Theory vs reality: partisanship and Northern Ireland's Public Accounts Committee 2011–2016

Public accounts committees (PACs) are tasked with scrutinising executive use of public money, undertaking inquiries with the support of the legislative auditor. Through several means, an expectation is placed on members to be politically neutral in undertaking committee work. However, in the context of Northern Ireland, where consociationalism entrenches binary ethno-national identities throughout the political institutions, it would be expected that party-political interests would prevail and fracture the committee. This paper analyses Northern Ireland's PAC from three perspectives alongside qualitative data from interviews with committee members: theory, party-partisanship and changes in the committee's working relationship with the legislative auditor. It is argued that over the 2011–2016 mandate, this PAC coalesced and functioned well as a unit despite expectation to the contrary, and that the changing dynamics of its working relationship with the Northern Ireland Audit Office over this time are testament to its development in this way.     

Best Laid Plans … The Institutionalisation of Public Deliberation in Scotland

Despite increasing support for participatory and deliberative principles amongst academics, practitioners and parliamentarians alike, efforts to infuse political systems with more inclusive and consensual forms of debate often founder. This article explores this conundrum by examining institutional reforms through the lens of deliberative democracy. More specifically, we scrutinise attempts to institutionalise forms of civic deliberation within the Scottish political system via the Scottish Civic Forum and the Scottish Parliament's committee system. Our analysis tells the story of how these two types of institutional reform, both designed to facilitate the move towards a more participatory and deliberative model of democracy in Scotland, have fared over a ten‐year period. In turn, this analysis allows us to comment on the ways in which deliberative and parliamentary democracy may be integrated.     

Coalition and Minority Government in Scotland: Lessons for the United Kingdom?

The United Kingdom general election result in 2010 produced a hung or balanced parliament for the first time in over three decades. Since the United Kingdom has limited postwar experience of this outcome, it is natural that commentators have begun to look elsewhere for lessons on the practicalities of minority and coalition government. This article considers the lessons we can learn from the Scottish parliamentary experience since 1999. It outlines two main points of comparison: strength and stability. One might assume that coalition provides more of both than minority government. Indeed, for that reason, it is rare for central or devolved governments in the United Kingdom to operate as minorities through choice. Yet, the Scottish experience shows that the differences between coalition and minority government are not completely straightforward. Much depends on the institutional context and, in many cases, idiosyncratic elements of particular systems. Consequently, one can identify a trade‐off in comparative analysis: as the identification of elements specific to one system increases, the ability to draw clear meaningful lessons decreases.     

Decentralization in Tanzania: Design and Application in Planning Decisions

Every state copes with the question of which level of government should bear responsibility for social services such as health care and education. Tanzania is no exception. The current government infrastructure of Tanzania is based on the principle of Decentralization by Devolution (DbyD) and can be seen as a reaction to previous structures based on centralized de-concentration. This article reviews the decentralization as designed in the DbyD policy and its application in planning decisions by assessing the involvement of local communities in decision making, based on a case study in two primary facilities. The conclusion is that even though policy states a strong decentralized government, in reality central preferences dominate the decision-making. Wishes expressed in local plans are ignored in the planning procedure. The article identifies the factors that contribute to this central influence and concludes with reviewing the value of decentralization policy in Tanzania and other developing countries.     

Human Development in Pakistan and Bureaucratic Predicaments

Pakistan’s persistent ailing condition in the realm of human development raises major concerns about its governance mechanism. The problem seems to exist in the formulation of decentralization policies combined with delays and failures in implementation caused by political interests and inefficiency of the administrative machinery. This article attempts to highlight the current situation of human development in Pakistan using three basic indicators—education, health, and poverty levels—using evidence from data. It further develops a theoretical framework of bureaucratic involvement in public service provisions and problems faced by implementing agencies by identifying lacunas in the legislation of devolution plan.     

履行国际人权公约义务,强化刑事法律人权保障

履行国际人权公约 ,是我国政府维护人权的法律义务。必须加强司法人员的人权意识 ,强化刑事法律人权保障功能 ,维护公民的个人基本权利 ,包括政治权利、经济权利、社会权利和文化权利。为了使我国刑事法制建设严格贯彻“两权公约”的要求 ,必须在修订刑法时明确体现限制死刑精神 ,为最终取消死刑创造条件 ,并将劳动教养作为保安处分规定于刑法之中。     

Trouble with Ken: new labour's negative campaign in the selection and election process for London mayor

This paper examines the London mayoral selection and election process and discusses New Labour's negative campaign against the candidacy of Ken Livingstone. It discusses the objectives which lay behind the adoption of this new constitutional system of a directly elected mayor and traces New Labour's problems in getting their chosen candidate elected. It traces the Blair leadership's difficulties in choosing a viable candidate, the methods employed to manipulate the selection process and the stunts and dirty tricks used to undermine Living‐ stone's mayoral challenge. It places these problems in the context of media coverage of such a negative and divisive campaign. The paper concludes by outlining some wider implications for New Labour's future campaigning and suggests that voters now have a more tarnished image of New Labour as a result of this campaign. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications     

Small wars in Marsabit County: devolution and political violence in northern Kenya

Abstract

When the elections of 2013 devolved budgetary and legislative powers to 47 counties in Kenya, there was nationwide relief when they passed off peacefully. The new county governments settled down to bargaining over local powers and appointments, delivering on their new institutional mandates, spending money and dealing with recentralisation manoeuvres. Now with the 2017 elections looming, the question has been raised, will there be violence? Based on qualitative interviews with citizens of the northern town of Marsabit shortly after the 2013 elections, this article presents citizens’ views on how devolution affected political competition, including how familiar repertoires of violence were used to influence not only the vote but also the construction of the new country government. To explain what concerned voters in the newly devolved county, the article explores the role played by colonially constituted ‘ethnicity’ in control of land and citizenship in the pastoralist north of Kenya and in the evolution of politics and the state after independence. It shows how the new configuration of power brought by devolution in 2013 has not yet resolved people’s feelings of deep insecurity over territorial tenure. It offers insight into the task faced by devolved institutions in relation to land, adding texture to current literature on the politics of devolution.     

Effective HRM Implementation by Line Managers: Relying on Various Sources of Support

We explore one of the key underlying mechanisms that mediate the HRM–performance link, namely HRM implementation by line managers. The purpose of our study is to examine the role of various sources of support in explaining effective HRM implementation by line managers. Results indicate that HR, supervisor, and coworker support are relevant in explaining line managers’ HR role performance. In addition, younger line managers and those with greater supervisory experience are found to perform better in their HR role. Hence, organizations should consider developing a broad support network to ensure effective implementation of HRM by line managers.     

The Continuing Volatility of Devolution in Northern Ireland: The Shadow of Direct Rule

Since the establishment of devolution in 1999, Northern Ireland's power‐sharing governments have been fragile and prone to crisis. However, following a decade of relative stability and cooperation between Nationalists and Unionists at Stormont, hopes were high that the devolved arrangements had finally become embedded and more resistant to collapse. This optimism was dashed when Sinn Féin brought down the devolved institutions in January 2017. A snap election once again returned the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin as the largest parties and their inability to form a government resulted in yet another political stalemate. This article begins by outlining the pattern of political crises in Northern Ireland and assesses both the trigger factors and the responses. It then goes beyond the most obvious explanation for this continuing instability—that of the deep sectarian based divisions—and points to a number of other reasons for the volatility. These include issues such as the incomplete implementation of previous agreements, the impact of broader UK policies and the shadow of Direct Rule.