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The concept of the political settlement has risen to occupy a central place in British policy toward conflict-affected and fragile states. Yet, at around the turn of the millennium, the term was barely mentioned in official circles and the so-called ‘good governance’ approach held sway as the dominant operational mode. So, how had this transformation in policy approach come about and what was the role of research? In this article, we demonstrate that research played a central role in influencing the rhetoric of policymakers through a process we term ‘cumulative influence’. Indeed, the subject of political settlements represents an excellent case study for understanding the dynamics of research utilisation. It allows us to build on existing models and suggest useful ways forward in this important area of public policy analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The view that regulatory provisions protecting the employment conditions of workers need to be minimised in order to protect the business needs of employers has been an ongoing theme in British governmental policy discourse over the past three decades. For the present Coalition government, the assumption that current levels of regulation are unduly burdensome on employers and hence harmful to the economy has continued to be enthusiastically voiced, most notably in respect of the regulation of workplace health and safety. Against this backcloth, this paper develops a critical examination of the conclusions of an ‘independent’ review of health and safety regulations commissioned by the present UK Government to shed light on the way in which a deregulatory policy agenda is being furthered. The paper commences by locating the recent review of health and safety regulations, the ‘Löfstedt review’, in the context of other recent government initiatives aimed at alleviating the burden of health and safety regulation from the shoulders of employers. It then moves on to outline the nature of this review and its main conclusions and recommendations, before considering in turn its use of evidence, deployment of the notion of ‘low risk’ and lack of attention to the issue of enforcement. Finally, a concluding section draws together the key points to emerge from the preceding analysis and highlights how the Löfstedt review can be seen to form an integral part of a misleading deregulatory discourse that threatens to engender the wholesale undermining of workplace health and safety protections. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Telework as a 'flexible work practice' is often mythologised as a revolutionary form of work. However, to varying degrees, teleworking opportunities have been undermined by policy instruments predicated on assumed equalities between economic actors. This research suggests that while the request-based policies in the UK are not a guaranteed right, they do provide an important basis for employees to internalise their 'rights' and initiate a process for flexible working arrangements. They also imbue a corresponding obligation of firms to consider delivering on those expectations. By contrast Australian privilege-based policy instruments particularly restrict access for those employed in precarious and unskilled areas of the economy. Drawing on international and national telework policy approaches, this paper reflects on tensions between what could be described as 'rights' and 'privilege' policy approaches to teleworking. It argues that if telework is to become a legitimate employee expectation, policy instruments in Australia must be based firmly on rights, rather than privileges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK government has committed itself to building a high skills future for the UK. However, despite widespread use of terms such as the 'knowledge economy', 'the high skills society' and 'the learning society', there remains much confusion as to the kind of economy or society different commentators are actually aiming at. The paper seeks to add clarity to current debates by mapping the various visions to emerge from three key groupings: (i) government and 'social actors', (ii) those writing from an educationalist background and (iii) those coming from a broadly industrial relations tradition. By highlighting the confusion, tensions and contradictions that exist, it soon becomes clear that high skills are far from being the consensual policy option they initially appear. It is only by opening up these issues that we can appreciate the different aims that exist at the centre of the UK skills debate and begin to confront the real political choices available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dangers associated with the use of tobacco products have been documented extensively in the literature on public health and tobacco control. As a result, various countries, including subcentral units in federations and other devolved political systems, have adopted policies to control tobacco consumption. This article examines the effects lesson-drawing had on the adoption of restrictive secondhand smoke policies in Scotland and England in 2006 and 2007. Using elite interviews and documentary sources, the study finds that in both countries secondhand smoke policies were influenced by the adoption of similar policies in other English-speaking jurisdictions, especially the nearby Republic of Ireland. In turn, the adoption of a non-smoking policy in Scotland influenced England. This confirms Castles' (1993) claim of similar policies developing in the English-speaking 'family of nations' even at different levels of government. Policy transfer from Ireland to the United Kingdom is highly unusual, as is lesson-drawing from another jurisdiction within the United Kingdom to England. This may have occurred because the policy is fundamentally declaratory but with some need for compliance checks that are not resource-intensive. This path of lesson-drawing may be rare in the United Kingdom, but it may have broader implications for different types of lesson-drawing in multilevel governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study draws upon communicative processes in policy transfer to consider the ways in which policy may be adapted to context or distorted. The theoretical framework is used to investigate exactly what the South Korean government borrowed from UK social enterprise policy. Despite claims that the UK was the source of both the general policy direction and the particular regulatory device, the Korean government did not learn about the specific contexts of the British policy, nor attempt two-way communication with domestic stakeholders. Rather, the UK policy was interpreted in accordance with the Korean government’s own ideas about how to utilize social enterprise. Historical legacies of top-down decision-making played an important role in this process, as did the state’s role as a regulator which mobilizes the private sector to achieve policy goals. The consequences have been negative for those organizations refused social enterprise status under the Ministry of Labor’s strict approval system, as well as for the original target population: the socially disadvantaged and vulnerable. It is suggested that the model advanced may help to illuminate the reasons why some borrowed policies differ considerably from the originals, and the use of policy transfer as a means of legitimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a critical evaluation of recent ‘active labour market policy’ (ALMP) initiatives in the UK, focusing on the coalition government's Work Programme and its immediate antecedents. ALMP exemplifies a supply-side employment strategy, reorienting the state away from supporting labour demand and towards promoting the ‘employability’ of individuals within existing labour market structures. The article locates the rationale for this policy agenda within the wider politics of economic growth. Belying its status as a pioneer of ALMP, the UK spends very little on supply-side labour market interventions relative to other European countries. This can be explained with reference to the type of ALMP interventions prioritised in the UK, which in turn is explained by the growth model that ALMP is designed to sustain. The UK's growth model requires an abundance of low-paid jobs in the labour-intense and volatile services sector. Ostensibly, ALMP fulfils this requirement by ensuring that individuals are immediately available for work, marginalising concerns about pay and job quality. Moreover, ALMP also serves to inculcate the desirability of certain behaviours at the individual level. The coalition government's approach demonstrates an intensification rather than transformation of previous practice, indicative of its support for resurrecting the UK's pre-crisis growth model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, qualitative researchers are framing the relationship between qualitative case studies and quantitative evaluation research in positivist terms, seeking dialogue with quantitative researchers on the basis that qualitative case studies hold the potential to develop theory for evaluation programmes and to improve the quality of quantitative research. In the UK health policy literature, however, recent evaluations of major government programmes of reform have been conducted under largely quantitative and econometric strategies involving baskets of indicators, or routinely collected hospital statistics, set against the central stated aims of the programme: namely, to improve quality, efficiency, responsiveness, output and equity. For the wider evaluation literature, we detail the results of a qualitative case study of the impact of two key reforms, the 18 Week Patient Pathway and Payment by Results, on four English hospitals, demonstrating the value of the positivist frame to evaluation research based on its capacity to improve understandings of cause and effect and to direct quantitative researchers towards better measures and data sets. For the UK health policy literature, we demonstrate the value of qualitative case studies to the policy process in terms of their potential to reduce the risks for serious policy mistakes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The UK Labour government has consistently argued that boosting the supply of skilled, qualified labour is 'the key' to national economic success and social justice, a position recently endorsed by the Leitch Review of Skills. However, while the argument that skills have an important role to play is widely accepted, Leitch's assertion that 'skills are the most important lever' remains contentious. Political devolution means that while the UK government retains control over skills policy in England, this is not the case in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland where education and training is a matter for their respective parliaments and assemblies. Indeed, there are interesting differences of approach emerging in terms of how the 'skills problem' is understood and the forms of policy interventions that are needed. While English policy-makers have embraced the Leitch agenda and are focused narrowly on boosting skills supply and matching overseas levels of qualification stocks, their Scottish counterparts are stressing the need for skills to be utilised effectively at work and are seeking to integrate skills policy within a wider business improvement, innovation and economic development agenda. This article examines these contrasting approaches, together with the main challenges they confront. It argues that there is an opportunity for Scotland to lead the way in developing a more integrative approach to skills policy that addresses key issues of skill demand and usage. However, translating this new policy position into practical policy interventions will require a process of policy learning. In the longer term, there is the potential for Scotland's approach to challenge the assumptions upon which English policy is based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

British counter-terrorism policy-makers are at the centre of two inherently problematic debates. First, there is the debate regarding the worthiness of incorporating theoretical and historical discussions into the policy-making process, and second, there is the discourse surrounding the nature of alienation and how this affects counter-terrorism as a whole. This article seeks to demonstrate how the empirical base provided by theoretical and historical discussions is not only of benefit to but also a necessity in the policy-making process. Although critical theoretical discussions and 'problem-solving' techniques may appear to be polar opposites, the observations of theorists such as Dryzek (1987) suggest that in reality the two approaches are often interdependent. Comparing the alienation-radicalisation hypothesis with the 1970 Falls Curfew, this discussion suggests that current approaches to counter-terrorism need to take into account the radicalising affect of alienation both for communities and for state forces. By learning the lessons of the Falls Curfew, we can see that making communities the focus of counter-terrorist initiatives is not enough and that there needs to be a partnership process between state and non-state actors. Looking at the Curfew through this framework, this article critiques current counter-terrorist policies and shows that if integration is the ultimate aim of these policies then it needs to come from both sides that and discussions of counter-terrorism, both academic and political, need to recognise this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that Gordon Brown as prime minister is a puzzle of ideas and policy. This observation is most notably supported by his failure to espouse an ideological narrative for his government. Brown the intellectually literate Labour leader has not constructed his idea of the 'good society'. This in turn has had a negative impact upon the effectiveness of his leadership and the unity of his government. The article highlights the implications of this problem; discusses the nature of Brown's politics through analysing the works of Lee and Hickson; and asserts the virtues of crafting a coherent ideological narrative for government. The article concludes by surveying the prospects of a Brown-led Labour Party in the forthcoming political era - an era which is likely to be one dominated by the Conservative Party under the leadership of David Cameron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Tony Blair was prime minister, his chancellor, Gordon Brown, was rarely associated with international policy in the mind of the public. Instead, Brown's interest in certain international policy areas was largely overlooked and he was instead linked in the mind of the public with domestic policy, while Blair, from 2001 onwards, was associated largely with Britain's relationships with international actors and large-scale military incursions in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, upon becoming prime minister, Brown's association with domestic policy was both a problem and an advantage. Prime ministers have to be seen as capable of dealing with all issues, including international policy, and widely experienced. This article will consider the ideology of Brown's international policy, and consider the key elements of Brown's views and his government's policies, towards international policy, both while chancellor and prime minister. It will focus on Brown's attitude towards global institutions such as the UN and NATO and his attitude towards international development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines Gordon Brown's promise to 'let the work of change begin', as it applies to the public services. It looks at the expectations for Brown's government at the handover from Blair, and in particular the claim that Brown is somehow to the left of his predecessor. Most of these arguments were found to be mistaken once Brown was in power. The article then looks at Brown's record on the public services during his first year in power through both his own comments and policy initiatives, and those of people close to him. In particular, the article contrasts Brown's premiership with that of his predecessor. There are two areas of focus: first, the relationship between central government and public service professionals; second, the issue of choice in the public services. The article concludes that although there are subtle differences between Brown and Blair, his project is substantially the same as that of his predecessor, although the conditions under which it has to be carried out are more difficult. If there is a difference (and it is argued this is only one of degree) it is that whilst both Blair and Brown are happy with the introduction of private money into the public services, Blair was more pro-competition than his successor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British government's intention to marshal the significant resource of the third sector to meet its social objectives has recently become an issue of significant political salience. Political enthusiasm for the third sector is based on the assumption that third sector organisations will be prepared to tender for contracts to deliver public services for government from local to a national level. Until now, there has been no evidence available for systematic analysis of readiness to tender in the third sector. This article makes a starting point in filling the knowledge gap by reporting on a quantitative study of 400 third sector organisations in North East England. The evidence presented casts doubt on the willingness, capability and capacity of the third sector organisations to engage with the government's contracting agenda. A research agenda is outlined to help identify which organisations are most likely to build the capacity and capability to engage in contract work in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his influential 1999 article, ‘Social Capital in Britain’, Peter Hall1 offers Britain as a counter-example to Robert Putnam's analysis of declining social capital in the United States. This article draws on subsequent data sets to update Hall's assessment of the levels of social capital in Britain. It offers a generally less optimistic appraisal. European Values Survey data for Britain indicates that the decline in social trust between 1990 and 1995 paralleled US figures, and that levels of social trust appeared to plateau between 1995 and 1999. The article argues that distributional issues are critical to the assessment of social capital in Britain, and that levels of both participation and trust show persistent and even growing splits by social class. It suggests that there are relevant influences which were not fully considered by Hall, such as the changing nature of associational life and the rise in income inequality during the 1980s. In order for Britain to enjoy robust levels of social capital, policies must address these social divisions. Furthermore, previously ignored arenas such as the workplace and opportunities presented by new communication technologies may be particularly fruitful for the future development of social networks and trust in Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationship between 'creativity' and 'innovation', and the forms and practices of 'governance' in an urban context. It examines, in particular, the 'double' creativity of governance, both in terms of its potential to foster creativity in social and economic dynamics and to creatively transform its own capacities. It argues that there is no simple equation between the characteristics of a 'creative city' and a 'creative' mode of urban governance. Instead, the article advocates a multi-level approach to the dimensions of urban governance through which to identify qualities of governance activity, which, in specific contexts, have the potential to encourage creativity and innovation. The article first develops three meanings of creativity and outlines the way these are related to governance activity. A three-level approach to the interacting dimensions of governance is then presented, linking episodes, processes and cultures. This approach is then developed into an evaluative framework through which the creative potentialities of emergent properties of governance practices in specific situations can be explored. In conclusion, the article comments on the kinds of governance infrastructures which may have the capacity to release imaginative and innovative activities in city regions, the kinds of interventions which may help to transform such capacity and the imaginative resources and mobilising power which may help successful innovations to spread from experiment to 'mainstream'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]