232 research outputs found
'Yes, the census': The 2011 UK referendum campaign on the alternative vote
For the Liberal Democrats, the debacle that was the AV Referendum campaign engendered demands from within the party for an official investigation into what was termed a 'living nightmare'. However, utilising LeDuc's conceptual map of the elements involved in a referendum campaign, in particular the role of the official groups, political parties, their leaders and the media, this article examines the AV Referendum campaign of 2011 and demonstrates that it was always likely that such a campaign would mirror the partisan bias found at that time. Thus, with a concomitant conservative bias towards the status quo for such plebiscitary questions, it shows that it should also have been obvious, not least to the Liberal Democrat party, that the goal of electoral reform, as refracted through such a referendum campaign, was doomed from the outset
Biological Control of Giant Reed (Arundo donax): Economic Aspects
Arundo donax is a large, invasive weed consuming large quantities of water in the riparian area of the Texas Rio Grande Basin. With water availability a concern to the area, the USDA-ARS is investigating biological control agents to increase available water, creating a benefit to both the regionâs economy and society in general.Arundo donax, Giant Reed, Water, Economics, Invasive, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
Expected Economic Benefits of the El Morillo Drain
The study of the benefits (damages averted) attributable to the El Morillo Drain
encompasses U.S. municipalities, industry, and agriculture. It is conservatively estimated
that the annual direct benefits to residents of South Texas ranges between 30.3 million. This does not include effects on landscapes, industry that is dependant on
low saline water, and water treatment plants. Accounting for the costs to agriculture from
crop losses of about 43 and $57 million. Such economic impact assessments are
indicative that maintenance of the Drain is a highly-beneficial activity, leaving little
doubt that it is essential that the drain be updated, maintained, and operated. Certainly as
South Texas population increases and demand for high quality water increases, the value
of the El Morillo Drain will increase
What was Progressive in âProgressive Conservatismâ?
In January 2009 David Cameron announced that the âunderlying philosophyâ of his government would be progressive conservatism. Despite the ambiguity about this term, it was generally interpreted as a signal that Cameron was moving his party to the left.To some commentators, Cameron was allying with the progressive âone nationâ strand of conservative thought.To others, particularly in the media, he was drawing on the more immediate influence of Phillip Blondâs âRed Toryismâ. However, the focus on the market (as opposed to state or community) found in both Cameronâs speech and subsequent policies sits uneasily with both of these interpretations. Cameronâs progressive conservatism has more in common with Thatcherism â an earlier conservative modernising project â than it does with centrist forms of conservative progressivism. Cameronâs progressive conservatism is progressive, but only in particular, less commonly used, ways â not as a rediscovery of social justice
Economies of Size in Municipal Water-Treatment Technologies: A Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley Case Study
As the U.S. population continues to increase, the priority on planning for future water quantity
and quality becomes more important. Historically, many municipalities have primarily relied
upon surface water as their major source of drinking water. In recent years, however,
technological advancements have improved the economic viability of reverse-osmosis (RO)
desalination of brackish-groundwater as a potable water source. By including brackishgroundwater,
there may be an alternative water source that provides municipalities an
opportunity to hedge against droughts, political shortfalls, and protection from potential surfacewater
contamination. In addition to selecting a water-treatment technology, municipalities and
their associated water planners must determine the appropriate facility size, location, etc.
To assist in these issues, this research investigates and reports on economies of size for
both conventional surface-water treatment and brackish-groundwater desalination by using
results from four water-treatment facilities in the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). The
methodology and associated results herein may have direct implications on future water planning
as highlighting the most economically-efficient alternative(s) is a key objective.
In this study, economic and financial life-cycle costs are calculated for a âsmallâ
conventional surface-water facility (i.e., 2.0 million gallons per day (mgd) Olmito facility) and a
âsmallâ brackish-groundwater desalination facility (i.e., 1.13 mgd La Sara facility). Thereafter,
these results are merged with other, prior life-cycle cost analysesâ results for a âmediumâ
conventional surface-water facility (i.e., 8.25 mgd McAllen Northwest facility) and a âmediumâ
brackish-groundwater desalination facility (i.e., 7.5 mgd Southmost facility). The combined data
allow for examination of any apparent economies of size amongst the conventional surface-water
facilities and the brackish-groundwater desalination facilities.
This research utilized the CITY H20 ECONOMICS and the DESAL ECONOMICS © ©
ExcelÂź spreadsheet models developed by agricultural economists with Texas AgriLife Research
and Texas AgriLife Extension Service. The life-cycle costs calculated within these spreadsheet
models provide input for work which subsequently provides the estimations of economies of size.
Although the economies of size results are only based on four facilities and are only applicable to
the Texas LRGV, the results are nonetheless useful. In short, it is determined that economies of
size are apparent in conventional surface-water treatment and constant economies of size are
apparent in brackish-groundwater desalination. Further, based on modified life-cycle costs
(which seek to more-precisely compare across water-treatment technologies and/or facilities),
this research also concludes that reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination of brackish-groundwater is
economically competitive with conventional surface-water treatment in this region
Reassessing Britainâs âpost-war consensusâ: the politics of reason 1945â1979
Since the late-1970s, scholars have been engaged in a vibrant debate about the nature of post-war British politics. While some writers have suggested that the three decades that succeeded the Second World War witnessed a bi-partisan consensus on key policy questions, others have argued that it was conflict, not agreement, that marked the period. This article offers a novel contribution to this controversy by drawing attention to the epistemological beliefs of the Labour and Conservative parties. It argues that once these beliefs are considered, it becomes possible to reconcile some of the competing claims made by proponents and critics of the âpost-war consensusâ thesis. Labour and Conservative leaders may have been wedded to different beliefs, but they also shared a common enthusiasm for empiricist reasoning and were both reluctant to identify fixed political âendsâ that they sought to realise. Consequently, they were both committed to evolutionary forms of change, and they eschewed the notion that any social or political arrangement was of universal value
The Strange Death of Tory Liverpool: Conservative Electoral Decline in Liverpool, 1945-1996
In modern discourse Liverpool is a by-word for anti-Tory sentiment, yet the city has not always been so inhospitable for the Conservatives. From the mid-18th century until the 1970s the Conservatives dominated the city council and often held over half of Liverpoolâs parliamentary constituencies. Whilst popular opinion ascribes Conservative decline in Liverpool to Margaret Thatcher, Conservative Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, it began a decade before Thatcher gained power. This article argues that Conservative decline in Liverpool was due to the increasing inability of socialisation to create new Conservative voters, coupled with dissatisfaction with the Heath government and a rejection of unresponsive local party machines. The Liberal Party, through their use of pavement politics, were able to exploit these issues. Their 1973 local election victory allowed them to displace the Conservatives as the main opposition to Labour in most of the city, thus beginning the strange death of Tory Liverpool. Liverpool, Conservative Party decline, working class Conservatism, socialisation, Liverpool Liberal Part
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