The No‐men of England: The Geordie Revolt that Defeated the Scotland and Wales Bill in 1977

The Scotland and Wales Acts 1978 failed on multiple criteria. Although devolution of powers to Scotland and Wales was a principal policy of the Labour governments in office from 1974 to 1979, it was defeated in a guillotine vote in 1977. That defeat was orchestrated by the leaders of Tyne & Wear County Council, angry that a government of their own party was apparently neglecting their region in favour of Scotland. The project was rescued in two separate bills, but a further rebel amendment inserted a minimum assent condition in the required referendums. The people of Wales rejected the devolution they were offered. The people of Scotland accepted it, but by a margin that failed to cross the threshold. The resulting vote of confidence brought down the Labour government in March 1979. The role of Tyne & Wear County Council in killing the first bill has never been fully acknowledged. The lessons of the story for current devolution policy are explored. If the UK remains a single country, any policy for tax transfers must be fair to the English as well as to the people of the other three territories.     

Korea and the global economic crisis

Abstract Korean policy-makers constructed the global economic crisis as a purely external threat to the domestic economy. This understanding of the crisis supported a selective retreat from neo-liberalism. More problematically, the construction of the crisis as an exogenous phenomenon allowed policy-makers to focus on maintaining short-term growth without seriously addressing the structural weaknesses of the economy that the crisis should have drawn attention to. Levels of household debt in Korea have risen since the crisis and are considerably higher than in the USA. Equally, the economy remains over reliant on exports as a source of growth.     

Rational Choice and Interpretive Evidence: Caught between a Rock and a Hard Place?

Following Green and Shapiro's critique, debate about the value of rational choice theory has focused upon the question of its relationship to what we call 'external', largely quantitative, empirical evidence. We argue that what is most striking about rational choice theory is, however, its neglect of interpretive evidence. Our survey of 570 articles, published in the American Political Science Review and the American Journal of Political Science between 1984 and 2005 employing rational choice theory, revealed that only 139 made even the most cursory use of interpretive evidence. Does this matter? We argue that the absence of interpretive evidence undermines rational choice's explanatory credentials. However, we also argue that the admission of interpretive evidence risks rendering redundant the rational choice element of any explanation. This is the rock and the hard place between which rational choice is caught. In the final part of the article we distinguish those cases where rational choice may prove useful, namely those circumstances in which interpretive evidence either cannot be relied upon or does not subsume that which an explanation is intended to achieve.     

Between the ‘Bank Screw’ and ‘Affording Assistance’. Rules,Standards, and the Bank Charter Act of 1844

This article explores a dilemma at the centre of the monetary order: how to counter inflation eroding the value of money and simultaneously allow bank-created credit to meet the needs of an expanding economy. Building on recent scholarship on the history of money, the article analyses the Bank Charter Act of 1844 and the financial crisis of 1847 to reveal a response to this dilemma which continues to shape the modern context. That response relies on ex ante restrictive measures in a bid to limit the discretion of the monetary authorities and cultivate financially prudent behaviour. Yet the history of the mid-nineteenth century exposes the challenges faced by those who enforce such rules, challenges which tie the mid-nineteenth century to the post 2008 reforms in both the US and the Eurozone, and reveal the ongoing force of the dilemma: that simultaneous desire for both expansive credit and sound money.     

Health characteristics of older police custody detainees in London,UK

The number of older adults involved in the criminal justice system is rising. Little is known about the state of health in older people who are arrested. This study compared characteristics and health care needs of older police custody detainees with their younger counterparts. The health characteristics of 57 police detainees aged over 50 were compared with 543 younger detainees. Older detainees had significantly higher rates of physical illness and risk of alcohol withdrawal. Although there were equivalent rates of mental disorder and drug taking compared with younger detainees, a higher proportion had presentations consistent with cognitive impairment due to possible dementing processes. Over 80% of older detainees were recommended to have a health assessment in police stations based on their presentation. Police detainees over 50 should be considered to have a health assessment as routine procedure. Further investigation should also be conducted into cognitive impairment in this group.     

The EU’s response to the global financial crisis and sovereign debt crisis

Since the sovereign crisis erupted in the autumn of 2009 when the true scale of the Greek fiscal deficit was revealed, the European Union (EU), and especially the euro area, has staggered from crisis to crisis. Major initiatives have, however, been taken to improve economic governance and to put in place a more resilient framework for the euro. This article assesses how the EU has responded to the crisis and offers explanations for why the reform process has been slow and indecisive. It shows that potentially enduring solutions are on the table, but that they have been hard to introduce because of differing national perspectives and disagreements about how the burdens of adjustment should be shared. The article concludes by setting out plausible options and explaining what they entail.     

Devolution as Process: Institutional Structures,State Personnel and Transport Policy in the United Kingdom

Abstract. Devolution has been described as a key ‘global trend’ over recent decades as governments have decentralised power and responsibilities to subordinate regional institutions. UK devolution is characterised by its asymmetrical nature with different territories granted different institutional arrangements and powers. This paper seeks to examine the role of state personnel in mobilising the new institutional machinery and managing the process of devolution, focusing on transport policy. The research presented shows a clear contrast between London and Northern Ireland, on the one hand, and Scotland and Wales, on the other, in terms of the effectiveness of political leaders in creating clear policy priorities and momentum in transport.     

Liberal Market Economies,Business, and Political Finance: Britain under New Labour

The extent and nature of business financing of parties is an important feature of political finance. Britain's transparent and permissive regulatory system provides an excellent opportunity to study business financing of parties. Business donations have been very important to the Conservative party over the last decade, and of only marginal importance to Labour. Unlike other Conservative contributors, business donors are more likely to contribute when the party is popular. In contrast to the previous period of Conservative government, the biggest British businesses tended to abstain from political finance under New Labour. However, their bias towards the Conservatives is affected by the party's popularity and the closeness of an election. Britain shares the political importance of business financing of parties and its mixture of ideological and pragmatic motivations with other liberal market economies. However, in Britain the bias towards the right is much stronger and the role of big business more marginal.     

Book Reviews

Women and Public Policy: The Shifting Boundaries Between the Public and Private Spheres. Edited by S. Baker and A. Van Doorne‐Huiskes. Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 1999. Pp.234.

Environmental Movements: Local, National and Global. Edited by Christopher Rootes. Frank Cass. 1999. Pp 316. £39.50 hb; £17.50 pb.

Driving Forces ‐ The Automobile, its Enemies and the Politics of Mobility. By James A. Dunn JR. Brookings Institution Press, 1998. Pp.230. $18.95 pb; $44.95 hb.

Perspectives on British Rural Planning Policy 1994–97. By Andrew Gilg. Ashgate, 1999. Pp.154. £35 hb.

Power to the Parishes. Special issue of Local Governance. Edited by A. Coulson. Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham, 2000. £10.

The Changing Nature of Local Government in Developing Countries. Edited by Patricia L. McCarney. Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto, 1996. Pp.314.

Planning Beyond 2000. Edited by P. Allmendinger and M. Chapman. John Wiley &; Sons, 1999. £22.50 pb.

Regional Policy and Planning in Europe. By P. Balchin, L. Sykora and G. Bull. Routledge, 1999. £15.99 pb.

Urban Policy and Politics in Britain. By Dilys M. Hill. Macmillan, 2000. Pp.254. £.14.99 pb.

Local Statesmen: The Story of Politics in Nottinghamshire County Council. By Peter Housden. The Local Government Centre, University of Warwick and Nottinghamshire County Council, 2000. Pp.219. £9.99 plus £2 postage and packaging.

County Borough Elections in England and Wales 1919–1938: A Comparative Analysis: Volume 1: Barnsley ‐ Bournemouth. By Sam Davies and Bob Morley. Ashgate, 1999. Pp.708. £80.

The British Police. Police Forces and Chief Officers 1829–2000. By Martin Stallion and David S. Wall. Police History Society, 1999. Pp.256. £15 pb.

Policing Provincial England 1829–1856: The Politics of Reform. By David Philips and Robert D. Storch. Leicester University Press, 1999. Pp.342. £55 hb.