The Institute for Fiscal Studies Report: English Council Funding: What’s Happened and What’s Next?

The article reviews the recent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfFS) report, English Council Funding: What’s Happened and What’s Next. The article provides an overview of the main themesand findings of the report which examines the consequences of a sustained period of austerity for English local government and the impact of austerity on certain key council services.The article explores what the report has to say about the way councils have responded to reductions in government funding and the strategies they have developed to protect certain frontline services. The article reviews the suggestions made in the IfFS report for changing English local government funding and finds that they reflect a form of centralist thinking which lacks a radical edge when it comes to reform

Could local government govern? Rethinking the role of councillors

What is the meaning of ‘government’ in local government? Colin Copus writes that, although local government understandably clings to its service provision functions, there is a broader role that councillors could assume, and argues that the concept of public accountability would be key in that role

Farmer and Rancher Suicide Prevention Posters

To develop a poster for farmer and rancher suicide awareness, the author first researched general suicide prevention and awareness posters to see analyze successful examples and to get ideas for potential themes, colors, and content. The ideas generated in this process needed to be methodically applied to make the content relevant and relatable for those in the agricultural industry. In this process, the author chose to incorporate a word cloud filled with words that represent agricultural issues and influence farmer and rancher suicide. The phrase “Suicide does not solve agricultural issues,” was chosen to use as the title at the top of the poster. This phrase is relevant when distributed through agricultural organizations because those organizations are responsible for working with farmers and ranchers to develop solutions for agricultural issues, including the issues listed in the word cloud

In the post-Brexit world, England deserves its own Parliament

When Scotland has a Parliament - and Wales and Northern Ireland their own assemblies - the lack of an English Parliament represents a serious democratic deficit, writes Colin Copus (De Montfort University). Instead, regionalists have preferred to divide England into EU-delineated regions. The absence of a forum for specifically English concerns and national identity, together with the rejection of the supranational EU, arguably helped to bring about the Leave vote. As Brexit takes shape, the weakness of the arguments against an English Parliament are exposed

The Brexit Referendum: Testing the Support of Elites and their Allies for Democracy; or, Racists, Bigots and Xenophobes, Oh My!

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI linkThe referendum on the United Kingdom’s continued membership of the European Union was the largest exercise in mass public democracy in political history. Yet, the result of that referendum has seen a sustained campaign by remain supporting elite groups and their allies, to undermine, delay and ultimately prevent withdrawal from the European Union. The paper explores the reaction of elite groups and their allies to the referendum result for what it tells us about attitudes towards mass democracy, the thin veneer of tolerance of public dissent from perceived elite wisdom, how elite groups and their allies seek to undermine and de-legitimise the result and nature of the majority of voters. The paper also explores what the neo-reactionary elite response to the result tells us about relationships between elite groups in a liberal democratic state and whether popular, mass democracy will transform into a post-democratic polity

The influence of the political party group on the representative activities of councillors

PhDThis thesis studies the influence of the political party group on the processes of local political representation. It sets out to discover how party groups are able to position themselves between councillor and the electorate, to demand the loyalty of councillors, and to ensure that they act publicly in a cohesive fashion in respect of local issues. The study distinguishes between different theatres of representation, the more or less open arenas within which councillors speak and act. This distinction is used to investigate the actual and likely behaviour of councillors in a range of situations from the closed and private to the open and public. The study also introduces the concept of crises of representation, which arise when a councillor experiences the competing pulls of party group loyalty and local feelings on contentious issues affecting his or her ward or division. To explore this tension, the study introduces the concept of event-driven democracy to describe those situations which motivate the community to protest council decisions and compete with the party group for councillors' loyalty. Evidence from a survey of 629 councillors in 20 authorities in the Midlands and surrounding area was gathered in order to compare and contrast reports of past and hypothetical actions in open and closed theatres of representation. Interviews were used to supplement and illuminate these data. Three case studies examine the actual responses of councillors faced with crises of representation. Comparison is made with national data. Differences between the political parties are explored and political affiliation examined as a factor in party group influence on local representation

How to maintain high ethical standards in local government: a perspective on the committee on standards in public life’s review so far

Colin Copus offers his perspective on some of the evidence heard so far by the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s review into ethical standards in local government. He argues that it is a difficult task to balance the issues at stake in refining the current system. There are also important arguments surrounding whether or not to nationalise or localise standards in local government. But the work of the Committee is vital if we are to maintain high standards of ethical behaviour in local government

Grad London: problemi, perspektive i ovlasti

Devising a system of government for London has had to balance two conflicting objectives. First, providing the capital with a system of government that recognises, and can direct, the unique political, economic, social and spatial power that the city has. Secondly, limiting and constraining the political power of London and its governing arrangements, to ensure neither could undermine the power of the national government, based as it is, in London. The paper sets out a history of the development of London government, the current arrangements for governing London that were created by the 1999 Greater London Authority Act and examines the role of the London Assembly and Mayor, including the most recent set of 2012 London elections. It also considers whether the current London arrangements represent a new and more imaginative way for citizens to engage with the political processes, or whether any public participation in a representative democracy will face political problems.Kreiranje sustava vlasti u Londonu trebalo je pomiriti dva suprotstavljena cilja. Prvo, trebalo je osigurati sustav lokalne vlasti koji priznaje i sposoban je usmjeriti jedinstvenu političku, ekonomsku, društvenu i prostornu snagu koju glavni grad ima. Drugo, trebalo je ograničiti i zauzdati političku snagu Londona i njegovih struktura vlasti, kako bi se osiguralo da ne podrivaju snagu i ovlasti središnje vlade smještene u Londonu. Analizira se razvoj lokalne samouprave u Londonu, uređenje londonske gradske samouprave po Zakonu o tijelima vlasti u Velikom Londonu 1999. (Greater London Authority Act). Istražuje se uloga skupštine i gradonačelnika Londona, uključujući i posljednje izbore održane 2012. U radu se razmatra je li sadašnji način upravljanja Londonom dovoljno nov i inovativan da može uključiti njegove građane u političke procese ili će sudjelovanje javnosti u predstavničkoj demokraciji naići na značajne političke probleme

Statistical Precedent: Allocating Judicial Attention

The U.S. Courts of Appeals were once admired for their wealth of judicial attention and for their generosity in distributing it. At least by legend, almost all cases were afforded what William Richman and William Reynolds have termed the “Learned Hand Treatment.” Guided by Judge Learned Hand’s commandment that “[t]hou shalt not ration justice,” a panel of three judges would read the briefs, hear oral argument, deliberate at length, and prepare multiple drafts of an opinion. Once finished, the judges would publish their opinion, binding themselves and their colleagues in accordance with the common-law tradition. The final opinion would be circulated to and read by every judge in the circuit, providing nonpanel judges with an opportunity to provide feedback or evaluate a decision for en banc review. And on top of this extensive attention was a reasonable chance for yet more, as the Supreme Court reviewed approximately 3% of the circuit courts’ decisions. But darker days were ahead. A caseload explosion greatly diminished the courts’ reservoir of judicial attention. Between 1960 and 2010, the courts’ caseload increased by 1,436%. The courts responded to this precipitous rise in workload with a series of moves to reduce the time and effort that judges spent on each case. They employed an army of staff attorneys to help decide cases and draft opinions, increased the number of law clerks from one to three or four per judge, and curtailed the availability of oral argument such that in 2017, it was provided in less than 20% of cases... The shortage of attention threatens to undermine the courts’ ability to decide cases correctly and develop the law coherently. Without the time to carefully consider each case, circuit court judges— traditionally serving as the main source of error correction in the federal courts—will inevitably make more errors of their own