Next Friday, the School of Government and Society will host what is sure to be a fascinating roundtable discussion on the future of social democracy, with Labour Party grandee Roy Hattersley and several other prominent academics and commentators. The publication of Roy Hattersley and Kevin Hickson’s article `In praise of social democracy’ in Political Quarterly … Continue reading “Social Democracy and its Future”
Month: May 2012
Changing the ‘weather’ in British Politics? The potential impact of the Leveson Inquiry on the Culture, Practice and Ethics of the Press
Colin Thain, Head of Department at POLSIS, suggests that the Leveson Inquiry could end up by being one of the most significant inquiries into the nature and rules of the game of British politics. Forget about all the plays and musicals on in the west end of London, the place for high drama and theatre … Continue reading “Changing the ‘weather’ in British Politics? The potential impact of the Leveson Inquiry on the Culture, Practice and Ethics of the Press”
Dr David Toke discusses nuclear power on the BBC
With the government today releasing its Draft Energy Bill, POLSIS Senior Lecturer Dr David Toke was this morning ‘across the BBC’ (OK not quite, but he did appear on both Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live). David discussed his view that the government’s proposals for a new generation of nuclear power stations is unlikely to … Continue reading “Dr David Toke discusses nuclear power on the BBC”
The Politics of Protest: Students’ perspectives
Following the fallout from recent occupational protests at the University of Birmingham, the air on campus has been thick with talk surrounding the right to protest and the efficacy of this political tool in redressing student grievances. Here, POLSIS students Rachel Armitage (1st Year BA Political Science), Fern Tomlinson (3rd Year B.A. Political Science ) … Continue reading “The Politics of Protest: Students’ perspectives”
The Roller Coaster Ride to the White House
Earlier this year, Dr Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto, a Fellow at the Center for Politics and Governance at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, came to POLSIS to discuss some of the dynamics surrounding this year’s presidential election in the United States. Here is an excerpt of what … Continue reading “The Roller Coaster Ride to the White House”
Why Greece will NOT exit the Euro
With Greek political leaders entering a fresh round of negotiations aimed at forming a government after last week’s election, speculation that Greece is on the verge of exiting the Euro has reached fever pitch. Here, Dr David Toke, Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Birmingham, explains why he believes this talk is overblown. … Continue reading “Why Greece will NOT exit the Euro”
Visit to Amnesty International UK’s Human Rights Action Centre
This post from POLSIS PhD student Iván Farías Pelcastre is a report on a recent trip by POLSIS students to Amnesty International in London. On 28th March, students from the undergraduate second-year POLS 214 IR Theory and first-year POLS 105 Introduction to IR modules, as well as PhD students and GTAs from POLSIS, visited Amnesty … Continue reading “Visit to Amnesty International UK’s Human Rights Action Centre”
Former US senators’ lecture to POLSIS graduate students
Towards the end of last year, two former US congressmen, David Skaggs and George Nethercutt came to the University of Birmingham to give a lecture entitled: ‘Atlantic versus Pacific Focus in US Foreign Policy’. Here David Skaggs speaks about the American public’s reluctance to engage with foreign policy. According to Skaggs, with the fall of … Continue reading “Former US senators’ lecture to POLSIS graduate students”