Obamawatch continues
The US President’s powers are notoriously limited in the legislative sphere, so how does he get Congress to do his bidding?
More promises of a bonfire of the quangos
An area not covered by some Politics courses is the issue of quangos. These non departmental public bodies are a source of great controversy since they are unelected and therefore unaccountable, and spend a great deal of public money.
read more...»Fancy a debt of £32,000?
A controversial report by a bunch of university chiefs has stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy on student funding.
Rawnsley again
This article will probably form the basis of my Media Monday session this week, unless I come across anything on the web between now and then. Of course, students covering UK Issues or Ideologies at A2 will have loads to discuss on the recent attacks in Northern Ireland by Irish nationalists.
Rawnsley’s article is ostensibly about the Tory leader, but acts as a useful primer on PM/Cabinet relations during the Blair and Brown premierships.
A new Lib-Lab pact?
Students quite often give me quizzical looks when they see me ploughing through newspapers, scissors at the ready. Quite simply I am looking for those nuggets of information that will hopefully find their way into a new first past the post article, or one of the tutor2u revision guides. Here are details of one I filed this morning, which is a corker. Vernon Bogdanor, one of the most respected authorities on British politics penned an article in The Times last week postulating the idea of a new coalition between a Brown led Labour Party and Lib-Dem rump led by Nick Clegg. Fantasy politics?
Politics X Factor
I’ve chosen this story as my backup for discussion for my Media Monday sessions, presuming perhaps that students may come prepared with stories about events in Ulster.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
The front page of the Guardian presents a quite shocking report about police routinely engaging in surveillance of protestors and journalists, then uploading this information onto a searchable database.
Larry Sabato
I attended an absolutely excellent lecture last night by Larry Sabato, Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia.
read more...»Devolution turns to drink
This story may appear elsewhere on the tutor2u website, but the politics of it are what we are concerned with here. I have written previously about how Scotland has poughed a tartan furrow in a number of social and welfare policy areas (tuition fees, care for the elderly, etc) and this week the Scottish government laid out radical plans to tackle alcohol abuse.
read more...»Obama and the presidency
American Politics students will be familiar with the gap between the expectations placed upon the President and the powers he has at his disposal to enact legislation. The Constitution of course hands all power to initiate legislation to Congress but since the 1930s the occupant of the White House has effectively become de facto chief legislator. In other words, the President is essentially hamstrung by the separation of powers put in place by the Founding Fathers who were cautious about creating a new political system that could lend itself to executive tyranny. For this reason modern Presidents must employ a range of techniques that can assist their power to persuade. So how has Obama attempted to deal with this challenge?
read more...»In defence of America
In lessons this week we have been discussing how well the UK and USA protect civil liberties in a comparative sense. This of course is a hugely controversial subject—and one which would be covered even more widely if it weren’t for the economic and banking crisis. Anyway in trying to stimulate thought on this I have found myself referring back frequently to an article I read by Andrew Sullivan at the weekend.
read more...»Pick of the papers
I would draw the attention of blog readers to two excellent comment pieces on the current state of the Conservative Party as in the eyes of many it moves closer to government. The first is by Andrew Rawnsley in the Observer. The second by former Cabinet minister Michael Portillo in the Sunday Times. Both provide the kind of context and analysis that Politics students should be exposing themselves to.
What do I think of local government?
I was asked this question by David Cameron this morning. Or at least I received an email from some lackey at Tory central office informing of a green paper published by the party which spells out plans to give councils more power.
read more...»Bogdanor comments on UK constitution
Buried in the Education section of Tuesday’s Guardian is an interview with Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government at Oxford. Bogdanor is one of the most established authorities on the constitution and some of his observations are useful when considering the impact of constitutional reforms undertaken by Labour post 1997.
read more...»Surveillance state
It has been reported in the press this week that a landlord is fighting the police over their insistence that he install CCTV cameras in his pub. Elsewhere doctors have spoken out against governmennt plans to widen access to medical records to all Whitehall departments. These two events come in the week that a House of Lords committee published a damning report on the threat to liberty brought about by the development of a surveillance state. A great site for exploring the latest news on attempts by the state to erode the liberties of the people living in the oldest parliamentary democracy, the land of Locke and Mille is here.
Party renewal in the USA
Students quite frequently write that American parties are loose groupings and largely free of coherent ideology. But this analysis ignores the steep rise in partisanship evident in the USA in recent decades.
read more...»Drugs and crime
Yesterday I had one of the most animated group discussions in some time when discussing the relative effectiveness of crime strategies which focused on prevention versus tougher deterrants in the shape of stiffer prison sentences. It seems incredibly difficult to square a circle which desires more liberalisation in the shape of personal freedoms versus an approach to solving crime that doesn’t come straight out of a Daily Mail editorial page.
Today there is an agency report suggesting that certian class A drugs be downgraded. More food for thought when discussing civil liberties, law and order, etc.
See the Big Question as a starting off point.
Obamapectations
It goes without saying that Obama faces the biggest challenges of a new occupant of the White House in over half a century, and that expectations undoubtedly exceed these. But how quickly will his star fade? Cynical? Not really. It was Enoch Powell who was correct in saying that all political careers end in failure. And well before that the honeymoon period becomes a distant memory. For this reason, the Economist ran this interesting feature (in late January, but the blog was, alas, slow to advertse it):
read more...»
Gordon’s ‘depression’
Wag economists are inclined to say that the difference between a recession and a depression is that in the former your neighbour loses his job, in the latter you lose your job. But it seems that Gordon is doing his best to put himself out of work by lurching into depression territory in what can only be described as a Freudian slip.
read more...»First past the post
The new edition of first past the post, tutor2u’s digital Politics magazine, has been posted on the site.
Given the importance of the recent American elections, there is a bit of a US slant, but there are great articles covering UK politics, the EU, UK issues, as well as political ideologies.
read more...»Events, dear boy
A pointer towards a raft of events that will undoubtedly be of interest to teachers and/or students.
First up, notification of an excellent study tour opportunity in April for teachers from the European Atlantic Movement:
‘This is a study tour for Lecturers, Teachers, other Professional and Business People who are interested in visiting the institutions of Western Co-operation and discussing current affairs
The party will visit the European Parliament, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), the European Commission, the Council of the European Union among others. Briefings, Q & A sessions and opportunities to gather supportive literature will for part of every visit.
The cost including travel by Eurostar and 3 nights en suite accommodation with breakfast at the 4* Hotel Carrefour de l’Europe which is situated in the centre of Brussels.’
