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The article discusses the historical evolution of the office of the Governor-General in Australia, highlighting its declining political powers and the changing relationship with Great Britain over the years. Topics discussed such as the early political roles of governors-general, the impact of the Balfour Declaration on their powers, and the controversial dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by Governor-General Sir John Kerr in 1975.

Metropolitan governance studies have traditionally focused on factors such as effectiveness and efficiency in the provision of public goods and services. Yet, we have recently seen the resurgence of debates around metropolitan democratic governance at the same time as the consolidation of new structures of metropolitan government have occurred in several European countries. In spite of that, there is still an important knowledge gap about metropolitan models of government and metropolitan electoral systems. Through the comparative analysis of metropolitan governments in the United Kingdom, France and Germany we identify four main models: metropolitan presidentialism, localist metropolitan parliamentarism, consolidated metropolitan parliamentarism, and full metropolitan government. Moreover, the comparative analysis shows not only the influence of the respective local institutional contexts in the metropolitan government and electoral systems, but also how these reforms are opportunities to introduce innovative institutional designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States and the United Kingdom share a common legal history and a number of fundamental constitutional values. Some of these fundamental values may occasionally come into conflict. For example, in 2019, both the United States and the United Kingdom experienced considerable legal and political upheaval as debates over the scope of executive power and the accountability of the executive branch came to the fore. In the United States, these debates culminated in the impeachment of President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. In the United Kingdom, the furor focused on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's approach to Brexit and his attempt to prorogue Parliament. The impeachment drama and the Brexit saga were so severe that each was frequently referred to as a "constitutional crisis" in the popular press and public discourse. These parallel constitutional crises and the litigation they generated afford a valuable opportunity to analyze each country's commitment to democratic accountability of the executive from a comparative perspective. The results of such an analysis may well pose a challenge to commonly held assumptions about American exceptionalism in matters of liberty and democracy. Indeed, throughout the impeachment crisis, it was frequently asserted that "Presidents are not kings"-seemingly suggesting that it is obvious that the executive department is subject to greater legal constraint under a presidential system like the United States than under a constitutional monarchy like the United Kingdom. But a deeper examination of U.S. and U.K. constitutional law paints a different picture. Through an analysis of the constitutional crises of impeachment and Brexit, this Article argues that executive authority is in fact significantly more accountable to democratic control under the British model of government than under its American counterpart. While the American experience reveals that extreme claims of executive power have largely gone unchallenged and unchecked by the other branches of government, the British sequence of events testifies to an enduring constitutional commitment to popular and parliamentary sovereignty. The Article concludes by arguing that a key lesson to be drawn from these constitutional crises is that the British system may actually do more to honor the commitment to "a government of laws and not of men" that has long been said to be central to the American constitutional order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thinking back, it could be argued that Britain was preparing to leave the European Union almost as soon as it joined in 1973. Within two years, opposition to membership led Prime Minister Harold Wilson to call a referendum. The public voted overwhelmingly to stay. But the honeymoon was short-lived. For Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Brexit was all about getting sovereignty back. The United Kingdom would take back control of its money, borders, laws and waters. But as the detail of the recent treaty is examined, his claims may turn out to be as vacuous as Chamberlain's 'peace in our time' proclamations. Cracks are already appearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigations conducted in Paris on the summer of 1825 into the project of some Spanish expatriates in London to provoke an uprising in the Philippines uncovered the foundation of an English company to trade with the islands. The company’s directors, several of whom were members of parliament and bonded to the English government, believed that the Philippines were independent already. Correspondence from the Philippine Islands Mining Trading & Agricultural Association suggests that only if the Philippines were a sovereign state would the new authorities be granted a debenture loan of up to a million pounds in exchange for trading privileges. However, the loan was offered to the commander in chief of a territory still under Spanish rule, which was perceived as an incitement to secession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Libraries and Policy essay explores the interrelationships between the public library goals of supporting democracy and remaining an apolitical institution and the expectations for dem onstration of value and economic contribution at a time in which public discourse emphasizes austerity from public institutions. Libraries' positions on democracy and neutrality are explored within the context of the tension between asserting value and demonstrating it, as well as the impacts of these positions on the ability to advocate for library value in political and policy making processes. Building upon these analyses, we examine different ways that libraries can use research to advocate and demonstrate their value by framing the terms of value and aus terity in language that acknowledges the tangible and intangible contributions of public libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was an assessment of personalised equivocation in political interviews, namely, politicians' responses to questions which, in lieu of an explicit reply, are directed personally at the interviewer. Twenty-six interviews with recent UK party leaders were analysed in terms of questions, replies, and personalisation. The majority of personalised responses contained elements of criticism, although over a quarter were more amicable. For the eight featured politicians, the use of such responses was adjudged to be more about individual communicative style than their position on the political spectrum. Only one politician did not respond in this manner, indicating a more widespread use of personalisation than was previously suggested. Furthermore, an evaluation of interviewer follow-ups showed its effectiveness as a diversionary tactic in the face of troublesome questions. In terms of the proportion of questions which receive a full reply, a general reply rate analysis highlighted how recent political leaders have changed little from their predecessors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information related to the origins and history of the parliamentary expressions and practices used in many Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures. It mentions that Political parties have a significant role in the working of a democratic polity; and use of the word whip within the Great Britain's Parliament has its roots in the 18th century hunting terminology whipper-in where it refers to assistant who drives straying hounds back to the main pack using a whip.

The article reflects author's views on ‘the continuation of politics by legal means through political trials from Huey Newton to the Shrewsbury 24, and their different attitudes to the trial process. Topics include refusal to consider extrinsic factors and motivations underpinning crime with the mystification of the legal process; and exposing fundamental weaknesses in the evidence offered, to the detriment of the state.

Britain's high-rise public housing era is widely seen as a serious social policy mistake. We show that the problems associated with this housing format were known to policy makers at an early stage, while tower blocks were also substantially more expensive, both from the perspective of central, and local, government. Conservatives governments championed high-rise mainly owing to the political advantages of urban containment. Major building contractors then used their close links with (central and local) policy-makers to aggressively lobby for high-rise ʽsystem building,' as their expertise in this field enabled them to dominate the sector and exclude local competitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with the structure of repressive governance, and how it has evolved historically. It examines this theme through an exploration of the manner which repressive laws and institutions evolved in Britain over the course of the late eighteenth century. In particular, it reviews the various measures that British authorities utilized and relied upon in order to confront a growing wave of calls for social and political reforms. These included a policy of aggressive prosecutions of dissidents; the creation of new institutions such as the Home Office designed to enhance the powers of the central authorities; extra- legal measures such as the creation of loyalist associations, which attempted to intimidate and attack revolutionaries; and the passage of a series of new laws aimed at closing off the space for freedom of association, assembly and expression. There was much opposition to the implementation of these measures; among other things, the period was marked by the evolution of a powerful tradition of defense lawyering, thanks to the efforts of the gifted Thomas Erskine in particular. Ultimately, however, when these four different sets of repressive measures were woven together, they proved too much for progressives to handle, choking off and driving the reform movement underground for a period of time. Along the way, the government implemented a legal and institutional template for repression, the effects of which continue to be felt to the present day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study multi-district legislative elections between two office-seeking parties when one party has an initial valence advantage that may shift and even reverse during the campaign; and, each party cares not only about winning a majority, but also about its share of seats. When the initial imbalance favoring one party is small, each party targets the median voter. For moderate imbalances, the advantaged party maintains the centre-ground, but the disadvantaged party retreats to target its core supporters; and for large imbalances, the advantaged party advances toward its opponent, raiding its moderate supporters in pursuit of an outsized majority. (JEL D72) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper documents a significant association between the exposure of an individual or area to the UK government's austerity-induced welfare reforms begun in 2010, and the following: the subsequent rise in support for the UK Independence Party, an important correlate of Leave support in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union membership; broader individual-level measures of political dissatisfaction; and direct measures of support for Leave. Leveraging data from all UK electoral contests since 2000, along with detailed, individual-level panel data, the findings suggest that the EU referendum could have resulted in a Remain victory had it not been for austerity. (JEL D72, F15, F60, H53, I38) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusess Great Britain Court of Appeal case R (CAAT) v. Secretary of State for International Trade. In this case the court held that Great Britain government had acted unlawfully in arming the ongoing and terrible Saudi Arabian-led bombardment of Yemen. It also mentions that there is now a ban on all future arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition for use in Yemen while the government reviews existing arms licences through a legally correct process.

The article explains how, ten years into austerity, Labour councils in Great Britain are failing their constituents. It mentions that policy of austerity, discretionary cuts in government spending enacted by three consecutive governments since 2010 has severely impacted on the day-to-day public services. It also mentions about freedom to raise finances through local taxation or rates.

The article focuses on the difference Lloyd George made, as compared with his predecessors, in his first ministerial position in the 1905–08 Great Britain's Liberal government as president of the Board of Trade. Topics include he approached the challenge of this ministry with no preconceived notions and without the supporting benefit of a classical or university education.

The article comments on the problem of Chinese interference in the Great Britain. Topics include Chinese interference stated to have become a serious problem, one against which the British government has no clear strategy and interference covers seven areas of which some are very obvious, like espionage, and interference is also occurring in academia and think tanks, the political system, the rule of law/action on the ground and the media.

▀ With inflation down and wages rising, the outlook for consumer spending in the UK is brightening. But should households opt to boost savings, the mood could darken.▀ We think a meaningful rise in the saving ratio from its recent record lows is unlikely, though. Austerity may be easing, but the drag from fiscal policy is still set to limit households' savings resources, while the durability of the current expansion may reduce the motivation for precautionary saving.▀ What's more, any rise in interest rates on savings accounts will probably be even slower than the modest pace we expect for Bank Rate. And with the demographic shift toward an older, less thrifty, population, the appetite of households to save looks set to remain subdued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Standardised tobacco packaging has been, and remains, a contentious policy globally, attracting corporate, public health, political, media and popular attention. In January 2015, the UK Government announced it would vote on draft regulations for the policy before the May 2015 General Election. We explored reactions to the announcement on Twitter, in comparison with an earlier period of little UK Government activity on standardised packaging. Methods: We obtained a random sample of 1038 tweets in two 4-week periods, before and after the UK Government’s announcement. Content analysis was used to examine the following Tweet characteristics: support for the policy, purpose, Twitter-user’s geographical location and affiliation, and evidence citation and quality. Chi-squared analyses were used to compare Tweet characteristics between the two periods. Results: Overall, significantly more sampled Tweets were in favour of the policy (49%) in comparison to those opposed (19%). Yet, at Time 2, following the announcement, a greater proportion of sampled tweets opposed standardised packaging compared to the period sampled at Time 1, prior to the announcement (p<0.001). The quality of evidence and research cited in URLs linked at Time 2 was significantly lower than at Time 1 (p<0.001), with peer-reviewed research more likely to be shared in positive Tweets (p<0.001) and in Tweets linking to URLs originating from the health sector (p<0.001). The decline in the proportion of positive Tweets was mirrored by a reduction in Tweets by health sector Twitter-users at Time 2 (p<0.001). Conclusions: Microblogging sites can reflect offline policy debates and are used differently by policy proponents and opponents dependent on the policy context. Twitter-users opposed to standardised packaging increased their activity following the Government’s announcement, while those in support broadly maintained their rate of Twitter engagement. The findings offer insight into the public health community’s options for using Twitter to influence policy and disseminate research. In particular, proliferation of Twitter activity following pro-public health policy announcements could be considered to ensure pro-health messages are not overshadowed by anti-regulation voices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU carbon price lies well below estimates of the social cost of carbon and "target-consistent" carbon prices needed to deliver ambitious targets such as the 40% reduction target for 2030. In light of this, the UK introduced a carbon price floor (CPF) for its electricity sector in 2013 and the new Dutch Government has recently made a similar commitment, while successive French Governments have called for an EU-wide CPF. This paper analyzes the impacts and design of a power- sector CPF, both at the EU and national level, using a political-economy approach. We find a good case for introducing such a price-based instrument into the EU ETS. We suggest that a CPF should be designed to "top up" the EUA price to €25-30/tCO2, rising annually at 3-5% above inflation, at least until 2030. We argue that the new EU Market Stability Reserve enhances the value of a CPF in terms of delivering climate benefits, and discuss the potential for a regional CPF in North-West Europe. We also review international policy experience with price floors (and ceilings). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the new Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Alumni Initiative to increase political participation of women in Great Britain. It refers to factors responsible of women's political underrepresentation including cultural and attitudinal barriers and institutional and structural constraints.

The article focuses on the developments related to the political participation of women in parliament of Great Britain. It refers to the introduction of Representation of the People Act in February 1918 for the realization of women's political equality. It highlights the documentation of under-representation of women in British politics.

British trade unionism has certain well-established characteristics and traditions that differentiate it from its European counterparts and have a strong influence over its political behavior. It is a unified movement, in the sense that it is not structurally divided on the basis of religion or politics, and it has only one organizational center, a long-standing institution, the Trades Union Congress. The Congress includes a high proportion of the unionized work force, but it has limited powers over the affiliated organizations, which jealously guard their independence in policy-making and industrial activity. These affiliated organizations, though many in number, are still less than one third of the total number of British trade unions. They overlap considerably in their fields of operation, and they exhibit a rich diversity of age, size, and structure. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the movement has tended to be constitutional in its political aspirations, seeking to win acceptance and representation within the existing political order.

The adversarial relationship between business and government in the United States is nowhere more evident than in environmental regulation. Most western governments have avoided much of such conflict through some system of business-government consultation. The most extensively developed of these systems is that of Great Britain. This article examines British environmental control procedures with emphasis on the extensive process of consultation which has developed over a period of more than 200 years. The British experience detailed here suggests some important principles which may guide business and government in considering consultative measures to improve the climate of environmental affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of the 1874 election in Great Britain and its outcome which brought to an end of the first government of former British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. The electoral contest amounted to a referendum on the record of the tumultuous first administration of Gladstone with its list of major reforms including education, the system of voting, and national defence. The election is one of the more significant general elections of the 19th century.

This article considers the theological influences on the Balfour Declaration which was made on the 2 November 1917 and for the first time gave British governmental support to the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. It explores the principal personalities and political workings behind the Declaration before going on to argue the statement cannot be entirely divested from the religious sympathies of those involved, especially Lord Balfour. Thereafter, the paper explores the rise of Christian Restorationism in the context of Scottish Presbyterianism, charting how the influence of Jonathan Edwards shaped the thought of Thomas Chalmers on the role of the Jews in salvation history which in turn influenced the premillennialism of Edward Irving and his Judeo-centric eschatology. The paper then considers the way this eschatology became the basis of John Darby's premillennial dispensationalism and how in an American context this theology began to shape the thinking of Christian evangelicals and through the work of William Blackstone provide the basis of popular and political support for Zionism. However, it also argues the political expressions of premillennial dispensationalism only occurred in America because the Chicago evangelist Dwight L. Moody was exposed to the evolving thinking of Scottish Presbyterians regarding Jewish restoration. This thinking had emerged from a Church of Scotland 'Mission of Inquiry' to Palestine in 1839 and been advanced by Alexander Keith, Horatius Bonar and David Brown. Finally, the paper explores how this Scottish Presbyterian heritage influenced the rise of Zionism and Balfour and his political judgements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article researches an interesting phenomenon of the fall of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) - the most successful populist right-wing party in British history. After soaring relatively high in British politics, in 2017 general election UKIP suffered a sharp drop from its electoral peaks. The inquiry explores UKIP's 2017 electoral results and demographics of its support (or lack thereof) and examines some of the reasons behind Party's collapse. More specifically, it focuses on three aspects of UKIP's 2017 performance: 1) party's message; 2) party's leadership and 3) party's election campaign. The article also discusses which British political party(ies) has/have benefited most from UKIP's spectacular defeat and reflects on Party's future prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The nineteenth‐century archive of the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) has been overlooked by economic historians. Yet the archive reveals how the PWLB came to play a major part in the financing of new schools, water supplies and sewers in the 1870s. Ten thousand loan applications have been analysed to highlight the changing patterns of the PWLB's lending, while the 60 volumes of minutes indicate why the pattern changed. The analysis shows that in the 1870s there was a large rise in local infrastructure investment caused by the switch from permissive to compulsory public health and education legislation. At the same time, the PWLB became predominantly a low‐cost, rather than a market rate, lender. This change shows how MPs’ views developed as they became more sensitive to the impact of the local costs of parliamentary legislation. Overall, the activities of the PWLB illustrate the legislative and institutional changes that contributed significantly to the growth in the role and spending of the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In late-March 2019 the United Kingdom is scheduled to leave the European Union. Will Brexit lead to Germany becoming the EU's hegemon? The commentary explores the likely impact of Brexit on policy areas and intergovernmental politics in the EU. It focuses on the sources of German hegemony: structural, ideational and diplomatic power as well as the need for Germany's role to be legitimate amongst partner states and to have domestic support. Two scenarios are suggested: the Franco-German partnership's revival or a form of German hegemony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how domestic politics influence ties with extraterritorial courts, a study of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) in Great Britain Topics include findings show that the decisions of the court are not sufficient cause for the state to abandon the court, and state sovereignty is linked to autonomy and can be defined as possessing specific capacities or powers that can be utilized without the consent or approval of another.

The article presents the author's views on the concepts of Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci and French philosopher Louis Althusser on the political history of Great Britain. Various topics discussed include political aspects of marxism, history of political movements in Great Britain and history of cultural studies.

In the British setting, the deployment of the phrase 'doing god' has become increasingly common to refer to an emerging trend whereby religion has acquired an increasingly prominent role in political spaces and discourses. This was particularly prominent while David Cameron was Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party. While historically, religion has not had a prominent place in either the former Prime Minister David Cameron. Here, the findings from critical analyzing a series of Cameron's public pronouncements about religion--and Christianity in particular--is set out to try and better understand his own adherence to Christianity (the personal) how this intersected with his politics and role as Prime Minister (the political), and more importantly how this shaped his views about Britain being a Christian country (the national). Contextualized within the embryonic scholarly literature relating to the phenomenon of 'doing god' in the contemporary British setting, this article concludes by considering alternative and analogous frames through which greater elucidation of the true motivations of his pronouncements might be understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]