Looking into the hybrid spaces of public service reform – what are the implications for staff and users?

Policy & Politics, Public Policy, , , ,

Bishop & Waring Simon Bishop and Justin Waring

Cutting ribbons on gleaming new buildings, politicians have long sought to bolster their public image through association with new facilities developed as the flagships of public service reform. ‘Out with the old and in with the new’ is the clearly intended message. But beyond rhetoric of ‘cutting edge design’ and ‘state of the art working’, there is very rarely any deeper conversations of how new buildings affect the lives of the employees and members of the public who use them daily. Even within more detailed deliberations over new facilities by planners and service managers, the focus tends to be on how new spaces are going to work functionally – cost, technical and ergonomic features of building projects are the predominant concerns.  Continue reading Looking into the hybrid spaces of public service reform – what are the implications for staff and users? →

Obituary for Professor Ken Young

News, Policy & Politics

kenyoungProfessor Bleddyn Davies, co-founder with Ken Young of Policy & Politics, pays tribute to his former colleague and friend in celebration of his life and work.

Our idea of establishing a journal emerged when Ken and I were members of the Greater London Group.  By that time, the group’s focus was research for the Royal Commission on Local Government in England.  Ken, Andrew Barton and I collaborated in work published by the Commission in Local Government in South-East England, the first in its research studies series.  The contacts continued, Janet Lewis (in effect the third founder of Policy & Politics) becoming increasingly involved.  But what I associate the early history involving Ken and Policy & Politics were meals, networking, and Ken getting himself to the right place at the right time.  Continue reading Obituary for Professor Ken Young →

One of Us? How Welfare States Help Shape Immigrant Integration

Family policy and welfare, Policy & Politics, Social Policy

KEvins & van kersbergen

Anthony Kevins and  Kees van Kersbergen

The generous, “universal” welfare states of Scandinavia offer a range of perks that foreigners often have a hard time even imagining. In exchange for paying higher taxes, citizens across the income spectrum gain access to a wide array of social programmes and transfers. There’s a lot to praise. But does the generosity and broad accessibility of these welfare states reinforce the dividing line between, for example, native Danes and newcomers to Denmark?

Continue reading One of Us? How Welfare States Help Shape Immigrant Integration →

Behind the scenes of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition

Policy & Politics, Politics, ,

FelicityProfileFelicity Matthews, co-editor of Policy & Politics.

The formation of coalition government has been a major concern of comparative political science, and for many decades, scholars have devoted significant attention to who gets in and who gets what in terms of parties, portfolios and policies. Similarly, the termination of coalition government has been subject to much analysis, as scholars have sought to explain when and why coalitions fall. Yet despite great swathes of research on its birth and death, surprisingly little attention has been given to the life of coalition government. Continue reading Behind the scenes of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition →

Spring Highlights Collection from Policy & Politics

News, Policy & Politics

BROWN_Sarah Sarah Brown,
Journal Manager of Policy & Politics

Policy & Politics Spring Highlights collection free to access from 1 February 2019 – 30 April 2019.

This quarter’s highlights collection from Policy & Politics, which features three of our most popular articles, demonstrates the rich and varied scope that the journal espouses, whilst demonstrating its hallmark of advancing our understanding of the policy process across a range of different areas.

Continue reading Spring Highlights Collection from Policy & Politics →

Europe in crisis

Policy & Politics,

OscarOscar Berglund,
Digital Associate Editor for Policy & Politics

All articles mentioned in this blog post are free to access until 31 March 2019. 

Europe is experiencing various forms of crises in governance, policy and politics at the continental, national and local levels. Whilst many of these have been brewing for some time, the sense of political crisis is increasing with EU policies challenged by national political actors, growth of populist parties, political fragmentation, weak governments and increasing poverty and inequality in many countries across the continent. Here at Policy & Politics we have recently published several articles that can help us make sense of these crises and contribute to the policy debates to help resolve them.

Continue reading Europe in crisis →

New call for themed issue proposals

News, Policy & Politics new issue information, ,

BROWN_SarahSarah Brown,
Journal Manager of Policy & Politics

Policy & Politics has been publishing cutting-edge papers on public and social policy, and politics for over 40 years and is committed to continuing to advance understanding of the dynamics of policy- making and implementation.

The journal’s co-editors invite proposals for themed issues that address some of the most critical challenges currently facing policymakers, and in doing so make a significant contribution to the field. Reflecting the significance and salience of these challenges, this call provides scholars with a unique opportunity to showcase new ideas and set the research agenda, with themed issues enjoying fast turnaround and prompt publication to maximise their impact.

Continue reading New call for themed issue proposals →