{"title":"US Republicans and the New Fusionism","authors":"Edward Ashbee, Alex Waddan","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13341","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13341","url":null,"abstract":"US Republicanism and conservatism were structured around ‘fusionism’ from the 1950s onwards. Disparate ideas and interests were ‘fused’ in a broad coalitional bloc that was based upon a commitment to free markets, moral or cultural traditionalism and a commitment to US national security, as well as global power projection. There have, however, been significant shifts in recent years as many Republicans have turned against the larger corporations which appear to have little loyalty to the US heartland and are, it is said, guilty of embracing ‘woke’ ideology: that ideology has become the focus of cultural conservatism, with wedge issues such as trans‐rights a constant theme. In addition, many Republicans have either embraced or acquiesced in, a conspiracist sub‐culture. If foreign policy is considered, national security has been redefined in more restricted and overtly realist terms. Consequently, there has been a repudiation of earlier neoconservative efforts to spread market democracy. All these strands of thought are tied together by an impatience of, or at times disdain for, the checks and balances that define US political processes. Political actors across almost all sections of the right, but most notably candidates for federal office, have had to restructure their platforms and subscribe to these reconfigurations of Republican thinking and the ‘new fusionism’. Although these ideas have a ‘thin’ character, they represent a significant shift away from the thinking of figures such as former House Speaker, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney and George W. Bush, who defined conservatism and Republicanism just a few years ago. For the most part, their efforts to roll back federal government entitlement programmes such as Medicare, and create a much leaner state, have been abandoned. The article argues that the new fusionism is becoming increasingly embedded and therefore marks a long‐run shift in Republican thinking that is likely to endure, regardless of Donald Trump's political fortunes.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"107 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139181664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Universality: A Battleground for UK Public Service Media in the Platform Age","authors":"Dan Martin, Catherine Johnson","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13342","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13342","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines how UK policy makers are redefining the value of universality in the transition from public service broadcasting (PSB) to public service media (PSM). Over the past decade, the UK's media landscape has undergone a significant transformation, driven by the economic, infrastructural and social influence exerted by global platforms. These transforming conditions have profoundly complicated the relationship between PSM and the principle of universality—in particular, the core values of universal access and universal appeal—with potential consequences for the broader legitimacy of the future public service mission. In an age of apparent media abundance, the question of how PSM can effectively reach and engage its audience remains a persistent inquiry. Presenting findings from an analysis of key and contemporary media policy and regulatory documents, this article demonstrates how universality has become a key battleground in current debates around the future of PSM.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"18 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139180558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impartiality in Public Broadcasting","authors":"R. Sambrook, Stephen Cushion","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13340","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13340","url":null,"abstract":"Impartiality has been a core principle of public service broadcasting (PSB) in the UK for 100 years. However, it is under growing pressure as audiences increasingly rely on more opinion led content on television and especially online. The hostility towards PSB has been fuelled by politicians and commercial media undermining the value of regulation in the twenty‐first century. The UK regulator, Ofcom, has offered a flexible approach to oversight which the authors argue may have contributed to further confusion over what impartiality is, and its value in a competitive media environment. Greater independence, accountability and transparency—for both broadcasters and regulator—are suggested to be vital to maintaining the value of impartiality in PSB.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139226294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Staying Power: The Resilience of the Scottish Independence Movement","authors":"Lesley Riddoch","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13338","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13338","url":null,"abstract":"This article challenges the narrative that the SNP was mortally wounded by its ‘seismic’ by‐election defeat in Rutherglen and that the victor—Scottish Labour—will inevitably recapture its lost status as Scotland's largest political party in the next general election. There is no question the Rutherglen result was a shock—the first ever by‐election loss for the SNP in the wake of Nicola Sturgeon's surprise resignation, a fractious leadership contest to select her successor, the weariness and policy failures that beset any ruling party after sixteen years in government and the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that effectively banned the Scottish Parliament from holding a lawful referendum. But just as the SNP's earlier invincibility was exaggerated, so too are predictions of its imminent demise. Much depends on whether the party can devise an independence strategy that generates enough belief and excitement to motivate Yes voters, who still constitute roughly half the electorate and two‐thirds of Scots aged 30 and under.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"48 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139253053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Road to Victory Runs Through Scotland? Prospects for Labour in the Post‐Sturgeon Era","authors":"Coree Brown Swan","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13336","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13336","url":null,"abstract":"Scottish Labour, once viewed as the most divided party in the UK, appears buoyant, the result of the growing popularity of its leader, Anas Sarwar, a more positive relationship with UK Labour, and most notably, significant gains in the polls. The party has sought to find a centre ground in a political system defined by opposing visions of Scotland's political future, a strategy which has previously left it squeezed between more assertive nationalist and unionist rivals. However, with little prospect of another independence referendum in the near term, this centre ground may yet prove fruitful. The party has an opportunity to position itself as a viable alternative in a dramatically changed political landscape. While Labour's optimism is not unfounded, its polling perhaps speaks more to the weaknesses of its political rivals than the strength of the party itself; and questions persist about Scottish Labour's political vision and constitutional offering in a political system which remains bifurcated.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"3 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139277530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Political QuarterlyPub Date : 2022-07-01Epub Date: 2022-05-31DOI: 10.1111/1467-923X.13151
Klaus Armingeon, Fritz Sager
{"title":"Muting Science: Input Overload Versus Scientific Advice in Swiss Policy Making During the Covid-19 Pandemic.","authors":"Klaus Armingeon, Fritz Sager","doi":"10.1111/1467-923X.13151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13151","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article explores why the Swiss Federal Council and the Swiss Federal Parliament were reluctant to follow the majority views of the scientific epidemiological community at the beginning of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. We propose an institutionalist take on this question and argue that one major explanation could be the input overload that is characteristic of the Swiss federal political system. We define input overload as the simultaneous inputs of corporatist, pluralist, federalist and direct democratic subsystems. Adding another major input-this time from the scientific subsystem-may have threatened to further erode the government's and parliament's discretionary power to cope with the pandemic. We assume that the federal government reduced its input overload by fending off scientific advice.</p>","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"93 3","pages":"424-432"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/8a/ea/POQU-93-424.PMC9347449.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40678146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Political QuarterlyPub Date : 2021-10-01Epub Date: 2021-08-13DOI: 10.1111/1467-923X.13048
Daniella Lock, Pablo Grez Hidalgo, Fiona de Londras
{"title":"Parliament's One-Year Review of the Coronavirus Act 2020: Another Example of Parliament's Marginalisation in the Covid-19 Pandemic.","authors":"Daniella Lock, Pablo Grez Hidalgo, Fiona de Londras","doi":"10.1111/1467-923X.13048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13048","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this article, we consider the one-year review (OYR) by Parliament of temporary powers in the Coronavirus Act 2020 (CVA). The OYR stands as a key concession on the part of the UK government to enable scrutiny of Covid-19 law making, after the CVA was rushed through Parliament at the beginning of the pandemic. The principal argument of this article is that despite appearances, this review was another example of Parliament being marginalised during the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, there were four obstacles to meaningful scrutiny in the OYR: inadequate parliamentary time scheduled for the review; the 'all-or-nothing' framing of the review; late and inaccurate government reporting prior to the OYR; and the failure to address key issues regarding the operation of the CVA, including major human rights concerns. In light of such obstruction to scrutiny, it is clear that the review represents a broken promise on the part of the current government to Parliament. The review is also part of a broader pattern of marginalising Parliament during the pandemic. In presenting this analysis, we argue that two changes could be made in the upcoming and penultimate review of the CVA in September 2021, in order to enable Parliament to engage in meaningful scrutiny in this review.</p>","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"92 4","pages":"699-706"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-923X.13048","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39429361","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Political QuarterlyPub Date : 2021-07-01Epub Date: 2021-06-12DOI: 10.1111/1467-923X.13014
Gillian Peele
{"title":"Post Brexit and Post-Covid: Reflections on the Contemporary Conservative Party.","authors":"Gillian Peele","doi":"10.1111/1467-923X.13014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article analyses the changing character of the contemporary Conservative Party. It argues that the period since the Brexit referendum has seen the creation of a new politics in which voter alignments have shifted, and that the experience of the Covid pandemic has created a new agenda of issues facing government. Taken together, these developments constitute formidable challenges to the Conservative Party as it seeks to maintain its electoral support and its ability to manage the politics of power.</p>","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"92 3","pages":"404-411"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-923X.13014","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39429362","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Political QuarterlyPub Date : 2021-04-01Epub Date: 2021-04-08DOI: 10.1111/1467-923X.12989
Sam Warner, David Richards, Diane Coyle, Martin J Smith
{"title":"English Devolution and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Governing Dilemmas in the Shadow of the Treasury.","authors":"Sam Warner, David Richards, Diane Coyle, Martin J Smith","doi":"10.1111/1467-923X.12989","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12989","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article explores the question of devolution in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on English local government. Criticism of the government's handling of the crisis is widespread and tends to focus on the highly centralised nature of the British state. Here, we attribute the challenges faced by regional and local government in responding to the pandemic primarily to the asymmetric nature of power relations that characterise financial planning and control mechanisms, devised and overseen by the Treasury. We argue that the ongoing crisis underlines the need for a democratic form of devolution-including further fiscal powers for regional and local government-to support the economic recovery. In a context of increasing fiscal uncertainty, the Treasury should seek to unlock the existing powers of local leaders by reforming centralised budgetary constraints and taking accountability and monitoring mechanisms closer to citizens.</p>","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"92 2","pages":"321-330"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-923X.12989","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39159317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Political QuarterlyPub Date : 2021-01-01Epub Date: 2021-02-03DOI: 10.1111/1467-923X.12961
Kieran Maguire
{"title":"Covid-19 and Football: Crisis Creates Opportunity.","authors":"Kieran Maguire","doi":"10.1111/1467-923X.12961","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12961","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article looks at the financial performance and position of English professional football before Covid-19 and the impact that the pandemic has had on the industry. It analyses revenue streams in different divisions, the dependency that clubs have on them and how they have changed as a result of the pandemic. The article also reviews key costs for football clubs, the extent to which they can be reduced, different business models that operate, and possible funding sources for the sport from third parties and within the industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"92 1","pages":"132-138"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-923X.12961","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25563408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}