The Rennard scandal highlights the reluctance of politicians to address murmurs of wrongdoing and the tendency for tribalism to affect their responses

Unlike most sex scandals, the allegations concerning Lord Rennard also raises questions about the integrity of our politics, in particular how politicians respond to rumours of impropriety and alleged abuses of authority, writes Nicholas Allen

If the debates do not go ahead, it will be the fault of self-interest on the part of the main parties and the broadcasters

Whether there will be debates this year in advance of the 2015 General Election is open to question, with partisan and corporate self-interest threatening to overwhelm the process by which inclusion in the debate is governed. Nicholas Allen argues that this brinksmanship threatens the debates taking place not only in a satisfactory manner, but going ahead at all

Voluntary Environmental Agreements when Regulatory Capacity Is Weak

Voluntary agreements (VAs) negotiated between environmental regulators and industry are increasingly popular. However, little is known about whether they are likely to be effective in developing and transition countries, where local and federal environmental regulatory capacity is typically weak. We develop a dynamic theoretical model to examine the effect of VAs on investment in regulatory infrastructure and pollution abatement in such countries. We find that under certain conditions, VAs can improve welfare by generating more private-sector investment in pollution control and more public-sector investment in regulatory capacity than the status quo.voluntary environmental regulation, developing country

Muddling Through while Environmental Regulatory Capacity Evolves: What Role for Voluntary Agreements?

The city of León, Guanajuato, is Mexico’s leather goods capital and a notorious environmental hotspot. Over the past two decades, four high-profile voluntary agreements aimed at controlling pollution from León’s tanneries have yielded few concrete results. To understand why, this paper reconstructs the history of these initiatives, along with that of local environmental regulatory capacity. Juxtaposing these two timelines suggests that the voluntary pollution control agreements were both motivated by—and undermined by—gaps in the legal, institutional, physical, and civic infrastructures needed to make regulation effective. Our analysis offers a concrete definition of environmental regulatory capacity, provides insights into how it evolves, and demonstrates its importance. Moreover, it sheds light on the question of whether voluntary environmental agreements—an increasingly popular regulatory tool—are likely to be effective in developing countries.environment, voluntary agreement, regulatory capacity, Latin America, Mexico

Spark Ignition of Monodisperse Fuel Sprays

A study of spark ignition energy requirements was conducted with a monodisperse spray system allowing independent control of droplet size, equivalent ratio, and fuel type. Minimum ignition energies were measured for n-heptane and methanol sprays characterized at the spark gap in terms of droplet diameter, equivalence ratio (number density) and extent of prevaporization. In addition to sprays, minimum ignition energies were measured for completely prevaporized mixtures of the same fuels over a range of equivalence ratios to provide data at the lower limit of droplet size. Results showed that spray ignition was enhanced with decreasing droplet size and increasing equivalence ratio over the ranges of the parameters studied. By comparing spray and prevaporized ignition results, the existence of an optimum droplet size for ignition was indicated for both fuels. Fuel volatility was seen to be a critical factor in spray ignition. The spray ignition results were analyzed using two different empirical ignition models for quiescent mixtures. Both models accurately predicted the experimental ignition energies for the majority of the spray conditions. Spray ignition was observed to be probabilistic in nature, and ignition was quantified in terms of an ignition frequency for a given spark energy. A model was developed to predict ignition frequencies based on the variation in spark energy and equivalence ratio in the spark gap. The resulting ignition frequency simulations were nearly identical to the experimentally observed values

Cameron’s post-election reshuffle: a historical perspective

Following his return to Downing Street at the head of a majority Conservative government, Cameron had no choice but to conduct another wide-ranging cabinet reshuffle. Elections represent obvious punctuations in government, and post-election reshuffles are a chance to inject fresh blood and new energy into Whitehall. In this article, Nicholas Allen looks at reshuffles from a historical perspective

The Rochester by-election highlights a pervasive ‘anti-politics’ mood in the UK

The result in the Rochester and Strood by-election makes clear that many are looking to Westminster and venting their dissatisfaction with what they perceive to be a distant, unresponsive and dishonest political class. The anger underpinning UKIP support is a product of the particular performance of the governing and opposition parties’ in the current economic climate as well as the perceived failings with mainstream politics more generally, argue Nicholas Allen and Sarah Birch

Theresa May asserts control in a revamped cabinet-committee system

Since 1992, British governments have routinely published lists of cabinet committees. Nicholas Allen and Nora Siklodi argue that the latest list reveals much about the policy priorities and distribution of power in Theresa May’s government, and also provides a key insight into the new prime minister’s governing style

The Shield of Achilles and Indo-European Tradition

¿En qué medida las escenas representadas en el escudo de Aquiles constituyen una estructura coherente que refleja antiguas pautas de pensamiento indoeuropeas? Dumézil creía que esa ideología tenía tres componentes principales («funciones»): F1, relacionada con la sabiduría y lo sagrado; F2, con la fuerza física y la guerra; F3, con la fecundidad y la riqueza; sin embargo, muchos contextos exigen que en la parte inferior de la jerarquía se reconozca una F4- y en la superior, una F4+, que serían, respectivamente, una «Otredad» devaluada y una valorada. El escudo de Aquiles se organiza en umbo, bandas concéntricas y borde. En 1964 Yoshida puso en relación las bandas con las funciones clásicas (resumidamente, ciudad en paz F1; ciudad en guerra F2; agricultura F3). Pero el firmamento que se encuentra en el centro y el Océano en el borde sin duda reflejan F4+ y F4-

‘Post-truth’ politics are a debasement of standards in public life

Verbal dexterity, inconsistency and ‘spin’ are part and parcel of normal politics but the exaggerations and distortions of the EU referendum campaign has led to concerns about ‘post-truth’ politics. Nicholas Allen and Sarah Birch write there is a need for someone to provide a moral lead, and argue the Committee for Standards in Public Life could play a valuable role by establishing some relevant basic markers