The region is not dead: Long live the region—personal evaluations and voting at the 1992 British general election

There has been considerable debate regarding the reasons for the observed spatial variation in voting patterns at British general elections since the 1970s. Three separate models can be identified: no regional cleavage; regional economic cleavage; and autonomous regional cleavage. Analysis of data which indicated people's perceptions of their household and regional economic situations over the decade preceding the 1992 general election, together with their personal characteristics and attitudes, allows the first model to be rejected: there are clear regional differences in voting behaviour which cannot be accounted for by personal characteristics alone. Each of the other models is valid: there are clear spatial differences not only in interpretations of personal and regional prosperity, and its causes, but also in electoral responses to that; and there are significant residual regional variations when those are held constant. Approaches to the study of voting in Britain which present spatial variations as merely representations of other causes are thus rejected.     

Exploring income inequality in rural,coastal Viet Nam

Income inequality has been rising in parallel with the economic liberalisation process in the former centrally planned economies. The opportunities for non‐agricultural income associated with the market liberalisation process in former centrally planned economies would seem to be important in determining inequality within the rural sector. This article reviews the trends in inequality in Viet Nam examining differential trends and hypothesised causes. Inequality is important because of its relationship to other factors in the evolution of the agricultural economy such as the incidence of poverty and the sustainability of emerging income sources. This article analyses income inequality based on data collected by the author in two Districts in coastal northern Viet Nam. The results demonstrate that non‐agricultural income sources, specifically aquaculture and wage and remittance, contribute more to present inequality than any other income source. Simulation shows that the emergence of aquaculture since the late 1980s has been driving the inequality increase in that period. Hence the analysis provides evidence that non‐agricultural income increases inequality even without asset concentration. This concentration of income is important in the north Viet Nam context since it is concurrent with present‐day land allocation and will affect the structure of future income growth.     

Assessing the Television Campaign: The Impact of Party Election Broadcasting on Voters' Opinions in the 1997 British General Election

Although paid television and radio political advertising is banned in the United Kingdom, parties fielding sufficient candidates are entitled to free air time during election campaigns for a fixed number of party election broadcasts (PEBs). Over the years, parties have experimented with a variety of different PEB formats. But the impact of PEBs on voters is underresearched. This article therefore analyzes the influence of PEB viewing in the 1997 British General Election. Though a majority do not view PEBs, those who do are influenced by them, especially in terms of their evaluations of parties and their leaders: Other things being equal, viewers of a party's PEBs become more favorably disposed to the party and its leader than those who do not see the broadcast. Labour and Conservative PEBs have no impact on vote intentions, however. But viewers of Liberal Democrat broadcasts become more likely to support that party. We speculate that this reflects different background levels of media exposure for the major parties as compared to the third party.     

The Succession to the Crown Act 2013: Modernising the Monarchy

Constitutional reform has occupied a relatively high position on the legislative agendas of successive UK governments in recent decades. Yet little of it has impinged directly upon the monarchy. The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 is therefore a significant and uncommon enactment. This article commences by sketching out a little of the background to the Act, including the need for a common position across the Commonwealth Realms which recognise the Queen as their Head of State. It then proceeds to consider the Act's three central provisions. These will ensure gender equality in the royal succession, abolish the prohibition on a royal heir marrying a Roman Catholic, and recast the law on consent to Royal Marriages. As such, they are non‐controversial. Controversy remains, however, in an issue which the 2013 Act deliberately does not address; the bar on a Roman Catholic succeeding to the throne.     

Beyond the Blame Game: Political Strategies for State Funding Reform

There is growing concern that intergovernmental financial relations in the Australian federation are becoming increasingly acrimonious and dysfunctional. This paper argues that it is necessary to analyse State funding as a whole, including the critical relationship between State‐level taxation and its reform and the broader Commonwealth Grants Commission regime, if we are to establish a system of State funding which is financially sustainable, promotes economic efficiency and is broadly congruent with established norms of Australian federalism. Above all, based on international experience, we argue Commonwealth leadership is required to achieve this goal. We conclude with a case study concerning resource taxation which demonstrates how the Commonwealth could provide leadership using a ‘bundled’ approach to policy reform. It is argued that such an approach has the potential to alleviate wider intergovernmental conflicts which currently afflict Australian federalism.     

The 'nameless fever': The HIV/AIDS pandemic and China's women

HIV/AIDS is fundamentally an issue of human rights. To the right to medical provision must be added rights to the provisions of social justice necessary to the prevention and alleviation of HIV/AIDS. China has become the focus of international concern over HIV/AIDS. Applying the concepts of 'capabilities poverty', 'discursive democracy', gender construction, 'structural violence' and the 'hypermasculine state', the study identifies the threat to China's women from HIV/AIDS; evaluates the factors contributing to this threat with reference to issues of human rights; and assesses the quality of the national and international response to the HIV/AIDS threat. It is argued that there is a growing threat to women from HIV infection in China; that there are gender-specific factors that render women in China especially vulnerable; that the belated epidemiological response is weak and its capability to meet the threat seriously weakened by social patriarchy; and that, ultimately, the HIV/AIDS threat to China's women is an issue that can only be resolved through political reform leading to discursive democracy and social justice.     

Curbing ‘Anti-Systemic’ Tendencies in Peru: democracy promotion and the US contribution to producing neoliberal hegemony

Critical scholars and investigative journalists have developed a significant body of evidence demonstrating how US democracy assistance programmes undermine left and centre-left governments in Latin America. This article draws upon original research to examine how democracy promotion has sought to stabilise neoliberal polyarchy in Peru, a longtime regional ally of the US. It contributes to a neo-Gramsican theorisation of democracy programmes by examining how ‘soft’ tactics have contributed to the state's efforts at creating an inclusive neoliberal social order, a project which has ultimately failed. Particular attention is paid to the way in which US programmes were configured and carried out to respond to the rise of the ‘anti-systemic’ Peruvian nationalist party of Ollanta Humala, who won the recent presidential elections in June 2011.