20 December 2007
Researching Civic Behaviour
On December 18th, Peter John and Gerry Stoker delivered a presentation to the Policy Unit at Number 10 Downing Street. The presentation, titled 'Researching Civic Behaviour,' deals with the ESRC funded research project: 'Rediscovering the civic and achieving better outcomes in public policy,' and is available for download via the link below.
Top10 December 2007
Councillors Commission report - featuring research carried out by IPEG
A significant package of reforms to raise the game of local councils and strengthen local democracy throughout England and Wales is proposed in a ground-breaking report published today.
Innovative action to boost understanding of local government and the role of councillors, to attract new and more diverse candidates to stand in local elections and to deliver better quality support to those elected are among the proposals.
IPEG researchers contributed to one of the research reports which accompanied the Commission's main report. Entitled "Improving the Representativeness of Councillors - Learning From Five High Performing Local Authorities in England,' the report aims to explain why some local councils are more representative of their local populations than others, with a particular focus placed upon under-represented groups.
The Councillors Commission report and accompanying research reports are available for download from the Councillors Commission Website.
Further information about the report can be found in the Councillors Commission press release.
Top6 December 2007
Matthew Goodwin on BBC Radio Scotland
Matthew Goodwin will be speaking on 'Newsdrive', BBC Radio Scotland on Thursday 6th December at 5pm. The discussion will focus on the development of neo-Nazism in Western Europe.
Top19 November 2007
Tackling Extremism
Dr Matthew Goodwin will be a plenary speaker at the 2nd Annual Conference, 'Tackling Extremism Together: Preventing Intolerance - Increasing Cohesion'. The event, supported by the Institute of Community Cohesion (iCoCo) will be held on Tuesday 4th December at the Barbican Centre, London EC2.
Further information about the event and an agenda can be found via the link below.
Top6 November 2007
Economic Prosperity: The Sub-National Contribution
Alan Harding be participating in a conference hosted by the Northwest Regional Development Agency on Wednesday November 14th. The event, titled 'Economic Prosperity: The Sub-National Contribution,' will take place at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.
For more information please visit the conference website.
Top22 October 2007
Local Governance, Higher Performance
Peter John will be participating in a half day conference organised by the Centre for Local Governance (CfLG) on Thursday November 15th. The event, titled 'Local Governance, Higher Performance,' will see the launch of a 'community of interest' for the North West region to find solutions to the business challenges presented by the government’s local governance policies.
For more information download the conference flyer and programme.
Top18 October 2007
New Event: Community Cohesion - Understanding & Challenging
On December 14th IPEG will host a roundtable discussion on 'community cohesion'. A select group of invitees, drawn from national and loval government, universities, and think-tanks, will meet to discuss the current agenda and explore potential avenues for the future. In particular, the event focuses on the specific role of local authorities and their partners in promoting cohesive communities. The roundtable will be chaired by Professor Gerry Stoker. IPEG will also be presenting their latest thinkpiece on the topic.
For further information contact Matthew Goodwin (matthew.goodwin@manchester.ac.uk ).
Top11 October 2007
How to promote belonging and neighbourliness in neighbourhoods
Liz Richardson will be participating in an action learning day organised by the Young Foundation on Tuesday 13 November. The event, titled 'How to promote belonging and neighbourliness in neighbourhoods,' has been organised for 12 local authorities who are partners in the Young Foundation's new neighbourhoods programme: the Neighbourhood Action Network. The aim is to share insights and experiences about practical interventions and projects to foster neighbourliness and a sense of belonging in communities.
For more information please visit the Young Foundation website.
Top8 October 2007
Evaluating Local Governance: New Constitutions and Ethics - Final report published
Communities and Local Government (CLG) have published the final report from the Evaluating Local Governance: New Constitutions and Ethics project. To read the press release please visit the CLG website.
For more information about the project and other related reports please visit the project web page.
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21 September 2007
Social cohesion and community wellbeing: is social capital the secret ingredient?
Liz Richardson will be participating at a conference organised by the North East Social Capital Forum on Friday 28 September. The conference, titled 'Social cohesion and community wellbeing: is social capital the secret ingredient?,' takes place on Friday 28 September at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland. Speakers include Andrew Kerr, Chief Executive, North Tyneside Council, David Rossington, Director, Local Democracy, Communities and Local Government Department and Irene Lucas, Chief Executive, South Tyneside Council.
For more information please download the conference programme.
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14 September 2007
An Englishman's home is his castle? The future of affordable Housing
Liz Richardson will be participating in an Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) fringe event at this year's Conservative Party conference in Blackpool. The event, titled 'An Englishman's home is his castle? The future of affordable Housing,' will take place 1:00pm, Sunday 30th September at the Best Western Carlton Hotel. Other articipants include Grant Shapps MP, Shadow Housing Minister; Jim Bennett, IPPR and Zenna Atkins, Chair, Places for People.
For more information please visit the IPPR website.
Top26 August 2007
Rachel Gibson appointed as Director of the Centre for Democracy and Elections (CDE) from December 2007
Rachel Gibson is to take up the Chair in Political Science at the Institute for Social Change from December 2007. Rachel is a political scientist who gained her Ph.D in the U.S.A. (Texas A&M University, Ph.D 1996) after completing her undergraduate studies in English and History in the UK (University of Salford B.A. Hons, 1989). She has worked in a range of international academic institutions prior to being appointed Chair in New Media Studies at the University of Leicester, including the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) in Germany and the Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS) at the Australian National University (ANU).
Her work, in the area of new media studies, began with her first lecturing position at the University of Salford in the Department of Politics and Contemporary History. Her main interest in the topic has been to understand how political parties are using new information and communication technologies (ICTs) to communicate with voters and the implications of this adaptation for their democratic performance.
Along with Dr. Stephen Ward at the University of Salford she succeeded in publishing a series of books and articles on this subject and was awarded ESRC grant funding under the Democracy and Participation and E-Society Programmes (1999-2002 and 2003-2005) to study British parties' use of new ICTs.
In 2005 Rachel obtained support under the Australian Research Council's (ARC) Special Research Initiative scheme on e-Research to establish a Virtual Observatory for the Study of Online Networks (VOSON). VOSON is an ongoing project that brings together an international team of new media scholars based at ANU, University of California, Santa Barbara in the United States and the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) in the UK.
In addition to the managerial and research development roles Rachel performed at the ACSR, she also served on a number of national and international bodies representing the interest of the social science community. This included serving as Vice-Chair of the Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research Inc., a non-profit organisation responsible for conducting methodological training programs (following the Essex and Michigan Summer school models in the UK and US) and representing the interests of applied social science researchers across Australia.
Rachel was the Australian representative to the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) from 2003, and the co-editor of the Australian Journal of Political Science until the conclusion of her appointment at the ANU.
Rachel's current research interests fall into three key areas:
- Developing work with Dr. Stephen Ward and Dr. Wainer Lusoli on the use of new media by political organisations and candidates in campaigns and elections, with a particular focus on their effects among younger citizens. While many see online politics as simply replicating and reinforcing existing habits among older voters, more mobilising effects have been detected among less established participants. More specific experimental work and survey research in the UK and internationally is necessary to fully understand how these dynamics operate and whether they can be sustained over time. In conjunction with her colleagues she plans to explore further younger voters' responses to online campaigning, both within and outside of traditional electoral arena.
- In addition, Rachel will continue to promote the international collaborative project to establish a Virtual Observatory for the Study of Online Networks (VOSON) with colleagues in Australia, the US and the UK. The aim here being to pilot a new software for social scientists to study the structure, evolution and implications of political organisations' online networks. The project is designed to bring together key centres of e-Social Science in the US and UK and develop the web network analysis tool for remote use by researchers overseas.
- Finally, along with a colleague, Andrea Römmele, at the University of Mannheim, Rachel is also in the process of developing a Political Campaigns study network. This project is designed to promote more systematic study of the uptake and effects of new campaign techniques by political parties in elections around the world.
Rachel's research projects have been funded by a variety of national and international bodies including the Economic and Social Research Council, the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust, the Australian Department of Education, the Australian Research Council, the Australian National University and the European Commission.
Top26 August 2007
New book: Representing Europe's Citizens? Electoral Institutions and the Failure of Parliamentary Representation
'Representing Europe's Citizens? Electoral Institutions and the Failure of Parliamentary Representation,' a new book by David Farrell and Roger Scully has recently been publiched by the Oxford University Press. For more information please visit the OUP web site.
David Farrell is a member of the Centre for Democracy and Elections (CDE) team.
Top14 August 2007
New project: Rediscovering the civic and achieving better outcomes in public policy
IPEG has received funding from the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) to carry out a new programme of research over the next two years. For more information please visit the project web page.
Top26 July 2007
IPEG on the move
IPEG has relocated from the Williamson Building to the Humanities Building (formerly Architecture and Planning) on Bridgeford Street. Maps of the university campus are available for download here (the Humanities Building is No 35 on the map).
Top16 July 2007
Continuing IPEG interest in political extremism
Matthew Goodwin has been appointed Associate Reviews Editor for the ECPR Standing Group on Extremism and Democracy, which was founded in 1999. As of January 2007 the group has over 600 members from over 50 different countries. The Standing Group provides a platform and infrastructrure to the broad range of scholars working on various aspects of 'extremism and democracy' in all parts of the world. The aim of the Group is to become the meeting ground of serious scholarship from all persuasions.
If you are interested in reviewing a recent contribution to the field please contact Matthew at Matthew.Goodwin@manchester.ac.uk.
Further information about the Extremism & Democracy Group can be found here.
Top3 July 2007
IPEG at the NWIN Local Governance Showcase 2007
IPEG ran a Community Forum on Behaviour Change at the recent North West Improvement Network (NWIN) Local Governance Showcase. Speakers included Jeff Smethurst (Chief Housing and Regeneration Officer - Bolton Council), Glyn Chambers (Chief Executive - Congleton Borough Council) and Jody Sherratt (Streetscene Awareness Manager - Vale Royal Borough Council).
Maggie Mooney (Chief Executive - Carlisle City Council) who chaired the session said "It was a new agenda for local government and requires local authorities and partners to have a new mindset. Therefore we welcomed the joint work that IPEG and local government partners were doing.
Top3 July 2007
North West Improvement Network (NWIN) Knowledge Creation and Transfer Programme - second round of projects
The second round of projects for the NWIN Knowledge Creation and Transfer Programme have been announced. For more information please visit the programme homepage.
Top15 June 2007
Two new publications on extremism
Matthew Goodwin's recent research on contemporary extremism features in the latest edition of Political Quarterly, vol. 78, no.2 and Ethnopolitics, vol. 6, no.1.
Top14 June 2007
Innovation and good practice in North West local government
The executive summary of the 'What is the role of good practice in innovation?' and 'Achieving innovation in local authority organisations' projects is now available for download here.
Top23 May 2007
Women and New Labour: engendering politics and policy?
The Gender Research Network (GRN) in the School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester will be launching its book 'Women and New Labour: engendering politics and policy?' to be published by the Policy Press on 22nd June 2007.
Francesca Gains has co-edited the book together with co-authoring a chapter with another IPEG researcher, Catherine Durose. The chapter entitled 'Engendering the Machinery of Governance' considers the success of New Labour's representational and administrative reforms aimed at re-dressing the gender imbalance in British government and administration.
The book launch is part of an international, interdisciplinary conference, 'Engendering Policy and Politics: International and comparative challenges and perspectives' hosted by the Gender Research Network at the University of Manchester on 21-22 June 2007. For further details please visit the conference website.
Top14 May 2007
Council Size and Democracy
The Centre for Census and Survey Research (CCSR) and the Institute for Political and Economic Governance (IPEG) at the University of Manchester are conducting a research project on council size (defined as the number of councillors) and democracy on behalf of the Electoral Commission.
The research team from CCSR and IPEG will deliver a review of past decisions on council size in the UK, a case study of council size in other EU countries and an assessment of statistical data sources in the UK. They will also host an expert stakeholder panel discussion.
The research outcomes include the development of a database and decision support tool in order to give the Boundary Committee for England a robust basis for what might be the appropriate council size for any given area, taking account of, among other factors, population size, political management structure, rural/urban issues and the future role of councillors as outlined in the recent Local Government White Paper.
For further information please contact Dr. Kingsley Purdam, CCSR, University of Manchester.
Email: Kingsley.purdam@manchester.ac.uk.
Top10 May 2007
Turning Right
The BBC Radio 4 documentary: Turning Right, which includes contributions from Peter John, is available on-line for a limited period. For more information please visit the BBC website.
The programme will be repeated at 5:00pm on Sunday, 13th May.
Top4 May 2007
Peter John participating in BBC Radio 4 documentary about the BNP
Peter John will be participating in a forthcoming BBC Radio 4 documentary examining attempts to broaden support for the British National Party. The programme is scheduled for broadcast at 8:00pm on Tuesday, 8th May.
Top1 May 2007
IPEG researchers at the 1st Annual Simon Academy
Mike Artis, Francesca Gains and Peter John will be participating in the first Annual Simon Academy, to be held at The Herbert Simon Institute, The University of Manchester, 18 - 22 June 2007. For more information please visit the Simon Academy homepage.
Top27 April 2007
CDE to host 2008 EPOP conference
The Centre for Democracy and Elections (CDE) has been given the honour of hosting the Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (EPOP) Conference in September 2008.
EPOP is the largest specialist group of the Political Studies Association of the UK, bringing together people interested in the study of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties. It has over 200 members, including media commentators, leading opinion pollsters and national party officials as well as academics. The group convenors are Professor Justin Fisher (Brunel University) and Professor Philip Cowley (University of Nottingham).
EPOP08 sees the return of the conference to Manchester after ten years.
Top27 April 2007
IPEG work to inform new Councillors Commission
In February 2007 Ruth Kelly accounnced a new a Councillors Commission that will consider how to encourage more people from a wider range of backgrounds to become (and remain) local councillors. (DCLG) recently selected IPEG to examine the barriers and incentives to becoming a councillor in England. This research will involve a a series of in-depth case studies in five local authorities and is expected to inform the recommendations of the Commission.
Top23 April 2007
IPEG advising OECD on the future of urban policy
Alan Harding is advising the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on a stream of work that aims to create a better dialogue between national governments and cities on the future of urban policy. As part of this role, he made the keynote presentation to an OECD-City of Madrid-Club of Madrid international conference held in Madrid at the end of March. He is currently editing the conference proceedings which will be published by OECD later in the year.
Top23 April 2007
IPEG helps rethink the Northern Way
Alan Harding and Mike Artis are key contributors to two University of Manchester studies recently commissioned by the Northern Way Secretariat. The first extends the study they completed last year for the Northwest Development Agency, on the role of cities in the regional economy, to the rest of northern England. The second examines the economic connections between the key city-regions in northern England and others in the UK, especially those focused upon London, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The two studies are designed to improve the evidence base that the Northern Way can draw upon in making the case for northern England and to help the secretariat realize its ambition to become a think tank and source of intelligence on economic development in the north. They will form the basis of a single report that is due for submission in August this year.
Top19 April 2007
Engaging more than just the usual community activists
Professor Peter John will be delivering a presentation and Q & A session at the forthcoming National Neighbourhood Management Network (NNMN) Spring Keynote Conference on April 26, 2007.
For more information please download the conference flyer.
Top19 April 2007
IPEG researchers at the forthcoming Interpretation in Policy Analysis conference
Tessa Brannan and Catherine Durose will convening a panel at the forthcoming Interpretation in Policy Analysis conference at the Free University of Amsterdam, 31 May to 2 June 2007. The panel proposal is available for download here.
Top4 April 2007
IPEG researchers at the forthcoming PSA conference
IPEG researchers will be participating in the forthcoming PSA conference which takes place at the University of Bath from April 11th to the 13th. Details are as follows:
- Tessa Brannan - '(Re)Interpreting 'Bounded Rationality': Examining how and why local authorities share learning?'
- Catherine Durose - 'Beyond 'Street Level Bureaucrats': Re-Interpreting The Role Of Front Line Public Sector Workers'
- Will Jennings & Peter John - 'Error correction in public policy: public opinion and policy agendas in the United Kingdom, 1959-2001'
- George Boyne, Oliver James, Peter John & Nicolai Petrovsky - 'Happy consumers, loyal voters: voter reaction to incumbent performance in English local governments, 1999-2006'
- Peter John & Steven Musson - 'Networks and Regional Governance: the Integration of Partnership bodies as an Indicator of Regional Cohesion'
- Francesca Gains - 'The Local Bureaucrat: Traditions and Dilemmas of Local Bureaucratic Elites'
The ELGNCE team - Francesca Gains, Stephen Greasley, Peter John and Gerry Stoker - will also be discussing provisional findings from their long term evaluation of political management reforms in English Local Government. The findings of the research are relevant to the new local government legislation currently passing through parliament.
Full details of the conference are available from the PSA conference website.
Top30 March 2007
Results of IPEG's Parliamentary advice published
'Is there a future for regional government?', the report of an inquiry by the House of Commons Select Committee for Communities and Local Government, was published on March 14. Alan Harding acted as a specialist adviser to the Committee on the inquiry and was involved in drafting the final report, copies of which are available at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmcomloc/352/35203.htm
Top26 March 2007
Cabinet Secretary visits the University of Manchester
Sir Gus O'Donnell, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service, visited the University of Manchester on March 23rd to deliver a talk about the future of the Civil Service. The event, which took place in the Whitworth Hall, was well attended and included a Q&A session followed by refreshments.
Sir Gus (far right) is pictured with (l-r) Professor Peter John, Dr Francesca Gains and Professor David Farrell.
Sir Gus' presentation slides are available for download (in PDF format) here.
Top22 March 2007
Civic duty alive and well
Nine per cent of the public are driven to get involved with their local communities, according to new research published today.
And report author Professor Peter John from The University of Manchester says most of them — 68 per cent — do it out of a sense of community.
The surprising results contrast strongly with the more pessimistic findings of this week's Demos report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which put the figure at one per cent.
Using data from the Government's 2005 English and Welsh Citizenship Survey, Professor John's research examined the activities of 10,000 people.
He found nine per cent of people had taken part in groups making decisions on local health services, regeneration, crime, and education within 12 months.
In a separate development, there were also encouraging figures on public consultation:
Within the same 12-month period, 13.7 per cent of respondents had completed a questionnaire, 6 per cent had attended a public meeting and 4.6 per cent had been involved with a group set up to discuss problems in local services.
Professor John, who is Director of the University's Institute for Political and Economic Governance, said: "My report shows that contrary to commonly held opinion, community participation is alive and well.
"It also shows the government is able to encourage citizens to get involved with matters that affect their neighbourhoods and are essential to our democracy.
"This is hardly the 'minority sport' which you sometimes read about in the media.
"Roles such as school governors, volunteer special constables, lay member of police authorities, youth offender panels and members of patient and public involvement forums are actually quite popular.
"This sort of activity is high. My hunch is that it's actually growing -though we'd need to do more research to find out for sure.
"The Joseph Rowntree Foundation figure of one per cent is too restrictive because it's just about community decision-making.
"But citizens get involved in many more aspects of what we call citizen governance activity than that as my report shows.
"Indeed, even in isolation, most forms of citizen governance activity I looked at are greater than the Joseph Rowntree Foundation one per cent figure.
"What is fascinating is that people are even more inspired to take part in these supportive activities than in groups set up to discuss problems in local services at 4.6 per cent"
He added: "This form of civic renewal activity was championed by David Blunkett when he was Home Secretary — especially in the area of crime.
"What is promising is that many of these roles are filled by people who actually use the services.
"Participation can only help to reverse the decline in trust our political system has endured over recent years.
"And if marginalised groups are indeed getting involved, then it might even encourage other aspects of democracy, such as voting."
Professor John's report is available for download here (PDF format).
Top14 March 2007
Randomised Controlled Trials in the Social Sciences: The Way Forward
Professor Peter John will be presenting a paper at a forthcoming conference on randomised controlled trials. Titled; 'Randomised Controlled Trials in the Social Sciences: The Way Forward', the conference takes place on 12 - 14 September 2007 at The University of York. For more information please download the conference brochure (PDF format).
Top8 March 2007
Sir Gus O'Donnell to visit the University of Manchester
Sir Gus O'Donnel, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service will be visiting the university on March 23rd and will be delivering a speech in the Whitworth Hall between 12:15pm and 1:45pm. For more details please follow this link.
Top2 March 2007
Professor Alan Harding joins IPEG
IPEG are delighted to announce the appointment of Alan Harding as Professor of Urban and Regional Governance and also as a Co-Director of IPEG. Alan has joined us from the SURF Centre at the University of Salford where he was also a co-director.
Top19 February 2007
Where should housing policy go next?
Liz Richardson's report: 'Where should housing policy go next? - An asset-based framework,' is now available for download from the New Local Government Network (NLGN) website.
Top7 February 2007
Productivity, productivity growth and the regional dimension
The Manchester Regional Economics Centre (MREC) will be hosting a conference on February 27th and 28th, 2007. Titled 'Productivity, productivity growth and the regional dimension', the conference will take place at Chancellors Hotel and Conference Centre, Fallowfield, Manchester.
The second day of the conference, February 28th, is a joint initiative of HM Treasury and MREC. For more information please visit the conference web page.
Top29 January 2007
"Strengthening the evidence base for the North West" study completed
The "Strengthening the evidence base for the North West" study has been completed and the final report is now available for download from the North West Development Agency (NWDA) website.
Top26 January 2007
Peter John to address forthcoming LGA conference
Professor Peter John will be speaking at the LGA's forthcoming conference - the future of public services - which takes place in Manchester on January 30th 2007. The presentation from the event is available for download here. For more information please visit the LGA website.
Top26 January 2007
Mike Artis appointed as Specialist Advisor to House of Lords Sub-Committee
Professor Mike Artis has been appointed as the Specialist Advisor to Sub-Committee A of the House of Lords European Union Committee, for the duration of its inquiry into the Euro/ECB.
Top17 January 2007
'So I decided to join the British National Party...'
Matthew Goodwin will be presenting the following seminars:
- 'So I decided to join the BNP .' Examining the Motivational Characteristics of Contemporary Extreme Right Activists, University of Teesside, 25th January 2007
- 'So I decided to join the BNP .' Examining the Motivational Characteristics of Contemporary Extreme Right Activists, The 17th Annual ASEN Conference (Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism), 17-19 April 2007, London School of Economics
10 January 2007
IPEG departures and arrivals
Professor Gerry Stoker has been appointed Professor of Governance at the Division of Politics and International Relations, University of Southampton and has stepped down as a co-director of IPEG. Nevertheless, he retains close ties with the institute and has become IPEG's first Visiting Professorial Fellow.
Vasudha Chhotray has also moved on to pastures new, having been appointed Lecturer in Development Studies at the School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia.
Meanwhile, IPEG are delighted to announce the appointment of two new members of staff: Andri Soteri-Proctor and Matthew Goodwin.
Andri has just submitted her PhD thesis in the Sociology Department at the University of Manchester, and will be working on the 'Hitting the Glass Ceiling?' project.
Matthew will be joining us from the University of Bath at the beginning of February, and will be working on the Knowledge Creation and Transfer Programme for the North West Improvement Network (NWIN).
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