A problem with empirical studies of party policy shifts: Alternative measures of party shifts are uncorrelated

Many recent cross-national studies analyse the causes and electoral consequences of party policy shifts, using party position measures derived from election manifestos, expert surveys or voter surveys. However few studies validate their findings by analysing multiple measures of party policy shifts. In this article, data on European parties’ position shifts on both European integration and left-right ideology is analysed, showing that this is problematic because, while alternative measures of party policy positions correlate strongly in cross-sectional analyses, alternative measures of parties’ policy shifts are essentially uncorrelated in longitudinal analyses. Suggestions are offered on how to address this problem.     

Recession, Climate Change and the Return of Planning

As the global financial crisis emanating from the United States shuts down world markets, can globalization survive? Will the resurgent intrusion of the state—and thus politics—into the market lead to protectionism and collapse, as was the case in the early 20th century? Or will the new interconnectivity of climate change and mutual economic dependence—especially between China and the US—deepen global links? The former mayor of Shanghai, legendary Nobel economist Paul Samuelson and Third Way guru Anthony Giddens ponder those questions in this section.     

LOCAL BROADCASTING AND THE LOCAL AUTHORITY

The development of local radio in Britain was expected to have significant and positive effects on local political communication. This article discusses the extent and character of local radio's engagement with the local political system, drawing upon some of the evidence obtained from a wide-ranging study of what radio stations are doing. The nature of local government coverage is discussed, with appropriate examples. The limitations of local radio's engagement with the local political system are highlighted, reflected in both the quantity and quality of its coverage. Some reasons for these limitations are suggested (size of local radio areas, lack of expertise in local government matters, attitudes of broadcasters) and the need to overcome them is stressed if the original promise of local radio in this field is to be fulfilled.     

Brangelina vs. Chinese Mercantilism in Africa

As it prepares to host the 2008 Olympics, China's authoritarian development model, which has sustained high growth for two decades, is entering a fragile new stage. Tainted toys and other products have made the American consumers on whom China relies wary even as the debt‐and‐deficit ridden American economy relies on China's massive foreign reserves to keep going. In the meantime, China's aggressive search for raw materials in Africa is causing a backlash while its cyberspying probes into Western defense systems are reviving Cold War‐like tensions. The US treasury secretary, a top China expert and former intelligence officials offer their views.     

The Changing Position of Legal Academics in the United Kingdom: Professionalization or Proletarianization?

This article analyses changes to United Kingdom (UK) university law schools during the period coinciding with Phil Thomas’ career as a law teacher – the latter part of the twentieth century and the first two decades of the twenty-first – in part illustrating the analysis with other examples from Thomas’ career. We will focus specifically on the way in which what it means to be a legal academic has altered, with UK legal academics having been professionalized as a community during this era. Yet, seemingly paradoxically, it is also an era during which, many have suggested, academics in UK universities have become a proletariat.