Television dramas have increasingly reinforced a picture of British politics as ‘sleazy’

There were 24 TV dramas produced about New Labour and all made a unique contribution to public perceptions of politics. These dramas increasingly reinforced a picture of British politics as ‘sleazy’ and were apt to be believed by many already cynical viewers as representing the truth. Steven Fielding argues that political scientists need to look more closely at how culture is shaping the public’s view of party politics

Palatalization in Romance: an investigation of the sound change in French and Spanish

Abstract This thesis discusses and compares the change of velar stops into palatoalveolar affricates, a process termed velar palatalization, in the Romance languages French and Spanish. Firstly, velar palatalization will be defined and several explanations offered by other theorists will be examined. Evidence taken from these two languages, as well as their ancestor Proto-Romance, will be used to illustrate the process of velar palatalization. The question of how the process took place in both these languages will then be discussed. The voiceless velars will be examined first, followed by the voiced velars in Spanish and French, respectively. The voicing asymmetry noted will be discussed, with an explanation offered. Finally the unusual case of the velars palatalizing before the /a/ in French, which is normally dealt with as a separate change will be discussed and shown to be a case of velar palatalization

Labour and cultural change

This book is the first in the new series 'The Labour governments', 1964-70 and concentrates on Britain's domestic policy during Harold Wilson's tenure as Prime Minister. The book deals, in particular, with how the Labour government and Labour party as a whole tried to come to terms with the 1960s 'cultural revolution'. It is grounded in original research, takes unique account of responses from Labour's grass roots and from Wilson's ministerial colleagues, and constructs a 'total history' of the party at this critical moment in history. Steven Fielding situates Labour in its wider cultural context and focuses on how the party approached issues such as the apparent transformation of the class structure, the changing place of women, rising black immigration, the apparently widening generation gap and increasing calls for direct participation in politics. The book will be of interest to all those concerned with the development of contemporary British politics and society as well as those researching the 1960s. Together with the other books in the series, on international policy and economic policy, it provides an unrivalled insight into the development of Britain under Harold Wilson's government

A State of Play

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. A State of Play explores how the British have imagined their politics, from the parliament worship of Anthony Trollope to the cynicism of The Thick of It. In an account that mixes historical with political analysis, Steven Fielding argues that fictional depictions of politics have played an important but insidious part in shaping how the British think about their democracy and have helped ventilate their many frustrations with Westminster. He shows that dramas and fictions have also performed a significant role in the battle of ideas, in a way undreamt of by those who draft party manifestos. The book examines the work of overtly political writers have treated the subject, discussing the novels of H.G. Wells, the comedy series Yes, Minister and the plays of David Hare. However, it also assesses how less obvious sources, such as the films of George Formby, the novels of Agatha Christie, the Just William stories and situation comedies like Steptoe and Son, have reflected on representative democracy. A State of Play is an invaluable, distinctive and engaging guide to a new way of thinking about Britain's political past and present

A State of Play

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. A State of Play explores how the British have imagined their politics, from the parliament worship of Anthony Trollope to the cynicism of The Thick of It. In an account that mixes historical with political analysis, Steven Fielding argues that fictional depictions of politics have played an important but insidious part in shaping how the British think about their democracy and have helped ventilate their many frustrations with Westminster. He shows that dramas and fictions have also performed a significant role in the battle of ideas, in a way undreamt of by those who draft party manifestos. The book examines the work of overtly political writers have treated the subject, discussing the novels of H.G. Wells, the comedy series Yes, Minister and the plays of David Hare. However, it also assesses how less obvious sources, such as the films of George Formby, the novels of Agatha Christie, the Just William stories and situation comedies like Steptoe and Son, have reflected on representative democracy. A State of Play is an invaluable, distinctive and engaging guide to a new way of thinking about Britain's political past and present

Estimating the costs and benefits of providing free public transit passes to students in Los Angeles County: lessons learned in applying a health lens to decision-making.

In spite of increased focus by public health to engage and work with non-health sector partners to improve the health of the general as well as special populations, only a paucity of studies have described and disseminated emerging lessons and promising practices that can be used to undertake this work. This article describes the process used to conduct a Health Impact Assessment of a proposal to provide free public transportation passes to students in Los Angeles County. This illustrative case example describes opportunities and challenges encountered in working with an array of cross-sector partners and highlights four important lessons learned: (1) the benefits and challenges associated with broad conceptualization of public issues; (2) the need for more comprehensive, longitudinal data systems and dynamic simulation models to inform decision-making; (3) the importance of having a comprehensive policy assessment strategy that considers health impacts as well as costs and feasibility; and (4) the need for additional efforts to delineate the interconnectivity between health and other agency priorities. As public health advances cross-sector work in the community, further development of these priorities will help advance meaningful collaboration among all partners

Rediscovering the Core of Public Health

The success of public health has been its ability to understand contemporary health problems, to communicate the needs successfully, to identify solutions, and to implement them through programs and policies. In the past 50 years, those successes can be attributed largely to control of infectious disease, improved maternal and child health, delivery of other personal health care services, and changes in behaviors, particularly smoking. Yet health is primarily a product of our social, cultural, and physical environments. To continue to improve the nation’s health and reduce disparities, public health needs to return to its historical roots and engage with other sectors to create healthier communities. To do so requires expanding public health skills in areas such as quantitative policy analysis, communication, and community engagement

Engaging the already engaged, or letting people into politics? experts respond to Ed Miliband’s proposal for a ‘Public PMQs’

Ed Miliband recently announced his desire for a new kind of Prime Ministers Questions, in which members of the public were invited to put the PM under scrutiny. Democratic Audit asked experts to respond to the proposal, with a seeming consensus that the idea isn’t necessarily a bad one, but doesn’t particularly amount to much of a change