15 December 2006
The Englander PhD Studentship in Civic Engagement
The University of Manchester seeks applications for a research studentship in the field of civic engagement, with special attention to the role of information technology in shaping and facilitating the role of citizens in a modern democracy. The project relates to the trend in democracies, such as the United Kingdom, for declining levels of political participation and volunteering, and reduced trust in government, and more generally what some see as a crisis of representative democracy. Some commentators, such as Robert Putnam, see this trend as part of a change in the character of modern communities, linked to urbanisation, work-intensive lifestyles, and consumption of the media, such as television. At the same time, there are also signs of the renewal of democracies, through experiments and new forms of political engagement, such as deliberative exercises and ways governments consult and involve the citizens, which suggest the possibilities of civic and civil renewal. In particular, the greater use of the internet and other mobile communication technologies among younger people, for social networking, has the potential to transform political relationships.
The research studentship would be an empirical project, which would seek to explore some of these trends and developments, such as the use of a new form of involvement. In particular, we would welcome a proposal on the role of the internet and new technologies in addressing the changing role of the citizen in the United Kingdom.
The studentship is supported by Peter Englander, an alumnus of the University, who has personal interest in the topic. The Englander Studentship is offered at the value of £16,670 per year.
For more information please download the further particulars document and application form (both PDF format).
Top7 December 2006
Hallsworth & Simon Research Fellowships in Economics
The Hallsworth and Simon Fellowship Scheme welcome applicants for (Postdoctoral) Research Fellowships in any area of Economics (subject to the criteria of the Fellowships), but particularly encourage applications in the field or Regional Economics (New Economic Geography, Spatial Econometrics and Intranational Macroeconomics). For more information please visit the Fellowship Scheme web page.
Top29 November 2006
How can local government change people's behaviour?
Smart solutions to the 'wicked' issues - a seminar on experimental designs
The Institute for Political and Economic Governance (IPEG) within the Centre for Local Governance (CfLG) is holding a seminar looking at ways that local government can try to change people's behaviour. The event is aimed at practitioners, policy makers and researchers working within local government, and takes place on February 9th, 2006.
For more information please visit our events page.
Top29 November 2006
Political Studies Association honours Gerry Stoker with 'Politics Book of the Year' award
The Political Studies Association (PSA) presented Gerry Stoker with their 'Politics Book of the Year' award for his book 'Why Politics Matters' at their annual awards ceremony in London on Nov 28th. The judges said:
“Gerry Stoker's 'Why Politics Matters' was the unanimous choice of the judges for several reasons. Firstly it offers a shrewd assessment of the extent of disaffection for politics and the reasons for this disenchantment. Secondly, the book makes a cogent plea for a redefinition of what constitutes politics and how political activity is conceived. Thirdly, Gerry Stoker offers a powerful refutation of the cynicism surrounding politics, outlining just how much - and why - politics as such meaning for citizens. The sum of these strengths is a book which is required reading and is already heading for classic status.”
'Why Politics Matters' is published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Top15 November 2006
Re-energizing Citizenship: Strategies for Civil Renewal
A book edited by Tessa Brannan, Peter John, and Gerry Stoker has recently been published, reporting on the Home Office Civil Renewal Research Programme which they co-ordinated. The title of the book is 'Re-energizing Citizenship: Strategies for Civil Renewal' and is published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Top10 November 2006
Manchester Regional Economics Centre / HM Treasury joint seminar
On October 27 th a half-day seminar was held in the premises of the British Academy, London, on the theme of Regional Productivity. The seminar was the product of a joint initiative with HM Treasury designed to develop government understanding of the spatial determinants of productivity and to road-test emerging ideas with those of informed academics. For HM Treasury Simon Ridley outlined the approach being taken in the forthcoming sub-national review of economic regeneration and development. In a second session Henry Overman (LSE) presented a paper entitled "Economic Linkages across Space". Attendance was over 20 persons, of which a half were from HM Treasury and other government departments and a half from academic or consultancy backgrounds.
Top3 November 2006
Peter John on The Politics Show North West
Peter John will be participating in a discussion about the new Local Government White Paper (see news item below) on 'The Politics Show North West,' BBC1 (North West), Sunday November 5th at 12.00pm. For more information visit the Politics Show web site.
Top2 November 2006
Local Government White Paper: Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) research carried out by IPEG
The Local Government White Paper, published on the 26 October, uses research evidence collected by the IPEG project on New Council Constitutions to support its proposed reforms of the executive and scrutiny.
Three reports from the project were published alongside the white paper. All are available online.
The local government white paper can be found at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1503999
The reports can be found at:
- Councillors, Officers and Stakeholders in the New Council Constitutions: Findings from the 2005 ELG Sample Survey: http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1504085
- Early Outcomes and Impacts: Qualitative research findings from the ELG evaluation of new council constitutions: http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1504086
- New Council Constitutions: A summary of the ELG Research Findings: http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1504087
Further reports and background information can be found on the Evaluating Local Governance project web page.
IPEG staff have also contributed to discussions leading upto the local government white paper through a separate research project for DCLG exploring new models of neighbourhood governance. This work (see link below) was published alongside the local government white paper. The report summarises findings from a study of neighbourhood governance and examines a range of neighbourhood arrangements to identify critical success factors and barriers to successful neighbourhood working. This work was done by Liz Richardson immediately before she joined IPEG.
Top26 October 2006
Radio interview with Gerry Stoker
Ahead of his lecture at the 'Sydney Ideas' event on October 30th, Gerry Stoker was interviewed by ABC radio (Australia) in connection with his recent book: 'Why Politics Matters'. A podcast of the interview is available here.
Top16 October 2006
Innovation in North West Local Government
Innovation in the public sector is a key driver of improvement in service delivery. The North West Improvement Network (NWIN) has asked IPEG to study innovation in North West local government. We will be asking officers in North West local authorities to tell us what factors support innovation and to nominate examples of innovation in their service areas. The aims of the project are to describe the types of innovation that are identified and explore some of costs and impacts of innovation.
The research will be completed by March 2007. For further details please contact Stephen Greasley at stephen.greasley@manchester.ac.uk.
Top27 September 2006
Why Politics Matters
Professor Gerry Stoker took part in a joint IPEG and Young Foundation panel at a fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference on 26th September. The panel included presentation in addition from Geoff Mulgan, Fiona McTaggert MP and Will Hutton from the Work Foundation was in the chair. Professor Stoker spoke to themes from his recent book Why Politics Matters as did the other speakers, all of whom addressed the key issues of what is going wrong with politics in mature democracies and what, if anything, can be done to tackle problems. Some of Gerry Stoker's core thoughts on this subject can be found via this link.
Top12 September 2006
New appointments
IPEG are delighted to announce the appointment of two new members of staff: Liz Richardson and Rebecca Askew.
Liz joines us from the London School of Economics' Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion and will be concentrating on several new projects (more of which in due course) under the banner of the Centre for Local Governance; a partnership between the North West Improvement Network (NWIN) and The University of Manchester.
Rebecca joins us from Manchester City Council's Wythenshawe Partnership and will be working on the Wigan Trees Estate and Blackburn design experiment projects with Peter John, Hanuha Liu and Liz.
Top20 July 2006
Peter John appointed Director of IPEG
Professor Peter John, Hallsworth Chair of Governance at the University of Manchester, has been appointed Director of the Institute for Political and Economic Governance, succeeding Mike Emmerich who leaving to become Chief Executive of Manchester Enterprises.
Peter John said "I am delighted to have become the director of IPEG at this important time in its development. In the 3 1/2 years we've been established, IPEG has a made an excellent start as a research institute and as an innovator at the interface between policy and practice. We have a strong staff team, a robust business and the support of partners in academia and outside."
"This is in no small part due to the dedicated leadership of Mike Emmerich and Gerry Stoker. On behalf of all at IPEG I wish Mike every success in his new role".
Top26 June 2006
2006/7 SQW AWARD for MA in Governance
Thanks to the sponsorship of SQW, a leading economic development and management consultancy, a bursary of £2,000 is likely to be available to students who register for the MA in Governance & Public Policy in 2006/7. Francis Markus, the successful scholar in 2003/4 now works for SQW at their Stockport office as does the 2004/5 scholar, Joe Duggett. Francis is pictured right presenting the award for 2005/6 to this year's successful scholar Hannah Hill, with Professor Martin Burch, Programme Director of the MA.
Top23 June 2006
Gerry Stoker has just published a book on 'Why Politics Matters'. A video of him talking about the book is available from the 'Meet The Author' website.
Top2 June 2006
To learn more about the recently launched Manchester Regional Economics Centre (MREC) please follow the link.
31 May 2006
'Is Best Practice Useful? - Best Practice and Innovation in Local Government'
The University of Manchester, in collaboration with SOLACE Enterprises, recently conducted a survey of all English local authorities concerning the use and effectiveness of Best Practice in community safety and regeneration. As a follow-up to the survey, we are holding a practitioner seminar at the University of Manchester on July 20th, 2006, to discuss the results of this and related research and to further explore issues surrounding the use of best practice in local government.
For further details and to book a place, please visit the seminar web page.
Top18 May 2006
Professor Gerry Stoker has contributed to a recent publication by The Smith Institute: 'Double Devolution: The Renewal of Local Government'. More information can be found on The Smith Institute website.
'Locality Matters: Making participation count in local authorities' by Vivien Lowndes, Lawrence Pratchett and Gerry Stoker is now available from the Institute for Public Policy Research. For more information visit the IPPR website.
IPEG and GRP are hosting the following seminar: 'Credible Governance? Political Ideology and the NDPB', presented by Professor Anthony Bertelli. For more information please visit our events page.
Top8 May 2006
New papers, including 'The British National Party: the roots of its appeal', are now available on Professor Peter John's homepage.
Top20 April 2006
Listen to Professor Peter John on BBC Radio 4's 'Today' programme (17/04/2006). (Real Media streaming audio from BBC website).
Top18 April 2006
Professor Peter John, Co-Director of IPEG, was featured on BBC Radio 4's 'Today' programme (17/04/2006) discussing a forthcoming report; 'The British National Party: the roots of its appeal'. For more information visit the BBC and Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust websites.
Top27 March 2006
Some of the papers presented at the recent Hallsworth Conference are now available from the conference papers web page.
Top6 March 2006
'How can we get citizens to vote in elections?' Find out more about IPEG's latest workshop aimed at those who are engaged and involved in public policy work by visiting the workshop web page.
Top23 February 2006
In 2006 and 2007, IPEG is hosting a series of seminars looking at experiments in public policy funded by Hallsworth. Titled 'The Experimental Method and Voter Turnout', the first seminar takes place on March 29th and is now open for bookings. Further information on the series and the rationale behind it, together with booking information for the first seminar, is available from the seminar web page.
Top3 January 2006
The 2006 Hallsworth Conference - 'Opening Up Governance' - will be held over March 16th & 17th at Chancellors Conference Centre. More information and an on-line booking facility are available on the conference web page.
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