The Anglosphere: Continuity, Dissonance and Location

Ben Wellings and Andrew Mycock (eds)

This volume provides the first detailed analyses of the ‘Anglosphere’ – a re-imagined transnational community of the English-speaking peoples – which came to international prominence in the wake of ... More

This volume provides the first detailed analyses of the ‘Anglosphere’ – a re-imagined transnational community of the English-speaking peoples – which came to international prominence in the wake of Brexit. It brings together leading international experts to examine the Anglosphere’s historical links to the British Empire. It interprets the shifting political and economic fortunes of this contested idea, the locations where it is enacted and how it continues to inform transnational identities and politics across the English-speaking world today. The volume reveals that although the Anglosphere is founded on a common view of the past, its advocates seek a shared future which is never fully attained. The volume examines the claims of its proponents regarding the Anglosphere's continuities and commonalities, and argues that its post-Brexit potential is in fact undermined by very real historical and contemporary differences. Ultimately, the Anglosphere is an unsuitable vehicle for ‘Global Britain’ and for a reordering of the West in international relations. This book will appeal to those interested in the causes and consequences of Brexit, right-wing politics in the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and the shifting international relations of the twenty-first century.Less

Britain's Pensions Crisis: History and Policy

Hugh Pemberton, Pat Thane, and Noel Whiteside (eds)

British pensions are in crisis. Yet in all the discussion of what exactly the crisis consists of, and how it might be addressed, attention to the history of how the crisis has come about is ... More

British pensions are in crisis. Yet in all the discussion of what exactly the crisis consists of, and how it might be addressed, attention to the history of how the crisis has come about is surprisingly lacking. History has much to tell us about how pensions have developed in Britain, how that development has shaped the crisis that we now face, and how decisions taken in the past constrain our options for the future. In this book, leading experts on the past and present of pensions in Britain debate the present crisis, and the lessons of history for those seeking to craft solutions to it that are both effective and enduring. The volume also contains a number of chapters that draw important lessons from the experience of European and North American countries over the past few decades. The book contains reactions to the second report of the Pensions Commission and the government's response to it.Less

The British Constitution in the Twentieth Century

Vernon Bogdanor (ed.)

This is the first survey of the British constitution in the twentieth century. Indeed, it fills a very real gap in the history of Britain during the last 100 years. The book is a product of ... More

This is the first survey of the British constitution in the twentieth century. Indeed, it fills a very real gap in the history of Britain during the last 100 years. The book is a product of interdisciplinary collaboration by constitutional lawyers, historians, and political scientists, and draws where possible on primary sources. It is an evaluation of the recent constitutional reforms.Less

The British Study of Politics in the Twentieth Century

Jack Hayward, Brian Barry, and Archie Brown (eds)

The distinctive strength of political science in Britain is revealed in this guide to modern British scholarship in the field. As well as charting the development of the discipline, the essays ... More

The distinctive strength of political science in Britain is revealed in this guide to modern British scholarship in the field. As well as charting the development of the discipline, the essays examine the innovative contributions to the study of nationalism, totalitarianism, and authoritarianism, and the influential British approach to international relations.Less

Embedded Cosmopolitanism: Duties to Strangers and Enemies in a World of 'Dislocated Communities'

Toni Erskine

This book offers a challenging and original normative approach to some of the most pressing practical concerns in world politics —including the contested nature of the prohibitions against torture ... More

This book offers a challenging and original normative approach to some of the most pressing practical concerns in world politics —including the contested nature of the prohibitions against torture and the targeting of civilians in the war on terror. The author’s vision of ‘embedded cosmopolitanism’ responds to the charge that conventional cosmopolitan arguments neglect the profound importance of community and culture, particularity and passion. Bringing together insights from communitarian and feminist political thought, the author defends the idea that community membership is morally constitutive—while arguing that the communities that define us are not necessarily territorially bounded and that a moral perspective situated in them need not be parochial. The book employs this framework to explore some of the difficult moral dilemmas thrown up by contemporary warfare. Can universal principles of restraint demanded by conventional laws of war be robustly defended from a position that also acknowledges the moral force of particular ties and loyalties? By highlighting the links that exist even between warring communities, the author offers new reasons for giving a positive response—reasons that reconcile claims to local attachments and global obligations. The book provides an account of where we stand in relation to ‘strangers’ and ‘enemies’ in a diverse and divided world, and provides a theoretical framework for addressing the relationship between our moral starting point and the scope of our duties to others.Less

Governing England: English Identity and Institutions in a Changing United Kingdom

Michael Kenny, Iain McLean, and Akash Paun (eds)

England is ruled directly from Westminster by institutions and parties that are both English and British. The non-recognition of England reflects a long-standing assumption of ‘unionist statecraft’ ... More

England is ruled directly from Westminster by institutions and parties that are both English and British. The non-recognition of England reflects a long-standing assumption of ‘unionist statecraft’ that to draw a distinction between what is English and what is British risks destabilising the union state. The book examines evidence that this conflation of England and Britain is growing harder to sustain in view of increasing political divergence between the nations of the UK and the awakening of English national identity. These trends were reflected in the 2016 vote to leave the European Union, driven predominantly by English voters (outside London). Brexit was motivated in part by a desire to restore the primacy of the Westminster Parliament, but there are countervailing pressures for England to gain its own representative institutions and for devolution to England’s cities and regions. The book presents competing interpretations of the state of English nationhood, examining the views that little of significance has changed, that Englishness has been captured by populist nationalism, and that a more progressive, inclusive Englishness is struggling to emerge. We conclude that England’s national consciousness remains fragmented due to deep cleavages in its political culture and the absence of a reflective national conversation about England’s identity and relationship with the rest of the UK and the wider world. Brexit was a (largely) English revolt, tapping into unease about England’s place within two intersecting Unions (British and European), but it is easier to identify what the nation spoke against than what it voted for.Less

Hutton and Butler: Lifting the Lid on the Workings of Power

W. G. Runciman (ed.)

These chapters offer penetrating insights into the events and controversies that have dominated the news agenda for the last two years. Never has the path to a British war been mapped so fully and ... More

These chapters offer penetrating insights into the events and controversies that have dominated the news agenda for the last two years. Never has the path to a British war been mapped so fully and swiftly as the road to Baghdad in 2002–3. Between them, the Hutton and Butler reports lifted the lid on the most intimate workings of government and those who strive to convert information into a weapon — whether they be a Prime Minister in Downing Street, an MI6 agent in the field, an intelligence analyst in Whitehall, or a journalist attempting to fuse fragments into hard copy. Within days of Lord Butler reporting on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, on British intelligence assessments of their quantity and lethality and on the ingredients of the Blair Cabinet's decision to go to war, the British Academy brought together a distinguished group of scholars and practitioners to probe the deeper themes at play in the rush of events and inquests. The chapters examine: the legal issues raised by the manner and content of Lord Hutton's inquiry; the light both Hutton and Butler shed on the Blair style of government; and the matter of trust between government, the governed and the news media.Less

Illusions of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism

Richard English (ed.)

Terrorism and counter-terrorism represent enduringly and globally important phenomena, and the mutually shaping relationship between non-state terrorism and state counter-terrorism continues to shape ... More

Terrorism and counter-terrorism represent enduringly and globally important phenomena, and the mutually shaping relationship between non-state terrorism and state counter-terrorism continues to shape world politics. Illusions of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism brings together leading scholars in the field to analyse this relationship, and to do so in a distinctive manner. The book sustainedly assesses the interaction of terrorism and counter-terrorism through drawing simultaneously on a range of academic disciplines in dialogue with one another; it addresses the dynamics of counter-terrorism more interrogatively and concentratedly than is common in much of the scholarly literature; and it highlights a theme that is all too rarely considered in the field: namely, the shared and mutually echoing failings and illusions involved in the politics of terrorism and counter-terrorism alike. Chapters analyse post-9/11 counter-terrorism, the ongoing evolution of al-Qaida, the imperatives and challenges and global context of western counter-terrorist efforts, and the reasons behind terrorist campaigns sometimes enduring and sometimes coming to an end. Candid and wide-ranging, Illusions of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism offers rigorous and original argument on a subject of the highest significance.Less

The International Politics of EU-China Relations

Liu Fei

David Kerr (ed.)

The European Union and China have emerged as new international actors. They have an increasingly diverse relationship covering the economy, politics, technology, culture and education; but beyond ... More

The European Union and China have emerged as new international actors. They have an increasingly diverse relationship covering the economy, politics, technology, culture and education; but beyond these two-way linkages EU–China development is also changing the international political environment. One noted US scholar, David Shambaugh, has pointed to a ‘Strategic Triangle’ between the US, the EU, and China. Several other major actors such as Japan, India and Russia are also interested in the ‘EU factor’ in their relations with China; or the ‘China factor’ in their EU relations. This volume presents contributions from scholars from Europe and China, which debate the nature, problems and potential of the emerging strategic relationship between the EU and China. Several papers develop theoretical approaches to regionalism and inter-regionalism. This book provides an overview of EU–China relations and the wider international context, and it will be of interest to anyone interested in international relations.Less

Joined-Up Government

Vernon Bogdanor (ed.)

Drawing together work presented at a conference held at the British Academy, this book provides a broad overview of one of the most significant aspects of modern government. Joined-up government is a ... More

Drawing together work presented at a conference held at the British Academy, this book provides a broad overview of one of the most significant aspects of modern government. Joined-up government is a key theme of modern government. The Labour government, first elected in 1997, decided that intractable problems such as social exclusion, drug addiction and crime could not be resolved by any single department of government. Instead, such problems had to be made the object of a concerted attack using all the arms of government — central and local government and public agencies, as well as the private and voluntary sectors. This book seeks to analyse ‘joined-up government’, to consider its history, and to evaluate its consequences for British institutions such as the Cabinet, the civil service and local authorities. Is joined-up government a new idea, or merely a new label for a very old idea? What lessons can be learnt from previous attempts at joined-up government? How does it affect our traditional constitutional conceptions relating to Cabinet government, a politically neutral and non-partisan civil service, and an independent system of local government? Will it lead to the concentration of power in 10 Downing Street or is it compatible with a political system based on checks and balances?Less

The Legacy of Thatcherism: Assessing and Exploring Thatcherite Social and Economic Policies

Stephen Farrall and Colin Hay (eds)

Three decades after the election of Mrs Thatcher, it is perhaps time to take stock of the concept of ‘Thatcherism’ and the prominent role it has played in the history of post-war Britain. Of course, ... More

Three decades after the election of Mrs Thatcher, it is perhaps time to take stock of the concept of ‘Thatcherism’ and the prominent role it has played in the history of post-war Britain. Of course, there is much debate about what ‘Thatcherism’ was, with some arguing that Thatcherism was more noteworthy for its rhetoric than for its achievements. Indeed, when it came to the welfare state little had changed after 13 years of Thatcherism. Some historians have additionally suggested that other social forces that had existed prior to Thatcher will outlast her. Yet, whichever way one looks at it, the Thatcherite project of the 1980s brought about a fundamental reorganization of much of the UK’s social and economic life. Did Thatcherite policies dramatically alter the trajectory of the country’s development? Can even long-term and seemingly enduring path dependencies be altered as dramatically as claimed? Ought Thatcher’s period in office be seen as a ‘critical juncture’ for the UK? This book brings together a range of experts in housing, economics, law and order, education, welfare, families, geography, and politics to discuss the enduring legacy of those social and economic policies initiated by the first of the UK’s New Right governments (1979–90).Less

Liberal World Orders

Tim Dunne and Trine Flockhart (eds)

Liberal world order is seen by many as either a fading international order in response to declining American hegemony, or as a failing international order riddled with internal tensions and ... More

Liberal world order is seen by many as either a fading international order in response to declining American hegemony, or as a failing international order riddled with internal tensions and contradicting positions. Either way, it is assumed to be in crisis. This book does not reject this claim. Nor does it deny that liberalism contains many inconsistencies. Instead, it argues that much of the literature has been conditioned by a view that sees liberal order's crisis primarily as a crisis of authority and which does not look further back than the twentieth century. As a result liberalism was shorn of its historical origins and previous rich debates about similar tensions and contradiction to those of today's liberal order. The volume questions the nature of liberal order's crisis by positing that liberal order's continual renewal was achieved through crisis, and it challenges the way in which the debate about liberalism has been conducted within the International Relations academy. Against the theoreticians it holds the position that liberalism has suffered from being too closely tied to the quest for scientific authenticity, resulting in a theoretical perspective with little or no commitment to political values and political vision. By turning the classical liberalism of Kant, Paine, and Mill into neoliberalism, liberalism lost its critical and normative potential. Against the policymakers, the volume holds the position that the practices of liberal order are resilient and have proved durable despite liberal order's many crises and despite liberal order's inconsistencies and tensions.Less

New Paradigms in Public Policy

Peter Taylor-Gooby (ed.)

This book reviews some of the most challenging developments in British society as they are understood by policy-makers and by academics. The key point is that academic debates identify a range of ... More

This book reviews some of the most challenging developments in British society as they are understood by policy-makers and by academics. The key point is that academic debates identify a range of ways in which issues can be understood and tackled, but policy is typically based on a narrow subset of possible approaches. This is illustrated by discussion of climate change, demographic shifts, the response to greater ethnic and religious diversity, the debate about community and local area politics, democratisation, nudge, the international financial crisis, and the growth of popular disillusion with politics and politicians. These areas range across economic, social, and political issues. The book aims to contribute to our understanding of governance and particularly of how the ideas that lead the policy agenda emerge and are reinforced.Less

The State of the Political: Conceptions of Politics and the State in the Thought of Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, and Franz Neumann

Duncan Kelly

This book offers a broad-ranging re-interpretation of the understanding of politics and the state in the writings of three major German thinkers, Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, and Franz Neumann. It ... More

This book offers a broad-ranging re-interpretation of the understanding of politics and the state in the writings of three major German thinkers, Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, and Franz Neumann. It rejects the typical separation of these writers on the basis of their allegedly incompatible ideological positions, and suggests instead that once properly located in their historical context, the tendentious character of these interpretative boundaries becomes clear. The book interprets the conceptions of politics and the state in the writings of these three thinkers by means of an investigation of their adaptation and modification of particular German traditions of thinking about the state, or Staatsrechtslehre. Indeed, when the theoretical considerations of this state-legal theory are combined with their contemporary political criticism, a richer and more deeply textured account of the issues that engaged the attention of Weber, Schmitt and Neumann is possible. Thus, the broad range of subjects discussed in this book include parliamentarism and democracy in Germany, academic freedom and political economy, political representation, cultural criticism and patriotism, and the relationship between rationality, law, sovereignty and the constitution. The study attempts to restore a sense of proportion to the discussion of the three authors' writings, focusing on the extensive ideas that they shared rather than insisting on their necessary ideological separation. It is a detailed re-appraisal of a crucial moment in modern intellectual history, and highlights the profound importance of Max Weber, Carl Schmitt and Franz Neumann for the history of European ideas.Less

Transparency: The Key to Better Governance?

Christopher Hood and David Heald (eds)

‘Transparency’ is widely canvassed as a key to better governance, increasing trust in public-office holders. But it is more often preached than practised, more often referred to than defined, and ... More

‘Transparency’ is widely canvassed as a key to better governance, increasing trust in public-office holders. But it is more often preached than practised, more often referred to than defined, and more often advocated than critically analysed. This book exposes this doctrine to critical scrutiny from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including political science, philosophy, and economics. It traces the history of transparency as a doctrine of good governance and social organization, and identifies its different forms; assesses the benefits and drawbacks of measures to enhance various forms of transparency; and examines how institutions respond to measures intended to increase transparency, and with what consequences. Transparency is shown not to be a new doctrine. It can come into conflict with other doctrines of good governance, and there are some important exceptions to Jeremy Bentham's famous dictum that ‘the more closely we are watched, the better we behave’. Instead of heralding a new culture of openness in government, measures to improve transparency tend to lead to tighter and more centralized management of information.Less

When the Party’s Over: The Politics of Fiscal Squeeze in Perspective

Christopher Hood, David Heald, and Rozana Himaz (eds)

This book develops a framework for analysing the politics of ‘fiscal squeeze,’ defined as political effort to cut spending and increase taxes to correct the public finances—a theme which has ... More

This book develops a framework for analysing the politics of ‘fiscal squeeze,’ defined as political effort to cut spending and increase taxes to correct the public finances—a theme which has dominated the politics of many of the world’s democracies in the 2010s. The book poses three questions about the politics of fiscal squeeze in democracies, namely what if anything is special about the politics of austerity or retrenchment, whether fiscal squeeze presents credit-claiming opportunities or severe blame-avoidance challenges to elected governments, and whether fiscal squeezes are highly consequential in their effects. To explore those questions, it examines nine cases of fiscal squeeze in democracies in different times and places, ranging from the early United States in the 1830s/40s (when half of the states then in the Union defaulted) to the squeeze following the 2001 Argentinian default and devaluation. The cases explored are sufficiently far back in time for an assessment of their consequences to be made and the analysis combines systematic quantitative comparison with in-depth qualitative study of each case by leading country experts. The analysis shows there is no single set of preconditions for fiscal squeeze and that the political consequences of such squeezes—for example, in who got political blame or credit and the longer-term effects on politics and government—were highly variable in these nine cases. The book argues that ‘how to do it’ approaches to fiscal squeeze in democracies, based on apparently successful cases, often fail to take into account profound differences in circumstances.Less