Street Level Bureacrats
So, I went to a session at #apsa2013 on Lipsky and Street Level Bureaucrats (no, Lipsky wasn’t there) and it got me to thinking about a partial shift of thinking in this area. Consider my summary of...
View ArticlePAC conference notes
I won’t be doing a powerpoint at the PAC conference today. So, if you like something in front of you, here are my powerpoint-like bullet points. If you want to look like the Observer in Fringe, you can...
View ArticleConsider the Unintended Consequences of Local Devolution
The prospect of Scottish independence, or major constitutional change, provides a ‘window of opportunity’ for other political reforms. People feel, quite rightly, that now is the time to push their...
View ArticleWhat Can Japan Learn from ‘Regionalism’ and Devolution in the UK?
I can’t give you an answer yet, but here is a draft abstract and then an explanation for the question. Abstract ‘Regionalism’ can be defined broadly as the pursuit or creation of a governing tier...
View ArticleLet me tell you a story then ask you a question
Let me tell you a story about a handsome ginger 40 year old man at a conference in Japan. He’s the quiet, mumbling Scot type and he either likes to keep himself to himself or be warned if he has to …...
View ArticleThe WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC): What would have to...
Background The World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) is one of the most widely accepted treaties in the United Nations system. It represents an attempt by...
View ArticleThe Daily Mail has form
Today’s Daily Mail has this brilliant piece by Simon Heffer in which he argues that “Since the mid-Nineties I have been convinced that England and Scotland would benefit from a divorce, or at least...
View ArticleStereotyping Political Systems
I have spent a fair amount of time arguing that the UK political system does not live up to its ‘majoritarian’ image. I mostly do it when comparing ‘new Scottish politics’ with ‘old Westminster’ and...
View ArticleThatcher’s Letter Says it Better
Grant Jordan and I produced an article which sums up this argument: policymaking in the UK is nothing like the ‘Westminster model’ suggests. The UK is often described, rather lazily, as ‘majoritarian’,...
View ArticleScotland’s Policy-Making Capacity: Background and Summary
I am part of the new ESRC Scottish Centre for Constitutional Change which begins work from Monday for two years on a large set of projects relating to constitutional change in Scotland. Here is a brief...
View Article